FINNFOREST Cup holders St Marie's finished the season in style retaining the trophy with a convincing victory over Widnes Ball Bulldogs on Monday.
The Ball, playing in their first Halton Stadium final, never gave in but the Marie's greater flair and pace showed throughout.
The Marie's went in front after 15 minutes when a good run from Leighton Smith resulted in a try for winger Lee Campbell, superbly converted from the touchline by stand off Dave Welsh.
Welsh himself set up and converted the next try from prop Vinny Myler.
Tony Kirwan then made a good run to find scrum-half Matty Viggars at his side.
A great burst of pace and a classy side-step saw Viggars go under the posts for the try of the game. This time, centre Mike Gill converted.
The Ball tried hard to raise their game with forwards Ste Cavanagh, Anthony Ward and Peter Hyland all prominent.
Stand-off Welsh, meanwhile, was at the heart of the Marie's dominance and had a hand in the next two tries.
His long passes sent firstly Vinny Myler in for his second and then winger Jay Ramp-ling to the corner for a 26-0 half-time lead.
The Ball had their best spell at the start of the second half with half-backs Keiron McK-eown and Mike Smith prompting well.
Prop Neil Bourke injured a shoulder but kept going well. Centres Shaun Conway and Mark Flanagan and substitutes Wynne Davies and Adam Sergeant went close.
But the Marie's got back into gear on the hour with a try from Mike Gill after a good run by Glynn Holland.
The game then became very one-sided in the closing stages with the Marie's adding tries from second-row Carl Leach and full-back Mike Lamb, both converted by man-of-the-match Welsh.
In the semi-finals, Ball ran out convincing 36-6 winners over Albert Park. Ball hooker Anthony Ward was in fine form and a clear man of the match with his promptings and runs creating havoc. The Albert lost prop Alan Gregson with a serious leg injury after only five minutes and never really recovered.
The Marie's repeated last year's final success with a thrilling 18-10 semi-final victory over Simms Cross.
The game was in the balance throughout as both sides showed great defence and scored two tries - with goalkicking the difference.
For once Simmies gave away too many penalties and with referee Adam Gill having a superb game, they were made to pay for their sins.
Simmies were well served by Keiron Kavanagh, Neil Percival and Paul Walsh with Matty Viggars, Andy Hibbert and Anthony Hollins the pick of the Marie's side.
