Epsom has been on top of the BASL championship ladder for 11 of the 13 rounds this year.

That will count for nothing if the Scorpions can’t avoid defeat to Eaglehawk in Sunday’s winner-take-all championship decider.

The Scorpios lead the Hawks by one point going into the final round, meaning a draw will be enough for the club to claim its first division one championship trophy in 11 years.

While division one trophies have been scarce for Epsom, Eaglehawk has spades of championship experience.

Epsom’s success this year has been sparked by its youth, with four of its starting 11  – Adam Dwyer, Alex Caldow, Matt Cappy and Matt Green – under the age of 18.

“We’ve had a really good year… it’s probably been a bit unexpected to some people around the club,’’ Epsom’s first year coach Ryan Pollard said.

“We’re very young. If you take our captain Trevor Harvey out of the mix, our next oldest player is 25. We were hoping to finish in the top three or four, so it’s been a pleasant surprise to be on top for much of the year.”

Despite just needing a draw to secure the title, Pollard had no plans to “park the bus”.

“We’ll be trying to replicate the way we have played all year,’’ Pollard said.

“We’ll be trying to score goals and we’ll be trying to score quality goals.”

Eaglehawk coach Greg Thomas said his side was looking forward to the challenge of facing the Scorpions on their own turf.

“Epsom has been the best team all year, they’re undefeated and they’ve been on top of the ladder all year,’’ Thomas said. “We’re happy to take the underdog tag into Sunday’s game.”

The Scorpions and Hawks played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in round even.

“Epsom were the better team for large parts of the game. It wasn’t until the last 20 minutes that we put some pressure on them,’’ Thomas said.

“We’ve taken some things out of that game that we’ll put in place on Sunday.”

Sunday’s game at Epsom-Huntly Recreation Reserve starts at 3pm.

The Scorpions will be hoping to celebrate two championships on Sunday. Their women’s team has already secured the title and they play their final game of the season against Eaglehawk.

Coached by Brenton Ellis, the Scorpions haven’t lost a game this season.

Eaglehawk, last year’s champions, need to defeat Epsom to claim second place on the table. Third-placed Spring Gully will grab second if it defeats Swan Hill and the Hawks lose.

In other games, Strathdale is at home to Moama-Echuca and Colts United hosts Golden City.