FOR the first time in more than 80 years, Bendigo United is celebrating back-to-back Bendigo District Cricket Association first XI premierships after beating Kangaroo Flat in the grand final yesterday.After a near flawless display with the ball on Saturday when they dismissed the Roos for just 112 at the Queen Elizabeth Oval, the Redbacks yesterday lost four wickets in overhauling Kangaroo Flat’s modest total.Yesterday’s six-wicket triumph was a fitting way to end the season for the Redbacks, who only lost one game on the way to winning back-to-back flags for the first time since 1919-20, 1920-21.Bendigo United all-rounder Nick Crawford further enhanced his reputation as ‘‘Mr. Finals’’ by winning the Taylor-Walsh Medal for his match-winning double of 46 not out and 3-31.Bendigo United resumed at 1-14 yesterday having lost opener Matt Pinniger (1) on Saturday evening when the Redbacks had a testing 16 overs to bat after taking just 66 overs to dismiss the Roos.The Roos were unlucky not to have the Redbacks 2-14 at stumps on Saturday when captain Heath Behrens gave Matt Kile a bat pad chance on the third last ball of the day off Mick Smith (0-3) that he just failed to grasp.Yesterday, Behrens and opener Wayne Fidler got through the first 10 overs with few concerns, taking the score along to 35.However, the Roos got the crucial breakthrough they needed when Behrens (16) nicked an Adam Burns delivery to keeper Andrew Hosking.And when Aaron Connaughton (0) was trapped lbw by Burns two overs later, the Redbacks had fallen to 3-35 - the exact same position they were in a week earlier when they just fell over the line against Golden Square by one wicket in the semi-final chasing 92.From 3-35, it became 4-47 in the Redbacks’ 44th over when Anthony Collins bowled the rock-solid Fidler (20), and at that point, it was well and truly game on.Fidler batted for 153 minutes and never looked like going out until he attempted to leave a Collins delivery and played it on.With Fidler’s dismissal, that brought Crawford to the crease to join fellow former premiership skipper Chris Pinniger.And it was Crawford and Pinniger who did the rest of the work for the Redbacks as they wore down the Roos’ bowlers.The pair shared in an unbroken stand of 67 off 192 balls for the fifth wicket, with Pinniger hitting the winning runs at 3.56 pm with a cover drive off Tony Taig off the fourth ball of the 76th over.Pinniger played a patient innings, taking 27 balls to get off the mark, before finishing unbeaten on 24 off 145 deliveries.Crawford batted superbly and scored relatively freely, with his 46 coming off 89 balls.Burns bowled a marathon 32 overs, taking 2-47, including 13 maidens, while Collins was also superb with the ball yesterday.Collins bowled 18 overs straight, taking 1-20, and only being scored off 11 of his 108 balls.Kile (1-23) also performed well as he, Burns and Collins dried the runs up before tea with their relentless line and length.On Saturday, the Redbacks’ bowlers never allowed Kangaroo Flat to gain any momentum right from the moment Roos’ opening batsman Taig (0) was dismissed by Daniel Schmidt in the sixth over with the score on five.It was the first time in more than five years Taig had failed to score.And when Ben Milliken claimed the key wicket of Hosking (2) five overs later, caught at bat pad by Chris Pinniger, the Roos were in all sorts of trouble at 2-11 with their two leading run-scorers this season back in the pavilion.While Milliken took the wicket of Hosking, earlier he also struck him in the helmet with a short delivery that resulted in a cut chin.From 2-11 after just 40 minutes of play, it was up to Simon Dundas and Burns to steady the innings for the under-siege Roos.It should have become 3-22 in the 18th over when Schmidt bowled Burns off a no-ball. Burns was on eight at the time and made the most of his let-off as he went on to bat for another 43 overs.While it was far from pretty against the quality pace bowling of the Redbacks, Dundas and Burns gradually worked the Roos back into the game.Just when they looked like safely guiding Kangaroo Flat to tea, Dundas tried to cut Leigh McDermott over point in his second over, but hit it to Crawford, who took a simple catch just 13 minutes before the break to make it 3-41 and again put the Roos on the back foot.The third-wicket partnership of 30 off 122 balls between Dundas and Burns was the best stand the Roos would enjoy.Kangaroo Flat went to tea at 3-48 off 38 overs with Burns and 17-year-old Kile at the crease.Kile looked the most comfortable of the Roos’ batsmen and worked his way to 13.But Kile’s promising innings came to an end in the 46th over when run out attempting a suicidal third run off a Burns cut shot.Connaughton threw a perfect ball to keeper Fidler from the boundary as Kile was caught well short of his ground, and just when it looked like Kangaroo Flat was getting back on track, it had again lost its way at a crucial stage.Brad Orton and Burns took the score from 68 to 97, with Orton looking particularly ominous with two boundaries and one six.Orton’s boundary through cover off Crawford in the 49th over was the first time in the innings the Roos hit a four.But when he was on 19, Orton went for one too many big shots and skied a Crawford ball to mid-off fielder Chris Pinniger, who took his second catch of the day.From there, the Roos capitulated, losing their last six wickets for just 15 runs in eight overs to be bowled out for 112 in the 66th.Burns’ gritty knock ended in the 61st over when he was trapped lbw by Milliken with the score on 106.Burns top-scored with 42 off 155 deliveries, but didn’t have enough support as he was the only player to pass 20.All the Redbacks bowlers were exceptional in the searing heat.Schmidt bowled 15 overs unchanged to finish with 1-17, while Milliken bowled three spells, all at good pace and with good bounce, and claimed 3-25 off 16 overs.Eight of the 10 Roos’ wickets to fall were during the time Milliken was bowling.Crawford sent down 15 overs, and while he didn’t claim his first wicket until his 12th, ended the match with figures of 3-31.Such was the way the bowlers dominated the grand final, Kangaroo Flat scored at a run-rate of 1.7, while the Redbacks scored at just 1.5.