CMC was beaten by Warrnambool's Emmanuel College in the grand final at Ballarat's MARS Stadium, going down by 15 points - 7.9 (51) to 5.6 (36).

CMC coach Lee Coghlan said the match was a fierce battle from start to finish.

"We believe the game really could've gone either way towards the end, but Emmanuel managed to put a really good second-half together," he said.

"We were up by a couple of goals at half-time, but they were able to capitalise on some big moments later in the game.

"It was a fierce battle from both teams and I am incredibly proud of the boys, but unfortunately, we just couldn't get the job done.

"The boys should hold their heads up high and be proud of themselves for their efforts throughout the entire tournament."

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Both teams headed into the premiership match after going through the preliminary rounds undefeated, which set the stage for an action-packed final.

Early goals from captain Rowan Fox and Wilson Butler gave CMC the lead over Emmanuel College, with the scoreboard 2.1 (13) to 1.7 (7) heading into the first break.

At the beginning of the second quarter Emmanuel College's enhanced defensive pressure in addition to a goal from Cooper Hamilton helped it take command with scoreboard control.

However, the CMC squad swiftly responded with goals from Jasper Cheeseman and Archer Day-Wicks to take back the lead at the main break, 4.2 (26) to 2.4 (16).

Control of the match was back-and-forth for the first 15 minutes of the third quarter with both sides unable to score.

With five minutes left on the clock Emmanuel buckled down to score two goals and in the blink of an eye swung the momentum back in its favour to take a 4.6 (30) to 4.3 (27) lead going into the final quarter.

CMC opened the last stage of the game with goal two from Day-Wicks to put his side back in front.

Moments later Emmanuel's Mitch Lloyd responded to take back a two-point lead with 13 minutes left on the clock.

It was then backed up by another from Emmanuel to boost its lead out to nine points with less than eight minutes left.

Emmanuel's Oscar Pollock delivered the final blow with a goal with around three minutes left on the clock to seal the match 7.9 (51) to 5.6 (36).

CMC: goals: Archer Day-Wicks (2), Rowan Fox (1), Jasper Cheesman (1), Wilson Butler (1).

Best on ground: Jacob Nihill.

Coghlan praised Nihill's performance during the premiership match.

"He played through the ruck all day and was just fantastic," Coghlan said.

"He won the majority of the ruck contests and followed it up whenever the ball was on the ground.

"Overall it was a really impressive game from Jacob."

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