After some lacklustre results in recent weeks, Robertson rediscovered their mojo, but not before Bowral served them a wake-up call.

“I think there were a few worried people,” Robertson captain Damian Gair said after the 6-2 preliminary final win.

“We started a little bit flat and looked a little shaky.”

Robertson were the best Highlands hockey team in the Illawarra competition all year but Gair’s crusaders suffered a string of losses to end the season on a sour note.

They lost to University and twice to Fairy Meadow to end their Illawarra season, before returning to Welby and going down 3-2 to Mittagong in a hard-fought major semi-final a fortnight ago.

But some hard work and some moments of class against Bowral reinvigorated Robertson’s season as they ran away with the game in the second half.

The two teams traded early blows but Bowral scored first against the run of play in the 12th minute.

The Blues failed to convert two short corners before it was third time lucky for James Miller who found the back of the net.

Robertson continued to dominate possession and field position, but Bowral were dangerous on the counter attack through zippy left-winger Steve McNaught.

The Spuddies equalised from a short corner in the 24th minute when captain Gair salvaged a sloppy set play to make it 1-all.

Robertson hit the lead just before halftime with Nathan Wright setting up his brother Ben with a classy ball cut back into Ben’s path.

Goals after the break to Daniel Campbell and a pair to Mitchell Wright set up a 5-1 lead, before Jye Bunt got one back for Bowral.

But skipper Gair scored again late in the match to put the result beyond doubt.

“Our second half was pretty handy with a lot of open play which suited our faster blokes up font,” Gair said.

Gair said fullback Mark Bisby won the players’ player award, capping off a good few weeks for the defender.

“He [Bisby] is the sort of bloke we need to be playing well if we’re to win it,” he said.

Bowral coach Jules Linolli said his team battled hard, but conceded they did not deserve to make the grand final in 2009.

“Our up and down season shows we struggled through the season,” Linolli said.

“But we are a young team and have the structure to make a good side over the next year or two.”