RSL captain Glenn Spinks won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first with the outfield still a little damp in places from the rain.

Opening batsmen Peter Neale and Clay Neale made a solid start with a partnership of 35 before Peter was dismissed for 12, and when Geoff Potter followed two runs later the pressure was on the remaining RSL batsmen to post a total that their strong bowling line-up could defend.

Partnerships of 69 between Neale and Paul Gauci and then 47 between Neale and Glenn Spinks did just that.

Neale was eventually dismissed for 65, his highest ever score in more than 60 matches in the senior cricket competition, and his first ever score over 50.

Atlas Copco’s bowlers toiled hard in very humid conditions. Clinton Everett took the best bowling figures with 2 for 13 off 5 overs. Justin Richardson took 2 for 37 while Wade McLachlan took 1 for 35 from 10 overs.

Atlast Copco knew the 201 run target set by RSL would be difficult, however with their strong batting line-up, including the Harbison brothers (Jake and Damien), Bill Beshman, Robbie Mitchell and Ben Wright, chasing the figure was possible.

But things looked ominous as Mitchell went for a duck. From there they struggled to string together a 65 run total with Jake Harbison out for 18, Wade McLachlan 16 and Bill Beshman 11, the only players to reach double figures.

RSL bowled superbly with Wade Potter taking 1 for 14 off 8.2 overs ahead of Shane Munro with 1 for 20 from 8 leading the way.

Veterans Geoff Potter continued on RSL’s good form collecting 2 from 9 off 10 overs, while captain Glenn Spinks netted 3 for 14 from only 6 overs.

RSL’s Clay Neale topped off a man-of-the-match performance smashing down 2 for 4 off as many overs, sealing the win and a place in the grand final for RSL.

RSL will now meet defending premiers Nymagee at the weekend’s grand final, which gets underway from 10am Saturday.