The Avatiu Eels lifted the rugby league championship trophy for the second year in a row on Saturday night and returned it to the Swamp where it had been for the past year.

The Eels faced a tough and determined Tupapa Panthers side in the main premier grade grand finals on Saturday night in front of vocal supporters from both villages.

The Eels were the first to get points on the board via the boot of the sides creative director Bobby Hansen who booted in two penalties early in the game to give the Eels a 4-0 lead.

The Panthers were rewarded a penalty shortly after and Tupapas standout player Turori Matutu made sure to land the shot to close the Avatiu lead 4-2.

Hansen rallied the Eels and with ball in hand he slipped through the Panthers defence to dot down for the first try of the night and extend the Eels lead to 10-2.

The Panthers hit back with a try of their own by Matutu to stay within two points of the Panthers 10-8.

Buoyed by the try, the Panthers regrouped for the play of the night when Matutu saw open space behind the Eels defence line and booted the ball there for the sides speeder Conrad Piri to chase down.

The multi talented Piri, chased by the Eels Mathew Pierre, managed to boot the ball into the try zone and plant it for a thrilling try for Tupapa.

The unconverted try gave the Panthers the lead for the first time in the game 12-10 but the lead was short lived with the Eels awarded a penalty on the half time hooter.

Hansen decided to go for the goal from close to the halfway mark and his shot was straight and true to draw the game 12-all as players huddled for the half time break.

Back in the second spell the Eels were awarded a penalty and again Hansen made sure to capitalise on the Panthers error to put the Eels back in the lead 14-12.

Not happy with such a slim lead, the Eels Clive Nicholas decided to make a break for it and barge his way over the line for a try in front of ecstatic Eels supporters.

The conversion was missed and although the Eels still had the lead 18-12, the team knew that the Panthers only needed a converted try to even the scores.

The Panthers came close but silly mistakes were their undoing and when the ball was back in the Avatiu zone veteran Eel Terry Piri kicked a drop goal to give the Eels a one point breathing space if the Panthers surged in for a try in the last remaining minutes of the game.

But the Panthers just couldnt finish off their sets and once again with ball in hand Piri dropped another goal before the hooter sounded and the Eels could finally celebrate their 20-12 victory.

But it was an error-ridden match all round and despite the loss the Panthers are still the toast of their village after clawing their way up from a slow and inconsistent season to make the grand finals.

In other grand finals games, the Eels under 13 grade won the grand final against the Bears 14-12 while the Panthers registered a fantastic 20-10 win in the under 16 grand finals.

The Avatiu Eels under 19 side were unstoppable as they beat the Bears 15-4 in the division grand finals.

Arorangi Bears supporters were out in numbers to support their reserve grade who mauled the Titikaveka Bulldogs to win the reserve grade championship trophy for the 8th year in a row and giving the village a great reason to celebrate.

The Bears also walked away with a brand new trophy for the club with the most wins through the season.

League boots will be hung up for now until the next season kicks off next year.