On a sunny day in Mosman Park, the AATBL’s 20th season came to a dramatic conclusion when Resurgence’s resurgence culminated in a 7-4 win over Mobank to take the Grand BOCCE title for 2018.

The fourth-placed Reg Barney opened its account with a 4-9 loss to Big Brad Pineapples (Brad on his patma, as Big Pineapple had lost his car keys again). The day didn’t get any better for Reg and Barney, as Pres Buzz (the sole representative of Dog’s Balls Buzz) managed to hand them the Asti.

DBB had found its way to the Asti play-off after the Stellar Diggers (Digger without Stella) beat Buzz 7-3 in the day’s second game.

The day’s fourth game pitted the winners of the first two games against one another, so it was Digger against Brad. This time it was Brad’s turn to cop a 9 pointer from his opponent, going down 1-9, thereby sending the Stella Diggers to the championship round.

The first game of the championship round was first v second from the home-and-away results, so Resurgence played Mobank. A 7-2 victory to Resurgence, which started with a one-point advantage for its higher ladder position, meant that Mobank had to beat the winner of game 6 to stay alive.

In game 6, Digger, despite having beaten Buzz and Brad in earlier games, went down 3-8 to Mario’s Gonads, who started with a two-point advantage for being in third spot.

In the preliminary final, Mobank managed to regain its mojo (with the help of a one-point leg-up) and beat Mario’s Gonads 8-5. This meant that the grand final would see first play second, with neither team starting with any points advantage and the winner needing a two-point margin.

The final end saw Resurgence under some pressure. Although Resurgence had been up 6-4, Mobank was holding a two-point lead when RE had one cod left to throw. Fortunately for Resurgence, that cod flew truly and managed to snivel in and pip the two Mobank cods by a bee’s dick, handing the title to Resurgence, 7-4.

That final shot saw RE receive the Stolichnaya Cup for shot of the day.