Looking to go one better than their under-21 counterparts - beaten in the last two grand finals by Baulkham Hills - ACT dominated the competition from start to finish and were only ever seriously troubled in Sunday’s decider at Orange PCYC.

Even then the side wasn’t stretched too far, controlling momentum and the scoreboard throughout the grand final match-up with North Shore United to claim a 40-29 win and their maiden HeartKids Cup title.

“We’re really stoked with the win, we come here every year and we’ve been close so many times so to finally get there is great,” Bowyer enthused.

“North Shore United are a really good team but the girls ended up pulling through which was great.

“We just tried to keep it as calm as we can and play our own game and it worked out [on Sunday].”

ACT took control of the game early in the first quarter and although North Shore United stayed in touch through the opening half momentum was rarely out of the former sides’ hands.

The eventual champions shifted up a gear in the second half, pushing out to a 31-25 lead at three-quarter-time before wing attack Carly Symons imposed herself on the game in the final stanza.

Her speed and vision through the middle and attacking thirds proved a huge difference and was a major factor in the ACT winning the fourth quarter 9-4 and ultimately claiming the 11-goal win.

“[Symons] always plays well, she keeps us pretty consistent,” Bowyer said.

“Our shooter Jacoba (Clough) was great all weekend too, she’s the youngest in our side and is just coming in and she really stood up.

“The win here is awesome leading into the [National Netball Championships] in April.

“It’s a really high standard here and it pretty much matches the standard at nationals.”

Before Sunday’s decider ACT went through the preliminary stages undefeated with wins over Canberra (39-17), Tuggeranong (43-16), North Shore (31-18) Orange HeartKids (36-37) and Baulkham Hills (42-17), before a 34-22 win over the NSW under-17 development side in the major semi-final