With the final whistle blown the 2023 Blackmore-Bolden Shield regular season has officially come to a close.
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Four teams now remain in contention to take home glory at the end of the season, with each feeling they're in the position to do so.
Let's catch you up on the round 18 of the competition before we preview the final weeks of the season.
Milton-Ulladulla Panthers vs Culburra Cougars
Well the Panthers have done it, they have survived all regular season without dropping a game after beating the Culburra Cougars to move to 16-0 on the season.
Travelling to Culburra at the end of the season is always a tough ask with the Cougars gathering a strong crowd to give them an edge on the pitch.
"It's always a tough day for any visiting team," Panthers coach Nick Palagyi said.
The game started out and the physicality was on display from the jump with the Cougars doing their best to limit the Panthers chances in their half.
However, the Panthers would secure a clean breakthrough 15 minutes in when a blocked shot from Lochi Wall fell right into the lap of Antonio Lavelle who also had his shot blocked before Brent Anderson the third time round made good for his side.
An unfortunate reflex handball would see Milton up 2-0 after Jaxon Scholtz stepped up and slotted it home.
Coming out of the halftime break the Cougars had some chances on the break but just couldn't get through, and soon it was Wall putting Milton up 3-0 after expertly weaving through the Cougars defence.
Wall secured another five minutes later, before Nathan Henry and Scholtz in combination with Broc Barbaric capped off the 6-0 win,to complete their undefeated regular season.
Reflecting on the win and the team's accomplishment, Palagyi said it's a testament to the commitment and efforts from the players all season.
"I'm really pleased for the players that they've been able to cap the season off with this result," he said.
"Winning 16 in a row is a huge achievement, but they have worked extremely hard for it since we came together back in January."
The side lost three valuable players throughout the duration of the season - Luis Gonzalez, Dave Andrew and Chris Twomey, however many players have stepped up in their absence.
"The whole group has remained has remained positive and others have always been ready to step in," Palagyi said.
"Everyone involved can be very proud, but we're not done yet."
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Illaroo Kangaroos vs Sussex Inlet Seahawks
The Illaroo Kangaroos have rebounded from a sixth place finish last year to secure third place at the conclusion of the regular season following a win over the Sussex Inlet Seahawks, 6-2.
The young Seahawks have improved significantly throughout the season, and while the Kangaroos were expecting a win, they knew it wouldn't be an especially simple path to victory.
After some back and forth they were able to break through via Alex Cheyne, but would almost immediately follow it up with an accidental handball that gave the Seahawks an opportunity to get on the board.
Michael Gurney stepped up and slotted home the penalty to tie the match at 1-1, 11 minutes in.
Five minutes later though it was Illaroo's Sam Swan who executed an absolute belter to put his team back in the lead.
Hayden Strand then soon followed it up with a penalty to give his team a 3-1 lead heading into the halftime break.
The second half saw the intensity drop off every so slightly, but there was still a lot of goal scoring to keep things entertaining.
Cheyne, Swan and Strand would all complete double performances for Illaroo, while for Sussex Inlet Gurney would again break through to secure a double of his own.
This rounded the final score out to 6-2.
Illaroo's Jarvis Strand commended Sussex Inlet on their improvement throughout the season and said the future for the side is very bright.
"We caught them in the middle of the season as they're the final game of the round for us and you could already notice them coming along nicely back then," he said.
"They put together a quality first grade performance and there are plenty of positives to take away for them."
Strand said Illaroo is pumped heading into finals this weekend after have a long drought for the club.
"The team is buzzing," he said.
"We know how we can play and that we're a threat and capable of going all the way."
"With all our teams playing on Sunday we're hoping that a big crowd will be around to support and help motivate us."
St Georges Basin Dragons vs Shoalhaven United Bears
The second-place St Georges Basin Dragons are roaring into the finals in fine form, finishing out the regular season on a five-game win streak.
It was a back and forth defensive match between the Dragons and Bears on the weekend with Basin able to pull off the narrow victory 1-0.
United made life very difficult for the Dragons as they played their best defense of the entire year, and looked like they may pull off the upset win for a good portion of the game.
The team's would go into halftime deadlocked at 0-0, with the game well and truly in the balance.
The second-half was more of the same for both teams, and it would take until the 80th minute where the hero of last game, Rory Meyer was able to break through and give the Dragons a 1-0 lead.
The Dragons would hold this lead until the final whistle.
Looking ahead to this weekend, Basin head coach James Gallemore said he's anticipating a very exciting match against the Milton-Ulladulla Panthers.
"I am looking forward to an excellent game of football this weekend," he said.
"Milton have had an exceptional season, guided by the leadership of Nick Palagyi and they should be congratulated on their success."
"We feel like we haven't shown our full potential in the two encounters so far, we'll be ready for this Saturday."
Shoalhaven Heads-Berry Sharks vs Bomaderry Tigers
It is an unfortunate end to an overall solid season for the Shoalhaven Heads-Berry Sharks.
Even after securing a 4-1 victory over the Bomaderry Tigers in the final round of the regular season, the previous round's loss to the Huskisson-Vincentia Seagulls meant that a chance at finals for the fifth place side was officially out of reach.
They could have settled last weekend but instead continued to play hard to the final whistle.
The first half was dominated by Bomaderry who took advantage of a Heads team who were playing around with a mixed-up lineup.
It was Ayush Karki, who scored his first goal of the season to the put the Tigers up 1-0 heading into the halftime stoppage.
Heads came out of the break, after a spirited message from Christian Page about finishing the season on a high, looking much more focused and it immediately translated to their play on the field as they began to run away with the momentum.
Gavin Dostal led the charge as he notched himself a double, along with assisting another, he almost had a hattrick if it wasn't for a fantastic save by Bomaderry goalkeeper Daniel Turner.
Nash Hay and Tyler Simmonds both executed goals as well for Heads to round the victory.
Despite losing out on the chance at finals football, Shoalhaven Heads-Berry Sharks Alex Morrison said there was a lot of positives to take away from the year.
"We came very close to playing finals football and I think we're a match for any team on our day," he said.
"If we can retain this team for next year then we will be looking to build on the season we've had."
Morrison commended to the play of his teammates throughout the season, especially commending the play of Callum Crapp in goals, as well as Kim Leonard and Gavin Dostal.
"The young guys in our midfield and those playing wide also took a big step forward."