By MARK CASHMAN

It was 3-all at halftime, 9-all at full-time and in the end it took extra time and all up 100 minutes for Eastwood to qualify for their first Shute Shield grand final since 2015 at a wind and rain swept Pittwater Rugby park on Sunday.

The Woodies beat Northern Suburbs 12-9 in a tense semi-final clash at Narrabeen to make their way through to the 2020 premiership decider against Gordon.

In terms of skills and sweeping movements that featured the first time these two teams clashed a little over a month ago, this game didn’t rise to any great heights, but it was off the scale in the tension and endeavour both these sides brought to the table.