By MARK CASHMAN

Grand finals are all about managing the big moments and Gordon captured their first Shute Shield premiership in 22 years by doing just that.

The Highlanders capped off what has been a magnificent season for a club that was on its knees a little over two seasons ago with a 28-8 win over Eastwood on Saturday at Leichhardt Oval in the premiership decider.

The scoreline and three tries to one suggest that this was a lopsided contest, but it was anything but that with Gordon only really feeling comfortable when replacement forward Brendan Mitchell burrowed over from the back of a rolling maul in the dying minutes of the game.

Midway through the second half Gordon survived a tense five and a half minutes of scrums on their own line with the score delicately poised at 14-8.