UNDERBANK are determined to make it third time lucky!

After losing in the Co-operative Conference National Grand Final in the past two seasons, Bank will be pulling out all the stops to avoid an unwanted hat-trick of losses on the biggest of stages.

Standing in their way at Warrington’s Halliwell Jones Stadium on Sunday (11am) are in-form Kippax Knights, who will be confident of inflicting even more misery on player-coach Richard Knight’s side.

Although Underbank finished the season as minor champions after losing just one game during the regular League season, the Knights gained a massive psychological advantage when they beat Rangers 17-8 in the qualifying semi-final at The Cross 13 days ago.

That meant Kippax earned last week off, while Bank made it through to Sunday’s big final showdown at the second attempt with a convincing 40-14 home triumph over Hemel Stags.

But there were more than enough signs that day to suggest Underbank will be far better equipped to gain revenge for that recent play-off setback.

With several key men returning against the Stags, including the inspirational Andy Boothroyd, Rangers began to re-discover the form that had made them almost unbeatable during the League campaign.

And with top quartet Stephen Berry, Sam Cummings, Shaun Smith and Craig Williams ready to return this week after injury, Knight has the luxury of picking from a full-strength squad.

Everything is in place, therefore, to ease the pain of the previous two Grand Finals.

“This has been a fantastic season and to reach the last three Grand Finals is a tremendous achievement,” said Knight, who is again expected to partner scrum half Neil Barrett at half-back.

“Lifting the League Leader’s Shield the other week was obviously a very special moment for everyone at the club who has worked so hard to get us here, and for me to then be named the Coach of the Year was a massive honour.

“But Sunday’s prize is the one we want more than anything, and the fact we’ve lost the Grand Final on the two previous occasions makes us even more determined not to fail again. There’s nothing worse than losing the biggest game of the season.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to draw on the experience of the past two years when we make the trip again on Sunday and use that to our advantage.

“Although it’s been another long, hard season, we’ve got a full-strength squad to pick from, which means I’ve some tough selection calls to make.

“But with everyone available we don’t have any excuses. We know if we focus on doing what we do best and make sure we win that forward battle we can do it.”

Knight knows, however, that in Kippax Knights his side faces a massive challenge.

Although they are relatively new to the Conference National scene, their squad doesn’t lack big-match experience.

In the likes of Chris Redfearn, Andy Speake and Leon Williamson, they boast players who have competed at the professional level and have been at the heart of the Kippax success story – something of which the cautious Knight is only too well aware.

“They are a very good side, as they unfortunately proved against us in the play-offs the other week,” added Knight, who is being aided on the coaching front by former Giants hooker Darren Turner.

“And their win that day was certainly no fluke, they thoroughly deserved it.

“But, at the same time, we didn’t turn up and paid the price for failing to perform.

“We know what went wrong that day and what we need to put right. If we do that we know the win will be ours!”