TERRIGAL Avoca stalwart Jayson Van Dam celebrated his 300th appearance, a win and a minor premiership all in the same game as the Panthers downed Nelson Bay Marlins to secure first place in the men's Black Diamond Cup on Saturday.
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Heading into the clash at Dick Burwell Oval, the Panthers were level on points with second-placed Cardiff but held a superior for-and-against record.
![Jayson Van Dam played his 300th senior game in Terrigal Avoca's win over Nelson Bay on Saturday. Picture supplied Jayson Van Dam played his 300th senior game in Terrigal Avoca's win over Nelson Bay on Saturday. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/c6fc7ce6-1651-4857-aa83-e6e82c4cf831.jpg/r0_65_1080_720_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
All they needed was a win but they handed the Marlins an 85-point shellacking.
The home side held their own in the opening quarter to trail 25-12, but the visitors turned up the heat after the break scoring 11 goals to one from then on. The final score was 15.16 (106) to 3.3 (21).
Van Dam's 300th milestone includes 295 senior club games and five representative appearances.
The 36-year-old has played all but one season since 2004, missing 2016 to have a wrist reconstruction.
"It's been a long time," he said. "It's pretty humbling.
![Van Dam in 2017. Picture by Marina Neil Van Dam in 2017. Picture by Marina Neil](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/max.mckinney/2cdeccaf-e8ce-44ac-8e3f-2254d8adcb84.jpg/r0_0_4146_2754_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"It's 300 games, but it's a lifetime of friendships and memories. I've been playing for Terrigal Avoca since 1997, when I was a 10 year old. I just loving playing sport and how social it is."
The victory was Terrigal's eighth in a row and sealed top spot and next week off.
They'll play the winner of the qualifying final (second vs third), either Cardiff or Newcastle City, who meet on neutral turf at Adelaide Street Oval next Saturday.
"The comp is very even from one to five," Van Dam said. "Maitland pushed Killarney Vale and that will be an interesting match up between four and five.
"It's anyone's game, and that's pretty exciting because it hasn't been like that for a number of years."
Cardiff 18.18 (126) cruised to victory over The Entrance-Bateau Bay 4.4 (28). Maitland 6.6 (42) will have home-ground advantage when they meet Killarney Vale 8.4 (64) again in next week's elimination final.
Killarney Vale and Cardiff won their women's fixtures.