Rod Stewart led his Renegades team to a second successive double as they clinched the Nicholl Shield at National Sports Club yesterday.

But it was far from plain sailing as their rejuvenated Police opponents pressed them all the way.

Skipper Stewart scored two of the league champions' three tries -- the other by Brad Adderley was sandwiched in between -- as Renegades made a confident start, opening up a 15-0 lead in the first quarter of the game.

But Police, who showed great spirit in coming from 12 points down to win against Teachers in last week's semi-final, again showed their determination, grabbing a fine try through Dave Lunn, easily converted, to haul them back to 15-7 by half time.

And it was only when Stewart reeled away from a tap free kick mid-way through the second-half for his second try, that the game seemed beyond Police's reach.

Stewart was happy enough with the result but agreed afterwards that it perhaps flattered his team.

"We did the job but it wasn't one of our more impressive performances,'' he said. "We started well and got two good scores. That was the game plan and it worked for the first 20 minutes.

"But after that we sat back and took it a bit easy.

"The boys thought it was going to be an easy afternoon and then Police got their tails up.'' Meanwhile, disappointment was etched all over defeated Police manager Andy Wright's face.

"We've got our club dinner next weekend and I hoped we would have the Shield on the table for that,'' he said.

It was hard not to feel sorry for Wright, who has had the awesome responsibility of organising both the First and Second XVs for the club this year. He has been forced to call on 75 players in all and didn't enjoy that winning feeling at first team level until March 25 when his side beat Teachers.

But he added: "We felt as though we prepared as well as we could have done.

We were better prepared than we have been all season.

"We had a difficult start but for the last 60 minutes the score was level and we competed at the same level.

"But there's no getting away from the fact that Renegades are a very good side.

"We had emphasised that the first 20 minutes was crucial. But they used two perfectly drilled moves from the line-outs and they completely threw us.

"We had our chances but we didn't take them and against this sort of opposition you have to do that.'' The game was barely five minutes old when Stewart forced his way over after a drive following a line-out on the Renegades right.

And it was a case of deja vu 15 minutes later when Adderley grounded the ball in almost exactly the same spot.

At that point it looked as if they would run up a cricket score as Police were having difficulty getting out of their own half, but the underdogs gradually began incursions into enemy territory.

And they fought their way back into the game shortly after the half-hour when a quick throw close to the flag on the Police left led to Renegades conceding a penalty in a central position.

Police elected to run it and Dave Lunn burst through with a powerful surge to score.

Their increasing self-belief almost brought them a second try on the stroke of half-time, again on a run from a penalty.

But this time Renegades' back line stayed strong, preventing their opponents from grounding the ball over the line and eventually gaining possession from a mass of players before kicking the ball to safety.

"I felt it was a mistake to run the ball then,'' Wright said. "I thought we should have taken the penalty kick as that would have put us within one score of them.'' In the opening match for the Robin Hood Trophy, Mariners defeated Teachers 14-0.

Police's defeat at the hands of Renegades yesterday's completed a heartbreaking week for the club.

The players went out onto the field with Steve Rollin, club secretary last season, uppermost in their thoughts.

Rollin had surgery last week in a Boston hospital after being taken ill and flown off the Island.

Manager Andy Wright said: "We dedicated this game to Steve.

"His son Alex was playing on the wing and I said to the players beforehand that we were going out to play for Steve.

"We're all keeping our fingers crossed for him.'' PILE UP -- Alan Gorbutt of Police (centre with headband) looks anxiously towards the referee for his decision during yesterday's Nicholl Shield final against Renegades. But it was Gades who finished top of the heap with a 22-7 victory that completed a league and cup double for a second year in a row.