IT WAS sweet revenge for the Hyundai Gunners last night.

One of the best teams in the land, Gunners cemented their reputation by winning the 3rd MB Invitational Cup Softball Tournament by beating the New Zealand Demons 2-0.

They had earlier lost to the visitors 1-0 in the semi-final, a result which saw the New Zealanders straight through to the final.

A 8-2 win against PLK Zombies saw the Gunners through to the decider at the Royal Brunei Polo field in Jerudong.

Two down in the first inning, Gunners' third batter Mark Ramirez hit a solid line drive to the right field for a home-run.

The Gunners held on to the slim 1-0 lead until the fifth inning, when Apollonio Rosales stole home base after a fumble by the Demons catcher.

"It was tight, nail-biting stuff," said Gunners' coach Abdul Kani Sapian after the match.

"We won because of our better communication and teamwork, and we also had a good strategy," added the coach, who has seen his team clinch two of the three tournaments they have joined this year.

The team won the Wanderers Softball Challenge Cup for the third consecutive time after beating the tournament namesakes 8-1 in April.

Played in a page system, Demons and Gunners topped Group A and Group B of yesterday's five-day tournament, with Black Arrows and PLK Zombies second in the respective groups.

PLK Zombies beat Black Arrows 7-5 in their semi-final match to book a berth in the match against Gunners. PLK Zombies finished the tournament third.

A total of nine teams competed in this year's edition.

Demons and Black Arrows were joined by Tsunami and Wasabi in Group A while Group B consisted of Gunners, PLK Zombies, Kensei, Wanderers and Wizard.

The prize presentation and closing ceremony of the tournament will be held at the Millineum Restaurant at 7:30 tonight.-Jason ThomasThe Brunei Times