That shaking leg turned into screams of joy as he converted to make it three premierships in a row for Western Districts.

It had finished 3-all against Central at Lyneham on Saturday, sending it into a penalty shoot-out to decide it.

That finished 3-all as well after each team had their five shots, sending it to sudden death with Atkin scoring the winner.

To complete the groups of three, Wests had three players remaining in the side from the last time that had a threepeat of premierships - captain Lachlan Johnstone, Garry Backhus and Adam Baxter.

"I was confident, but I was nervous at the same time," Atkin said.

"I was saying to one of my friends afterwards that my back leg was shaking. Apart from that I thought I was OK."

If losing a penalty shoot-out wasn't heart-breaking enough for Central, they had a chance to win it right at the end.

Having come back to level it from 3-1 down with six minutes remaining, they had a penalty corner to win it with three seconds remaining.

They couldn't convert it, with Ben Craig's hat-trick having gotten them back in the game to counter Wests defender James Jewell's hat-trick.

All three of Jewell's goals came from penalty corners, while Craig converted two of his own and scored a nice back-hand goal in general play as well.

Wests controlled the game early, with Atkin's skills especially influential in the middle of the pitch.

But Central were able to close down Wests' space and changed the momentum in the second half as they pressed towards the end.

"We were a chance. That's the main thing. We changed things up a bit and tried to put some heat on," Central midfielder Matt Hotchkis said.

"It was a good result to get the corner, but they've got a good defence. Execution wasn't 100 per cent, but we were always a chance to do it. Wasn't to be."

It was also took a penalty shoot-out for ANU to claim a threepeat of their own. It finished 1-all before they beat Tuggeranong 4-2 in the shoot-out.

AT A GLANCE

WESTERN DISTRICT 3 (James Jewell 3, 30, 54) bt CENTRAL 3 (Ben Craig 46, 56, 58). Wests won 5-4 in a shoot out.

ANU 1 (Kelby Pointon) bt TUGGERANONG (Rebecca Lee) 1. ANU won 4-2 in a shoot out.