Some speculated it would be the last occasion 300-game veteran skipper Nathan Morris would line up at Rockwell Automation Park, while freshly shorn flyer Chris Hurley was celebrating a century of appearances for the club and incoming 2023 coach Kew Jaliens was in attendance to run his eye over his future charges.

The now more aerodynamic Hurley made early inroads as he played in Aaron Niyonkuru at the front post, with the latter's attempt being blocked inside the first five minutes of the match.

Morris' afternoon would be curtailed early, replaced due to injury after ten minutes by Jake Brownlow, who looked to make an immediate impact by latching on to a Ben Clouten cross but skewed his attempt on the bounce.

Lakes would undoubtedly have been keen to avoid a wooden spoon finish, having lost each of their past 12 games, but the Bears defence were well organised and offered few opportunities for a breakthrough.

At the other end, Paul Sichalwe let fly with an ambitious driven attempt in the 16th minute after collecting the scraps of a miscued clearance, but his strike finished well wide of the mark.

Another Sichalwe speculator in the 21st minute was this time high of the mark, before a promising move two minutes later was brought to a premature end by the linesman's offside flag.

Cooper Sargent went within a whisker of finding the opener in the 29th minute, his low drive from the edge of the box beating everyone but crashing into the base of the post. Sam Kamper's headed attempt off the resultant corner made its way just over the bar.

Niyonkuru had a crack in the 34th minute from the edge of the box, but he failed to keep the ball down and the Lakes defence were let off the hook.

The hosts would not be made to wait much longer for the deadlock to be broken, however, as a deft Joey O'Connor chip was superbly headed home by Niyonkuru at the near post in the 38th minute. It was no less than the Bears had deserved on the balance of play.

The visitors were struggling to find their way out of second gear, seemingly always a half step behind their opponents in terms of both impetus and inspiration.

But as Brownlow's near post header in the 45th minute finished wide of the right post, the score would remain unchanged at the interval, giving Lakes the opportunity to find their way back into the contest if they could produce some added vigour after the restart.

The intensity shown by the Bears during the opening exchanges of the second stanza suggested they did not intend to simply sit on their lead.

A string of shots and corners almost culminated in a second goal, as Clouten's curling effort in the 50th minute after beating his marker kissed the crossbar, before his further attempt less than a minute later drew a low save.

The Bears onslaught showed no signs of abating, as Niyonkuru went within a whisker of a spectacular curler from the edge of the box in the 54th minute.

He drew an athletic low save in the 58th minute with a 20-yard attempt that he failed to quite connect cleanly with, and for the second straight week it seemed as if the footballing gods were conspiring against a second Bears goal.

It would take until the 80th minute for the Bears to finally double their advantage, a well deserved lead that they would defend until the final whistle.

It was an emphatic and authoritative win for the Bears, who were dominant in general play and had the overwhelming weight of attacking opportunities in their favour.

The Bears will have next weekend off before wrapping up their 2022 campaign on the following Sunday with a trip to take on Newcastle Olympic.

Fresh off an impressive victory over Maitland, Olympic are looking to emerge from a logjam of sides contesting a finals berth. The Bears will fancy themselves to play spoiler in what promises to be an entertaining clash.