First up was Allan Contracting Thistle FC and Queens Park who contested the Edinburgh Trophy.
Thistle had the better of the opening 45 minutes and arguably should have been four or five goals to the good but had to settle for a 2-0 advantage at halftime.
The game went back and forth, each side defending then attacking. Park thought they had clawed a goal back after an attempted clearance by Israel Calder found his own net, but Park’s Jhon Payan was adjudged to have been offside in the build-up.
Moments later, though, Park did pull a goal back when Glenn Marshall was brought down in the area and he slotted home the resulting penalty to make it 2-1.
Thistle again created chances with the post and crossbar denying them as the clock ticked down. However, with only minutes remaining, Rob Williamson was on hand to calmly slot home at the back post to level the scores and send the match to penalties.
After an initial miss by Park, Thistle were unable to take advantage as penalties were traded with each side racking up miss after miss. Then Park’s Jhon Hurtado calmly slotted his effort beyond the Thistle keeper to take out the trophy.
It was a true cup final match in which both sides traded blows, and while Thistle will have been disappointed not to have sewn the game up in regular time, penalties are always a lottery. Park keeper Ben Birch was in outstanding form, denying Thistle with three top-class saves to take the trophy to Surrey Park for the summer.
The weather hampered the early part of the game when teams battled the elements rather than each other, but Winton drew first blood as Derek Bruin grabbed his first goal on 15 minutes to upset the odds and show Winton were here to play.
Gore kept up the pressure and levelled things up on the 35th minute through Ashton Wadsworth, only for Bruin to grab his second three minutes later to send Winton into the break 2-1 to the good.
Winton effectively put the game beyond Gore on the 71st minute as Stewart Catto grabbed Winton’s third to put the Central Southland side’s name on the cup and make it two trophies for the year. They had sealed the division one league title earlier in the season.
If Winton needed further proof they are a premier side, this should be it.
Last up was the SBS Knockout Cup between Pacific Radiology Old Boys AFC and iHire Thistle FC. Thistle was looking to bank the treble and were certainly favourites to do so after dominating the league and preseason tournament.
The match went to script with Thistle comfortably taking the game out, and despite the often blustery weather, it was a comfortable 2-0 win for the team in blue.
The win caps off a good year for the Thistle women who have won all major domestic honours this season. The win will provide them with something to smile about after the club’s men’s side went down in the Edinburgh Trophy final earlier in the day, and the premier men only making the first round of the Charity Cup after also falling short in the league, with the only other trophy, the Division Two Cup, joining the women’s haul for the year.
The club’s team of the year will be an easy pick this season.
The only remaining fixture is Old Boys’ SPL playoff game against Queenstown which is scheduled for this weekend in Queenstown.
The Waverley Park side will take to the pitch as Fletcher Cup champions after common sense prevailed and Mosgiel’s counter-appeal against Dunedin City Royals was upheld and Old Boys were returned to the top of the table as league champions.
The correct decision has been made concerning the appeal and Old Boys have rightly been named champions, but the debacle does serve up a warning to Southern Football that it needs to check the rule book to ensure consistency across the leagues which include Southland and Donald Gray.
There appears to have been many sub-rules created over the years in what looks to be an attempt to level the playing field against teams perceived as having an advantage.
Changing the rules to level the playing field is not the answer — this isn’t golf.
If you want to level the playing field, get better, train harder and compete on the field, not in the boardroom.
The rule book should be the same for all leagues and levels across New Zealand, then everyone knows where they stand. Promotion and relegation also needs some clarity as teams should know exactly what they are signing up for.
Southern Football shouldn’t be setting those parameters at the season end. It should be consistent year on year.
- By Chris Montgomery
