2008 Chatham Cup Final

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Own Goal Hands Bays Maiden Chatham Cup Win

by Jeremy Ruane

A nightmarish own goal from Dunedin Technical captain John Chisholm proved enough for East Coast Bays to win the Chatham Cup for the first time in their history on September 13.

The 1-0 win, in front of just under 3000 fans at North Harbour Stadium, was due reward for Bays, who always held the edge over the southerners in a final which offered plenty of perspiration and aggression, but at the expense of inspiration and finesse.

A sixth minute opportunity - Aaron Burgess was forced to hurdle Bays' goalkeeper Aidan Gwilt as the `keeper saved at the onrushing striker's feet near the edge of the penalty area - was all Tech managed to muster in the early stages of a first half in which they were certainly competitive. It was just that the North Harbour team was even more so.

There were plenty of crosses from both teams, but determined defending staved off the bulk of these openings, and it was left to the cultured left boot of Jeff Campbell to contrive Bays' first genuine goalscoring opportunity, his wickedly struck 24th minute free-kick curling narrowly over the crossbar.

Gwilt foiled Andy Coburn soon afterwards as the Dunedin midfielder surged forward from midfield, before referee Mike Hester - who wielded the yellow card on four occasions and could easily have issued plenty more, such was the aggressive nature of the match - denied Bays a penalty on the half-hour when already cautioned Dunedin defender Blair Scoullar shoulder-charged Cup Final MVP Ryan Zoghby off the ball inside the area.

Bays, Zoghby in particular, had their revenge five minutes later, when a long throw-in from the fullback was flicked back towards his own goal by Chisholm. Goalkeeper Nick Tarrant and Scoullar were slow to react to the incoming threat, and by the time the latter did so, it was too late.

Chisholm's header had crossed the line before Scoullar launched his spectacular and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to execute a goal-line clearance via the crossbar.

Their tails up at having been gifted the lead, Bays sought a goal of their own straight away, with Campbell's 36th minute corner being punched out by Tarrant as far as Legh Kenyon. Bays' captain unleashed a twenty-yard screamer which travelled just three - Sam Jasper took one for the team with a magnificent kamikaze-style block, the ball cannoning to safety off the Dunedin midfielder.

There was still confusion aplenty in Dunedin's rearguard after the own goal, which was in evidence again just two minutes later. A raking clearance from Gwilt saw Campbell Parkin head the ball behind the advancing figure of Tarrant, who was heading out of his penalty area to deal with the threat. A swift about-face saw the goalkeeper retrieve the situation before any of Bays' players could capitalise.

A half-time dousing from the heavens seemed well in keeping with the rain-soaked nature of the season as a whole as its showpiece fixture brought the curtain down on the winter campaign. It certainly slickened the pitch for the second half, in which a Dunedin goal at the right end of the park was crucial to their hopes of taking the trophy south.

Burgess, as he did in the first spell, threatened again in the early stages, weaving his way cleverly past three defenders before undoing all his good work with a tame shot at Gwilt, who was little troubled thereafter.

His opposite number, Tarrant, was far busier, saving splendidly with his legs to deny Jack Beguely in the 51st minute, after Kenyon had played the flank player through. And after Jason McKeown had shot across the face of goal seconds later, a teasing cross from Daniel Peat intended for McKeown was spilled by Tarrant, only for the `keeper to retrieve the situation as the ball fell behind the Bays man.

On the hour, McKeown was foiled again, this time by Chisholm's vital clearance of a low cross from Peat, after he and Joe Bresnahan had opened up Dunedin's left flank. Six minutes later, a twenty-five yard grasscutter from Campbell careered narrowly past Tarrant's left-hand post as Bays kept plugging away for what would surely be a second, cup-clinching goal.

Twelve minutes from time, they were somehow denied it by a superb save from Tarrant. Kenyon and McKeown combined to provide Peat with the chance to let fly, and his rasping drive looked to have Dunedin's `keeper beaten. But Tarrant, while falling, flung his arms up to tip the ball round the post in spectacular fashion, and keep the crowd on tenterhooks.

After Burgess and Peat exchanged off-target efforts inside the final ten minutes, Dunedin pounded away in a desperate search for an equaliser which just wouldn't come - be it the bounce of the ball or Bays putting bodies on the line to preserve their advantage, the southerners were destined to head home with the Bob Smith Memorial Trophy, the prize awarded to the runners-up in New Zealand's domestic showpiece final.

Because at the sound of the final whistle, the boisterous East Coast Bays fans erupted in joy - their maiden Chatham Cup Final had a storybook ending, although John Chisholm and his Dunedin Technical team-mates will beg to differ.

Dunedin: Tarrant; Chidley (Lang, 75), Chisholm (booked, 38), Scoullar (booked, 24), Prattley (Smith, 64 (booked, 65)); Flaws (Dale, 87), Jasper, Coburn, Parkin; McKenzie, Burgess

Bays: Gwilt; Forrest, Hyde, Suri, Zoghby; McKeown (Estrin, 84), Kenyon, Bresnahan (booked, 17), Campbell; Beguely (Webster, 69), Peat

Referee: Mike Hester

Chatham Cup