2009 Chatham Cup Final

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Olympic Overhaul Three Kings To Claim Chatham Cup

by Jeremy Ruane

Wellington Olympic came from behind to down Three Kings United 2-1 and win the 2009 Chatham Cup Final - their maiden triumph in the competition - at North Harbour Stadium on 20 September.

Both teams had yet to be beaten in league or cup action this season, and when United took the lead inside the first three minutes, it gave the Northern League First Division leaders the ideal start in the campaign's showpiece fixture, a match they were bidding to win in memory of Ken Sargent, the club's long-serving stalwart, who died a week before the biggest date in Three Kings' history.

Glenn Eie roamed down the right before slipping the ball inside to Sam Mathews. His progress was thwarted by defenders, whose influence was suddenly negated by an outrageous back-heel from the midfielder, which set up Luiz Del Monte to thrash the ball past the stranded Nic Van Hattum from ten yards - 1-0 to the underdogs.

Straight from the kick-off, Olympic were awarded a free-kick just outside the United penalty area, and as the Auckland team sorted out their strategy to defend, former All White Raf de Gregorio whipped a quickly taken set-piece around the wall and against the crossbar.

Three Kings scrambled the rebound to safety, sparking a fairly even period of play in which goalscoring opportunities were few and far between, unlike infringements, very few of which attracted the attention of Wellington-based referee Jamie Cross, whose performance wasn't the most memorable display of match officiating ever witnessed at this stage of the competition.

The official let an awful lot of incidents go unchecked, an approach which nearly blew up in his face in the latter stages of the first half, a gathering of the clans and some increasingly reckless lunges and amateur dramatics finally prompting him to reach for the yellow card in first half stoppage time.

Plenty of other action took place before that stage was reached, however. Such as in the sixteenth minute, when Alejandro Blanco, Eie and Del Monte combined to send Stuart Hogg through. Van Hattum saved at the United player's feet.

Olympic responded four minutes later with a Mikey Halikias corner which zoomed across the goalmouth, all-comers failing to make contact with the sphere as the well-supported Wellingtonians chased an equaliser.

Del Monte was United's most influential player, and from the clearance of this corner, he galloped down the left flank at a great rate of knots, passing two players en route to Olympic's penalty area, whereupon he opted to pull the ball back instead of going for goal himself. The ball went behind the on-rushing Eie, and a great chance to double the lead went begging.

The same pair looked to combine again in the 23rd minute, but this time Van Hattum was on hand to prevent Eie from capitalising on Del Monte's inventiveness.

De Gregorio was having a sound game in the heart of Olympic's midfield, which was enjoying by far the better of the exchanges in this area of the park, with wide-men Chaz Lawrence and Jimmy Haidakis often benefiting from the toil of the white-clad trio in the engine room.

Their efforts earned another corner in the 29th minute, and this time Olympic had reason to celebrate - they were level. Halikias' corner sped towards the centre of the goalmouth, where Miroslav Malivuk rose to direct a header into the ground and up into the roof of United's net from six yards - 1-1, and a good striker's goal, too.

United were stunned by this setback, and came close to conceding a second goal in the minutes which followed. Haidakis caught fullback Tavis Gravatt in possession, and promptly let fly, his shot taking a deflection off hard-working defender Andre Sherard before Greg Walters got his hands on the ball.

The `keeper and his colleagues were found wanting ten minutes before half-time when overlapping fullback Scott Robson rampaged down the right and picked out the head of de Gregorio with a peach of a cross. The midfielder rose in between defenders to send a header crashing against Walters' right-hand post - desperately close!

Two minutes later, United raided down the right, earning a free-kick near the by-line. Del Monte's delivery saw Hugo Littlejohn climbing high to flick the ball on across goal. Eie was lurking, and saw his shot blocked by the defence, who failed to clear the threat adequately.

It allowed Eie the chance to retrieve the ball and try another approach, this time curling in a cross which saw Littlejohn, Hogg and Van Hattum arriving as one to meet the ball, with the extrovert `keeper - his pink outfit and matching Mohawk merely emphasise the fact - gathering the sphere.

Wellington Olympic celebrate winning the Chatham Cup

Three Kings' pre-match line-up

Luiz Del Monte (TKU) about to volley home the opening goal

Pink-clad custodian Nic Van Hattum (Olympic) saves as Stuart Hogg (TKU) flies in far too late

The gathering of the clans before half-time

Daniel Finlay (TKU) volleys narrowly over the bar late in the final

What goes up must come down, of course, and when Van Hattum hit the deck, Littlejohn landed right on top of him, an action he couldn't avoid, and to which the unsighted goalkeeper took umbrage. Cue a reaction from Hogg, and within seconds, there were players from both teams on the scene, exchanging “pleasantries”. Referee Cross appeared among them, and calmed the tensions impressively.

Within seconds, United were claiming a free-kick, Blanco having been impeded. The official waved play on, with Olympic benefiting through George Barbarouses' burst down the right. His cross for Malivuk saw Walters saving at his feet.

Four minutes before half-time, referee Cross was well placed to emphatically wave away United's appeals for a penalty after substitute Jesse Scott had gone to ground in the area.

The official was in a similar position two minutes before half-time, at the other end of the park. Lawrence's cross was headed out by Sherard to Haidakis, whose curling cross arced beyond Malivuk as he went down in the area. Referee Cross had a long look, and awarded a goal-kick.

The season-long unbeaten records of both clubs - 27 games for Three Kings, 24 for Olympic - appeared to catch up with them in the second half, with legs tiring and stoppages to treat incidents of cramp occurring long before the final whistle.

Resultingly, there weren't too many incidents of note of a goal-threatening nature in the second spell, any of those which involved United attacks invariably involving Del Monte. In the 53rd minute, his surging run took him past three opponents before he played the ball into Hogg, who went down a little too easily under Robson's challenge inside the penalty area.

Four minutes later, Sam Mathews' surge forward saw Del Monte linking with Eie to set up Hogg for a twenty yard effort which curled over the bar. From the resulting goal-kick, Van Hattum and Haidakis combined to release Robson down the right on the overlap, but no-one was on hand to do justice to his driven cross.

Twenty minutes from time, Hogg won an aerial duel and set up Del Monte, who ran at the retreating Olympic rearguard before directing a low twenty yard drive inches past Van Hattum's right-hand post. Would that miss be crucial?

It sure would! Sixteen minutes from time, Sam Mathews gifted possession to Barbarouses inside United's half. The midfielder powered downfield, and found himself confronted by Littlejohn as he entered the penalty area. The defender's challenge saw the Olympic man go to ground, again a little too easily, but this time referee Cross pointed to the penalty spot.

De Gregorio, later named winner of the Jack Batty Memorial Trophy as the Cup Final's star turn, sent Walters the wrong way from the twelve yard mark - 2-1 Olympic, much to the delight of their travelling army of supporters, who had seen their team produce a number of promising de Gregorio-inspired, Lawrence-led attacks - more often than not - in this half, only for nothing of substance to eventuate.

Something had now, though, and it meant United were chasing the game with time running out. Seven minutes from the end, substitute Daniel Finlay sent a fifteen-yard volley fizzing an inch over the bar - it was that close! - after Sam Mathews' cross had been headed down by another replacement, Jesse Van Kekem.

Del Monte then squandered a couple of set-piece opportunities either side of Van Hattum saving comfortably from Sam Mathews and again at the feet of Hogg after Blanco's shot had been deflected into the striker's path.

They continued to press, with Sherard and Van Kekem both going close, but time was the enemy of the team which is just one win away from the Northern League First Division title.

Instead, it was Olympic's day, and when the final whistle sounded, the celebrations began for a club which played twenty-five league and cup games in 2009, winning seventeen and drawing eight of them.

While they didn't win the Central Region Premier League with that impressive record, a maiden Chatham Cup win was more than adequate compensation for the 2009 victors, Wellington Olympic.

Three Kings: Walters; Joel Mathews, Littlejohn, Sherard, Gravatt (Van Kekem, 80); Del Monte, S. Mathews, Blanco, Hogg; Eie (Finlay, 58), Jacob Mathews (Scott, 8 (booked, 45))

Olympic: Van Hattum; Robson, Edwards (booked, 63), Lewis (booked, 49), Neonakis; Barbarouses (booked, 87), de Gregorio, Halikias; Haidakis, Malivuk, Lawrence

Referee: Jamie Cross

Chatham Cup