2003 Chatham Cup Final

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Uni-Mount Come From Behind To Make History

by Jeremy Ruane

Melville United’s Bluebird Chatham Cup dream ended in disappointment at North Harbour Stadium on August 17, as competition giants University-Mt. Wellington rewrote the history books by coming from behind to win 3-1, and, in doing so, become the first team to win the cup for a seventh time.

But they were made to work hard for their place in Chatham Cup history by the plucky Hamilton-based combination, who came north with an army of support which were a credit to themselves and the players and officials they were backing to the hilt.

Melville’s masses made the match as a spectacle, and their noise levels would have been heard back in Hamilton in the fourth minute of the final, as United secured a dream start.

Stu Watene had already tested the gloves of Tamati Williams inside 63 seconds, but this time round, a raking clearance allowed him to take on the experienced Sean Douglas in a straight sprint for the ball. The Uni-Mount man won the race, but quickly lost his balance, gifting possession to the man whose goal fired Melville to the final.

Watene was like a fox in a hen-house, and Uni-Mount were ripe for the plucking. As cool as you like, the dreadlocked destroyer drilled the ball home via the inside of the near post to set the game alight in fine fashion.

End-to-end action ensued for the next three minutes, as Uni-Mount first sought a quick riposte - Melville scrambled clear before Heath McCormack could capitalise on Joe Waugh’s left-wing raid.

The Auckland side were quickly on the back foot, however, as Jeremy Field ignored Steven Holloway’s clever off-the-ball run, and rewarded an even better one by the overlapping Grant Cooper with a pass to his feet. The fullback let fly, only for Williams to smother the effort, and launch another Uni-Mount raid.

This time, Andrew Griffiths was given licence to raid down the right, and duly whipped in a cross which McCormack only just failed to make contact with, United goalkeeper Eddie Trubshoe prevailing at his near post.

On the quarter-hour in one of the livelier starts to a Bluebird Chatham Cup Final in recent memory, Uni-Mount had a great chance to equalise, but somehow contrived to make a pig’s ear of a wonderful opening. Douglas’ ball forward found McCormack raiding through the inside-left channel, and after taking the ball on, the striker laid it back perfectly for an incoming team-mate.

There were two, Tetsamuru Kimura and Daniel Ellensohn. Incredibly, both got in each other’s way, allowing Melville to scramble the sphere to safety.

It was a let-off repeated three minutes later. This time, a slick one-two down the left between Waugh and Griffiths saw the former angle a low cross towards McCormack. Melville’s captain, Gavin Douglas, intervened to thwart the threat on this occasion.

After the frantic opening stanza, the game began to settle, with Uni-Mount increasingly beginning to dictate the pace of the encounter. On the half-hour, Trubshoe saved at the second attempt from McCormack, before smothering a long-range effort from the lively Waugh six minutes later, as a nasty squall and a chill wind swept in from the south and down the ground.

Melville’s first shot in half-an-hour emanated from the boot of Holloway seconds later, but Williams was right behind the twenty-yard strike.

His clearance sparked another Uni-Mount raid which culminated in Griffiths pirouetting this way and that before letting fly with a shot which Trubshoe covered well, in much the same manner he dealt with Waugh’s twenty-yard free-kick three minutes before half-time, after referee Derek Rugg had ruled in favour of the Uni-Mount striker when he fell during a raid.

Seconds later, a key tactical change came about when Uni-Mount introduced the burly figure of Paul Bunbury to the frame, in place of injured fullback Theary Thou. The change meant Uni-Mount suddenly boasted a key presence in central midfield, and it was this alteration, more than anything else, which saw the tide turn the way of the frequent cup winners.

The second half saw frequent streams of white-clad bodies charging relentlessly towards the northernmost goal at North Harbour Stadium, and it was during this phase that Trubshoe proved his worth to the side.

The goalkeeper saved a rasping twenty-five yarder from McCormack in the 48th minute, turning the shot round the post for a Bunbury corner, which was cleared to Kimura. The Japanese midfielder conjured up a delightful through ball which deceived Trubshoe, but also deceived the wrong-footed figure of Stefan Hollard, who had been similarly bemused moments earlier, as Uni-Mount set about securing an equaliser with a vengeance.

Five minutes later, Gavin Douglas - a tower in Melville’s defence - blocked a Griffiths cross. The ball fell to Jeremy Field, who was promptly robbed in broad daylight by Waugh - his was a strong display. The striker cracked in a shot on the turn which had Trubshoe scrambling to save superbly low to his left by the post.

Seconds later, Waugh guided a free header wide of the mark, as Griffiths picked him out with a free-kick. But such was the volume of chances being created by Uni-Mount that the no-longer-noisy Melville fans were now dreading the inevitable.

It came in the 58th minute, and was a classic opportunist strike from a player whose performance fully merited a goal. Williams’ raking clearance was flicked on by McCormack towards Waugh, who bustled between both Cole Tinkler and Josh Billman to lob the ball over the stranded Trubshoe - 1-1, and a very well-taken equaliser at that.

Four minutes later, Melville somehow survived as a teasing cross-shot from Hollard was pawed out by the back-pedalling Trubshoe. It encouraged the Hamiltonians to pick up their play, and in the 68th minute, only a despairing lunge from Tim Broadhurst prevented Holloway from volleying home in fine style, after Watene had manoeuvred to the right-hand byline.

Back came Uni-Mount, Griffiths and McCormack, who held the ball up well, combining to present Waugh with a chance. Billman intervened to concede a corner on this occasion, and Griffiths’ delivery into the danger zone wasn’t cleared. McCormack, with his back to goal, pounched on the ball, and cracked a superb swivelling volley goalwards on the turn. Sadly for the striker, Trubshoe was right behind it, but McCormack’s time was nigh.

When that time came, it owed much to good fortune, for there is no doubt that the striker was in an offside position when Gavin Douglas’ clearance cannoned off Waugh to the feet of his closely-supporting team-mate.

Referee Rugg and his eagle-eyed assistance, Paul Dalziel, both agreed that play should continue, however, there being no intent in Waugh’s actions - the ball struck him, not the other way round. This left McCormack free to run at goal, and from fifteen yards out, he crashed the ball past Trubshoe into the far corner of the net to put Uni-Mount 2-1 in front, albeit controversially.

It was the death knell for Melville, whose plucky performance, both en route to and in the final itself had won them many friends. But try as they might, tiring legs couldn’t stem the tide and create any further openings of their own, which gave Uni-Mount the chance, in the dying minutes, to put the issue beyond doubt.

Both McCormack and Waugh fired wide of the mark in the last four minutes before the former struck the cup-clinching strike in the ninetieth minute, his shot arrowing into the corner of the net from the edge of the area after Kimura and Waugh had combined on the left.

Melville left with their heads held high, memories of their greatest day and the Bob Smith Memorial Trophy, awarded to the runners-up in the Bluebird Chatham Cup Final.

Sterling Uni-Mount defender Kara Waetford picked up the Jack Batty Memorial Trophy for his man-of-the-match display - despite being involved in an inclement incident with Matt Parkin in the second spell. But he and his team-mates had an even bigger prize to celebrate - the premier trophy in New Zealand club soccer, for the seventh time in thirty-one years.

Melville: Trubshoe; Billman, Tinkler, Douglas, Cooper; Gibbs (Glen-Watson, 65), Wilkinson (Hookes, 65), Field, Parkin (Yugov, 79); Holloway, Watene

Uni-Mount: Williams; Broadhurst, Waetford, Douglas, Thou (Bunbury, 42); Griffiths, Hollard, Kimura; Ellensohn (Root, 85), McCormack, Waugh (Ashton, 90)

Referee: Derek Rugg

Scoring: Melville: S. Watene (4)

Uni-Mount: J. Waugh (58), H. McCormack (76, 88)

Chatham Cup