Central's Cup Of Joy by Jeremy Ruane One of the all-time-great Chatham Cup Final comebacks took place at Park Island on September 27, as Central United came from 2-0 down to beat Napier City Rovers 3-2 after extra time to win their first major honour. Key to the final outcome was a twelve minute period of play around the hour mark, as three substitutions took place which altered the course of the game. The first of them saw the introduction of Paul Urlovic to the fray in the 58th minute for Central. Roy Stanger, Napier's coach, then pulled off the versatile Perry Cotton seven minutes later, to which United's player-coach, Billy Harris, responded by taking himself off, in the process giving Mathew Urlovic licence to carve holes in Napier's rearguard. Prior to these sideline activities, Napier were in command, to the tune of 2-0, and Central's hopes of a first-ever Chatham Cup win were fast disappearing. They began brightly enough - only the desperate defending of Andy Rennie prevented Wynton Rufer's shot at an initially unguarded net from crossing the line in the seventh minute. Scott Farrington was next to be denied by the All White stalwart three minutes later, before Napier finally began to find their feet, much to the delight of the largely local supporters. Keith Oliver, who went on to have a superb game in the heart of the home team's midfield, went close after seventeen minutes, after a good build-up down the left featuring Cotton. Rufer sent one flashing past the upright in the 25th minute, while on the half hour, Napier's goalkeeper, Colin "'Orrible" Hunwick, produced the first save of note in the match, a fine one-hander low to his left-hand upright to foil Ivan Vicelich, who had headed goalwards on receipt of a Terry Torrens free-kick. As the game approached the break, Napier seemed to find another gear, for Central's defence was suddenly forced to operate as if under siege. A timely tackle by Greg Uhlmann in the 37th minute denied Cotton in the act of shooting, and the former Scunthorpe United professional headed an Oliver corner over two minutes later. Martin Akers was next to chance his arm, but Peter Evans, Central's shot-stopper, did just that. He was powerless to prevent the recalled All White from opening the scoring in the 41st minute, however, Akers rising high on the far post to meet Cotton's measured cross with a powerful header. The same combination just failed to extend Napier's lead seconds later, so "The Blues" advantage was just one goal at the interval. They soon extended it, but not before enduring a couple of scares. Torrens hit a screamer on the run from twenty yards which Hunwick did extremely well to save, while Rufer whipped a snapped volley over the top on the turn, on receipt of an Uhlmann header following a Michael Loftus corner. Napier zoomed onto the attack again, but Evans proved himself equal to the 51st minute incident, much to Cotton's frustration. The striker was put through by Oliver, only for Evans to parry his shot, then somehow divert the rebound over the crossbar with his legs. The resulting corner was twice taken, and the clearance of the second effort found Oliver, twenty-five yards out from goal on the angle. From near the edge of the penalty area, he curled home a beauty into the top far corner of the net - 2-0. Napier threatened to go to town at this point, with Tinoi Christie heading inches over, and Akers denied by Torrens' goal-line clearance on the hour. But Cotton's withdrawal in favour of the pacy Rupert Ryan seemed, somehow, to blunt Napier's attack, and Central weren't slow to take up the slack, particularly as they now boasted the more exciting forward line on the pitch. The harnessing of the undoubted talents of Rufer with the huge potential of the Urlovic brothers gave Napier's defence a major headache which, perhaps, the presence of Cotton could well have assisted with. But he was gone, so it up to Rennie and company to stem the red-chequered tide which now began pouring towards them with increasing regularity for the remaining twenty minutes. The barriers were broken through twice in a minute with fifteen minutes remaining. The source of the first goal was Vicelich, making an adventurous run forward into Napier's penalty area before teeing up Paul Urlovic, who gleefully hammered the ball into the roof of the net. No sooner had Napier kicked off from this setbacl, they were picking the ball out of the net again. This time Mathew Urlovic was the architect, as down the right he strode. A pass inside for brother Paul, saw him sweep the ball across to the far post, where Rufer ghosted in to lift the ball over Hunwick for a most delicate equaliser. Napier were shaken, but responded through Akers, who pounced on an Evans error in the 83rd minute, a blunder compounded by Uhlmann losing his footing at the vital moment. The goal was at the striker's mercy, but he somehow curled his shot wide of the target. Rufer and Warren Gilbertson exchanged efforts before the final whistle, while Central's front trio were in unison again in stoppage time, only for Wayne Atkins to step in to clear the danger at the death. A 2-2 draw at full-time meant that, for the first time since 1990, the Chatham Cup Final would see thirty minutes of extra-time played. The first fifteen minutes passed largely without incident, the legs of Evans denying a Dave Watson drive in the 98th minute. But Central had their tails up, and in the 106th minute, they hit the front. The move which completed the scoring began near half-way. Mathew Urlovic, Matt Fowler and Jeff Keskic flummoxed Jason New and friends with some one-touch passing which left Fowler scampering away in pursuit of Urlovic's through ball. He got to the byline and, despite Rennie's presence, got the cross in. Paul Urlovic, who had moved to the near post, coolly clipped the ball over the despairing dive of Hunwick to give Central the lead. Suddenly, Napier's fans weren't singing anymore!! Chants of "Central, Central" were now to the fore, as the "Red Chequers" held out for time. They almost didn't make it, however, with first Ryan, then fellow substitute Ross Goodacre, going close. The latter's effort was superbly stopped by Evans with time all but up. Seconds later, it was, and the cup was Central's. Central:      Evans; Vicelich (booked, 116), Torrens (Vuksich, 98), Uhlmann; Fowler, Farrington, Hill, Keskic (booked, 11), Loftus (P. Urlovic, 58); Harris (M. Urlovic, 70), Rufer Napier:      Hunwick; Atkins, Watson (Goodacre, 98), Rennie (booked, 28), New; Gilbertson, Kennedy, Oliver, Christie (booked, 24) (Parker, 95); Akers, Cotton (Ryan, 65) Referee:     Steve Sargent (Wellington) Scoring:     Central:   P. Urlovic (75, 106), W. Rufer (76)                   Napier:   M. Akers (41), K. Oliver (52)