But with injured skipper Tom Lance reduced to scorekeeper with his bandaged ACL, leading wicket taker Robbie Power having made unchangeable travel plans months ago and allrounder Brendon Walker acting as 12th man because he had to leave by 3.30pm for a wedding, there was no 'cometh the hour, cometh the man' moment.
"We were understrength today and it really showed, especially in our batting," said captain Gerard Hobbs.
"The top 6 was probably our key. But [Paraparaumu] deserved it.
"It's depressing because we've dominated so much in this Coastal Challenge. The boys are pretty gutted."
Paraparaumu were in a similar boat as their chances rested on the shoulders of 2-3 players, and when United's Ritesh Verma (2-41) trapped Andre Halbert (29) in front to break the 49-run partnership with Kelsey Fahey (21), Paraparumu were scrambling as United's attack of Ben Toyne (3-36), James Pennefather (3-25) and sole remaining spinner Dylan Martin (1-14 from 10) stepped up in the absence of others.
But Subasinghe (39) weathered the storm while Bohmer (21) added priceless runs from No10 in a 54-run stand over 14 overs to give Paraparaumu a total they could work with in the circumstances.
Without Lance to anchor the run chase, neither United opening batsmen Allistar Bostock or Matthew Boswell could get going, while the promoted Hobbs and Verma were undone by a fired-up Bohmer.
Badger joined Smith and they worked single after single around the park to keep the scoreboard ticking over and ahead of the small required run rate.
But nagging doubt remained as everyone wondered when Paraparaumu would pull the trigger and reintroduced Subasinghe for his remaining overs, and the answer came in the 39th as with his very first ball of the new spell, the paceman would remove Smith's middle stump.
The game was all but decided by that moment and when Badger misread Emmott's flight and was bowled in the next over, Paraparaumu closed in for the kill.
Only Toyne (12 not out) was able to hold up under the strain, but no-one else could stay with him before joining the long line of United batsmen heading back to the pavilion with heads bowed.
Scoreboard
Paraparaumu
C Emmott c M Boswell b S Badger 1
A Halbert lbw b R Verma 29
K Fahey ct G Hobbs b J Pennefather 21
R Lorimer b R Verma 7
N Harvey ct G Hobbs b B Toyne 16
R Subasinghe b J Pennefather 39
J Logan ct M Boswell b D Martin 2
S Windle b B Toyne 0
D McNamara b B Toyne 5
J Bohmer not out 21
J Singh b J Pennefather 0
Extras: 18
Total: 159 in 46.3 overs.
Bowling: B Toyne 10 overs, 0 maidens, 36 runs, 3 wickets; S Badger 8-0-25-1; J Pennefather 6.3-0-25-3; R Verma 10-1-41-2; D Martin 10-3-14-1; G Hobbs 1-0-10-0.
United
A Bostock run out (K Fahey) 2
M Boswell lbw b S Windle 1
G Hobbs ct D McNamara b J Bohmer 9
G Smith b R Subasinghe 52
R Verma b J Bohmer 0
S Badger b C Emmott 32
S Holloway run out (J Bohmer/R Subasinghe) 5
A Marsh b C Emmott 0
B Toyne not out 12
J Pennefather b J Bohmer 0
D Martin b R Subasinghe 1
Extras: 19.
Total: 133 in 47.2 overs.
Bowling: S Windle 5-1-10-1; D McNamara 7-0-20-0; J Singh 5-0-18-0; J Bohmer 6-1-17-3; N Harvey 10-1-31-0; R Subasinghe 9.2-1-13-2; J Logan 2-1-7-0; C Emmott 3-0-7-2.
Result: Paraparaumu won by 26 runs