While disappointed with the result, he was “stoked” with the showing of his team.
He said United’s comeback showed anything could happen in football.
Still only 25, Cranswick has handled the twin responsibilities of attack leader and coach with a cool head this year.
Asked about his first season as a player-coach, he said, “I can’t complain.”
With the title race over, United would target the Bailey Cup knockout competition.
ReliefThistle Massive coach John Stirton was relieved his side held out, and not surprised that United came back at them.
“They always give you 90 minutes of hard slog . . . right to the end, and good on them,” he said.
“They took it to us.”
Last year Massive won the league on goal difference from United, in second place, and Carpet Court Thistle, in third.
On Saturday, Childers Road Reserve was in good nick and the weather stayed benign for a game that lived up to expectations.
Thistle went ahead after 20 minutes when Mitchell Turner scored a breakaway goal, but 30 seconds later United were level.
Cranswick spirited his way past three defenders on the left flank and curled his shot in at the far post.
Fifteen minutes later Thistle striker Nic Somerton scored with a good header from a right-wing cross by David Ure.
Cranswick struck again five minutes before the break when his shot rebounded to him off keeper Mario Hatzilamprou, and he was able to guide it into the net.
Thistle went into the lead again in the 66th minute, when Somerton scored a poacher’s goal, capitalising on a defensive mix-up to poke the ball past keeper Cody Keepa.
Eleven minutes later, Ure seemed to have put the match beyond United when he scored a delightful goal.
Advancing from halfway, he decided against a pass to Turner, who looked to be offside.
Instead, he ran directly at the last defender, pushed the ball past him on one side, ran round him on the other, and slotted it home.
United wasted no time in their response. Two minutes later a Cranswick snapshot brought a good save from Hatzilamprou.
In the 80th minute, midfielder Craig Christophers popped up on the right side of Thistle’s penalty area and crossed for Cranswick, whose first-time shot was just wide.
In the 83rd, midfielder Aaron Graham brought United back into the game when he curled a free kick just too far away from the keeper for him to get a strong enough touch on it.
Hooked a volleyThen in the 85th, Cranswick hooked in a volley from 10 metres, and Thistle’s hold on the league title looked shaky.
But Thistle refused to fold. United had the momentum, but Massive had players chasing back from all parts of the field to give their defence a hand.
Thistle’s man of the match was Max Mika. He started in midfield but had a more defensive role in the second half.
Stirton gave him the “Cranswick detail”, instructing him to pick up the United danger man every time a Thistle attack broke down.
“He did an excellent job,” Stirton said.
“He was strong in the air and put his body on the line. And when he won the ball, he was able to use it constructively.”
Thistle lost influential midfielders Kane Stirton and Chris Spurr, who were injured in the first half. Stirton went over on his left ankle and Spurr succumbed to a groin injury.
They had plenty of cover, though. Matt Smith had come in alongside Michael Rogers at the heart of their defence, in place of the injured Gareth Hopkins, and their combined experience was invaluable when Thistle were under the pump.
Emerson Araya on the right and Daniel Contreras and Shannon Dowsing on the left completed a solid rearguard that was only strengthened when Mika dropped deeper in the second spell.
In midfield, Jason Burgess and Turner played their usual wholehearted games and Ander Batarrita gave Thistle an extra dimension breaking forward.
Battles at midfieldUre showed he still has the ability to create something from next to nothing, and is at home in the nitty-gritty battles of midfield.
Up front, Somerton and Kieran Ryan showed the class that makes them dangerous anywhere near goal.
The sides were well matched, and a draw accurately reflected the ebb and flow of the game.
United were without skipper Jonathan Purcell but Jack Notting and Andy McIntosh were a tough and mobile combination. Notting is still at Lytton High School and if he leaves the district to further his education should be encouraged to keep playing football wherever he goes.
French rightback Arthur Fanon appears to have settled in nicely since his arrival at the start of the season, and leftback Jimmy Holden rarely puts a foot wrong.
Damon Husband has made the left-flank spot his own, and on the right flank Josh Baty is being indoctrinated in the United work ethic to add to his natural flair.
Central midfielders Graham and Christophers have a shared football history that goes back to Lytton High School, and play an understated game that is deceptively effective . . . they get the job done.
Jack Feyen is another Lytton student, a skilful player who has adapted well to Division 1 football. He could do worse than Cranswick for a football role model.
Thistle shut down Cranswick’s space in the second half, and he still found half a metre to get away the shot that levelled the score.
The game was well controlled by referee Mel Knight.
