Wainui regained their composure and Dan Torrie — scorer of the second and fourth goals — even had a chance a minute before halftime to bring up his hat-trick, but keeper Seth Piper narrowed the angle and blocked the shot.
Earlier, Coates Associates Wainui Demons beat Gisborne Pro Roofing Bohemians 6-4 to win the Chris Moore Cup for Eastern League Division 2 teams and complete their league-and-cup double.
In the first game of the day, Gizzy Bobcat Services Thistle beat Smash Palace Shockers 2-1 to win the Poverty Bay Cup for Division 3 teams and also complete the league-and-cup double for their division.
All three finals were held on Childers Road Reserve's No.2 ground, as No.1 was deemed too wet for even one game.
Heavy Equipment Services Gisborne United Premiers went into the Bailey Cup final for Division 1 teams with the silverware for the Eastern League and the Central Federation Cup already in the trophy cabinet. The addition of local football's premier knockout cup would have completed an uncommon treble.
So it was fitting that it took a top-drawer performance from 1st Class Decorators Wainui Sharks to deny them.
Wainui went 1-0 up in the 12th minute. A long ball from centreback Mal Furlan was half-cleared to midfielder Max Logan, who played a short ball to front-runner Jack Tobin. He laid it off to right-winger Thiago Carlos de Melo who, from just wide of the goal and seven metres out, tucked it into the far corner.
Three minutes later, Wainui struck again. Holding midfielder Andrew McBride picked up a loose ball from a United attack and passed to Logan. On it went to de Melo on the right, back in to Tobin and out wide for Dan Torrie, steaming up the left flank. His first-time, left-footed shot gave Piper no chance.
Rightback Korbi Schallinger started the move for the third goal. He won a race to the loose ball near the halfway line and played it down the wing for de Melo. He pushed the ball past the covering challenge of United sweeper Kieran Higham and, from the byline, swept the ball across the goal for Tobin to bundle across the line from close range in the 19th minute.
Wainui completed their scoring in the 25th minute. De Melo won disputed ball on the right and played it back to Logan, who drove the ball hard and low towards the far post. Piper patted it out into the path of the onrushing Torrie, who finished clinically.
United scored in the 37th when a long ball over the top of the Wainui defence held up on centreback Dan Willock and Josh Adams brushed past him and buried the ball in the bottom right corner of the goal.
The disallowed goal was United's best chance of getting back into contention in this match. They kept at it throughout the second half, but Wainui keeper Matt Wotherspoon, centrebacks Dan Willock and skipper Mal Furlan, and fullbacks Korbi Schallinger and Jamie Gallacher were not about to let a three-goal lead slip through their fingers.
McBride, sitting in front of them, combined ball-winning strength with creative ability, and linked up well with more attacking midfielders Matias Pincini, Logan and Mariano Benoit.
De Melo, Tobin and Torrie were a revelation for Wainui up front, particularly in the 15-minute span of the goals, when it seemed they could do nothing wrong.
For United, Aaron Graham, Corey Adams, Adam Simpson and Malcolm Marfell toiled hard in midfield, while Jacob and Josh Adams tried to spark something in attack.
The defenders — while not at their best — could have been much worse had they caved in after conceding four quick goals.
United were without striker Stu Cranswick, who had injured his back, and midfielder Dane Thompson, who had been due to arrive back from Australia the night before the game but whose Auckland-to-Gisborne flight was cancelled. He could not get a replacement seat on a flight that arrived in Gisborne before the game.
United were playing with 10 men for the last half-hour of the final. In the 60th minute, Jonny Curle was sent off for a second yellow-card offence. In both cases the card was for a reckless tackle.
The yellow card was shown to Wainui players Logan and de Melo (for reckless challenges), Pincini and Wotherspoon (for delaying the restart of play) and McBride (for dissent — 10 minutes in the sinbin).
Wainui coach Blake Mulrooney said they had tried to exploit space behind the fullbacks and then have players hitting the far post for crosses.
“It was a huge team effort,” he said.
“Max Logan pulled a calf muscle at the start of training on Thursday. He could hardly walk before the warm-up. For him to play 90 minutes . . . I have nothing but admiration for him.”
He said Shane Hooks and Jaiden Ibbetson were important team members who had missed the game through injury. Hooks had had a bad run of injuries, and Ibbetson had torn ankle ligaments.
United player-coach Josh Adams said his side “weren't there” for the first 20 minutes. They had barely trained since a week before the Federation Cup final (on September 3).
For the period after they changed from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2 system, the score was 1-0 to United.
In the Chris Moore Cup game, Bohemians left-winger Gary Cunningham scored a hat-trick in what he said was his last game, and was still on the losing side.
Cunningham, 41, has played for Bohemians since 2009, their second year in existence. Initially a leftback, he has also played with success in midfield and in attack, usually on the left side.
On Saturday, his 15-year-old son Ethan was also in the side. Ethan and 17-year-old Luke Stoltenberg were outstanding as double centrebacks, despite the 6-4 scoreline of their loss to Wainui Demons.
Manaaki Terekia opened the scoring for the Demons; Cunningham equalised. Max Harris's glancing header gave the Demons a 2-1 lead, and goals from Chris Fox and Kaleb Jacobs made it 4-1.
Bohemians striker Hendrik Geyer pulled one back but Max Harris scored again to make it 5-2. Cunningham grabbed his second for 5-3, then Ben Inder stretched it to 6-3. Cunningham's penalty made the final score 6-4.
Outstanding for Demons were keeper Byron Allen, defenders Clay Parker, Mitch Brouwer and John Hill, midfielders Mana Taumaunu and Aaron Welch, and forwards Max Harris, Inder and Jacobs.
For Bohemians, the Cunninghams, Stoltenberg, Vishal Singh,Hayden Donnelly, Brendon South, Ma Mahuika, Matt Sowerby and Dylan Goldsmith put in good shifts.
Gizzy Bobcat Services Thistle had to come from a goal down to beat Smash Palace Shockers for the Poverty Bay Cup.
Talosaga Damian scored for the Shockers with a shot to the bottom left corner of the goal from just outside the penalty area.
Kane Stirton equalised for Thistle 10 minutes into the second half. His shot took a deflection that helped it clear the keeper.
Chris Spurr, operating from midfield, hit a powerful shot that also took a deflection on its way into a corner of the goal.
The teams were evenly matched, with the Shockers' comparative youth up against the craft of a Thistle side with a liberal sprinkling of players with higher-level experience.
For Shockers, player of the day Frazer Elliott was outstanding in goal, while leftback Matt Boyd and centreback Fletcher Honey also shone.
Thistle coach Stephen McCarthy praised his side's “good team effort”. It helped to have players of the calibre of Nic Somerton, Michael Rogers, Kane and Craig Stirton, Spurr, Noy Paull and Lucian Nickerson.
And he made special mention of rightback Kieran Ryan.
“He was awesome,” McCarthy said.
“Kieran controlled what was happening. He was never coming off.”
