KEY POINTS:
Waitakere Utd 2
Team Wellington 0
Waitakere United put another big tick in the win column as their golden summer continued with a no-frills but fully deserved 2-0 win over a gritty Team Wellington in the New Zealand Football Championship grand final yesterday.
While the football purists acknowledged
United should have been acclaimed as champions with their league triumph a fortnight ago, yesterday's win in New Zealand Football's showpiece confirmed their standing as the country's best team.
There have been more exciting games with more goals but this was finals football in which any half chances must be accepted and converted.
Waitakere got home with an own-goal late in the first half and a second-half Allan Pearce strike - from a clinical first touch and pinpoint pass from 65th minute substitute Roy Krishna - to make it three-from-four against Stu Jacobs' brave first-time finalists, erasing any lingering memories of their 2-1 loss to the same side in the very first game of the season.
The first goal came out of nothing when steady-as-she-goes defender Karl Whalen unfortunately got a leg to a cross from Benjamin Totori and deflected it into his own goal. But the pressure the home side had imposed deserved some reward even in such an unlikely way.
From the outset the hosts were keen to impose themselves and show the brand of football which has rewarded them with better than two-goals-a-game this season. As early as the seventh minute, Chris Bale, a contender for the man-of-the-match award won by Neil Emblen, found Totori with a well-directed ball. Totori's shot, from the edge of the penalty area, tested Wellington goalkeeper Phil Imray who pushed clear for one of only three corners Waitakere won in the match.
On the other hand, the visitors earned nine such set plays but never threatened to convert.
Darren Cheriton came closest for the visitors in the 53rd minute when he carved through on a defence-splitting run but United goalkeeper Richard Gillespie, a revelation in the latter stages of the season, reacted quickly and cleaned up. The nail was hammered home by Pearce with 25 minutes to play and gave the club something genuine to celebrate.
Waitakere now has the chance to ice the cake completely with victory in the home and away O-League play-offs with Solomon Islands champions Kossa FC and with it the chance to return to the big stage at the Fifa World Club Cup in Japan in December.
Kossa's campaign has, interestingly, been given a timely boost with a handout of almost $50,000 from the Taiwanese government.
And the Islanders' hopes of at least getting something from Saturday's first leg in Honiara may have been boosted by the ankle injury to Waitakere captain Danny Hay who limped out of yesterday's final after 40 minutes and is unlikely to join his team-mates on Thursday's flight. Krishna, among those ineligible, will also be missing.
Hay remains hopeful of playing in the rescheduled second leg on May 11 back at the impressive Trusts Stadium which hosted yesterday's final.
"It was great to win and be recognised as the best team over the season," said United coach Chris Milicich. "The game was pretty much what we expected. We restricted them to not much and made the most of our chances."
Hay was just as forthright. "They [Wellington] play pretty football through the midfield but they don't hurt you."
Jacobs lauded his players' efforts through the season. "We came expecting to win as you always do, but in the end it was not what we wanted. I still believe there is not much between the top three as we have shown. But it comes down to scoring goals which we have done in the last couple of weeks. But not today."
Auckland City, runners-up to Waitakere in the minor premiership, now claim the second O-League spot leaving Team Wellington empty-handed. They deserved something
