In the Women’s Knockout Cup final which opened the day’s proceedings Coastal Spirit waited until the fourth minute of injury time to secure a 1-0 over Glenfield Rovers.
The win for the Christchurch club was revenge of sorts for a similar loss suffered to the same Auckland side in the 2011 final and marks the fourth time in the competition’s history that the trophy will spend the summer outside Auckland. It is also the first time since 1994 that a Christchurch team has won.
Coastal Spirit coach Alana Gunn said the goal was reward for her team’s resilience.
“It doesn’t matter how it goes in,” she said of the goal. “They never gave up. I didn’t want to go to extra time because Glenfield were obviously a lot fitter than us and we were struggling with a few injuries.
“Laura Merrin played the best game I’ve seen her play this season – she totally deserved her MVP award. Lilly Alfield was outstanding in goal – she just did not want to concede and Meikayla Moore runs all day.”
Defeated Glenfield coach Carl Jorgenson was left lamenting luck and a slew of missed chances.
“It’s hard on anyone really. You need a bit of luck in a cup final and if that’s not luck I don’t know what is,” he said of the goal.
“Of course you have to take your chances and we had enough in the first half to make the game comfortable adn if we do that then it’s a completely different game in the second half.”
In the day’s showpiece final between Cashmere Technical and Waitakere City the win was sealed in the fourth minute of injury time when substitute Jamie Smith finished a fast counter attack to lock in the side’s first Chatham Cup title.
It is also the first victory for a Canterbury side in this competition since 1991.
Canterbury veteran Andy Pitman who ends his career with an ASB Chatham Cup winners medal around his neck and the Jack Batty trophy in one hand for his man of the match performance, was understandably emotional as the champagne flowed.
“They don’t come better than this to be honest,” he said.
Pitman credited a higher level of intensity at the start for setting up the win.
“We probably didn’t play as well as we could but it’s about winning.
“Our first half performance meant they really just didn’t know what to do with us because we were on to them from the very off. I think intensity of the occasion was a bit of a shock for a few of their boys and after that it was ours to lose.”
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