A new name is on the Men’s Futsal SuperLeague trophy after the Waikato Rapids emerged victorious following the final bout of action at the ASB Sports Centre in Wellington.

Heading into a jam-packed final weekend, six sides were still in the running for the glory but that needed to narrow down to four for the semi-finals, Waikato being joined by the Northern Comets, Southern United and Capital.

The Rapids edged out Capital in dramatic fashion, eventually triumphing on penalties after a 2-2 draw, while the other semi-final was just as nerve-wracking as Southern came out on the right side of a five-goal thriller against Northern.

The final was to prove just as entertaining, the Rapids making history with their first title after finally seeing off the challenge of 2017 champions Southern 4-3.

Waikato coach Sam Masterson, who would have been playing himself had it not been for injury, was delighted with the efforts of his charges.

“I thought the boys were amazing, there were a lot of tired legs out there because it was a pretty hectic semi and our sixth game of the weekend. So I was really proud of the boys’ performance, they really put the work in and our defensive effort was incredible,” he said.

“It’s a new feeling for a lot of us, we’ve had a lot of second places at different tournaments so to finally get over the line is amazing and will hopefully be a catalyst for us to go on and win more trophies in the future.”

He put much of his team’s success down to the strong bonds between the players.

“I’ve harped on about it all season but I think our togetherness has been a big factor. A lot of the boys are best mates so to go out on the court with them and fight for each other adds a bit of x-factor compared to the opposition teams.”

While it was his side who came out on top, Masterson was impressed with the quality the Rapids had to get past.

“I’d say this year was probably the best league since I’ve been involved, even going into the final weekend there were six teams that could have won it and the other two teams are growing all the time. So the standard is getting higher every year and all the teams are getting fitter, faster and better tactically. It looks good for the future.”

The Waikato Rapids also fared well in the individual stakes with Ethan Martin being awarded the league’s MVP while Patrick Steele picked up the Golden Gloves. The Golden Boot meanwhile went to Central’s Adam Cowan, who found the net 19 times.

For more information on the Men’s Futsal SuperLeague please click here

Men’s Futsal SuperLeague National Series 2/Finals

Friday 22 November

Capital 8 (Dom McCann 8’, 31’, Thomas Withnall 19’, Miroslav Malivuk 22’, Shingo Ina 25’, Luc Saker 30’, Alexander Brodie 33’, Jerram Tuck 36’)
Northern Comets 1 (Art Twigg 37’)
HT: 2-0

Southern United 9 (Oban Hawkins 4’, 33’, Ben O’Farrell 14’, 20’, Carlos Herrmann 15’, 34’, 39’, Michael Sannum 26’, Daniel de Souza 39’)
Auckland 5 (Myron Manickum 5’, Stephen Ashby-Peckham 10’, Vincent Pineau 27’, Jimmy Banks 33’, own goal 36’)
HT: 3-2

Central 13 (Joshua Cremen 3’, Elijah Smith 6’, Lucian Armstrong 19’, Adam Cowan 19’, 25’, 26’, Nicholas Carrick 24’, 34’, 39’, Jonathan Steele 21’, Liam Outtrim 27’, Benjamin Ravenwood 28’, Jordon Joblin-Hall 32’)
Bay of Plenty Surge 1 (Vincent Callister 29’)
HT: 4-0

Canterbury United Dragons 0
Waikato Rapids 6 (Jonathan Tobias 7’, 38’, Aaron Scott 11’, Levi Clark 27’, Maxwell Ericksen 29’, Jordan Ditfort 37’)
HT: 0-2

Capital 1 (Luc Saker 1’)
Auckland 5 (Hamish Grey 22’, 37’, Sean McIntee 23’, Adam Larce-Paulsen 25’, Vincent Pineau 39’)
HT: 1-0

Southern United 13 (Daniel de Souza 2’, 14’, 22’, own goal 3’, Oban Hawkins 12’, Carlos Herrmann 15’, 26’, Matthew Brazier 17’, Jan Kumar 18’, 28’, 38’, Thomas Petersen 19’, Reid Hulleman 37’)
Bay of Plenty Surge 3 (Tyler Ericksen 5’, Mario Soares Ramos 21’, Andrew Clothier 25’)
HT: 8-1

Canterbury United Dragons 6 (Jake Neill 11’, Benjamin Cameron 13’, 14’, 16’, Hemi Innes 30’, Finn Gaupset 35’)
Northern Comets 10 (Ben Culpan 15’, own goal 15’, Julian Stevenson 16’, Ouadhah Ragued 18’, 25’, 33’, Daniel Culpan 24’, 39’, own goal 24’, Bahram Ahmadi 31’)
HT: 4-4

Central 4 (Joshua Cremen 15’, Charlie Bayly 22’, 39’, Adam Cowan 37’)
Waikato Rapids 7 (Jordan Ditfort 3’, 33’, Aaron Scott 5’, 32’, Casey Sharplin 9’, Levi Clark 11’, Jacob Robb 22’)
HT: 1-4

Saturday 23 November

Capital 5 (Shingo Ina 17’, 21’, Jherson Heredia 23’, 34’, Luc Saker 39’)
Bay of Plenty Surge 2 (Mario Soares Ramos 21’, Vincent Callister 30’)
HT: 1-0

Canterbury United Dragons 1 (Benjamin Cameron 1’)
Auckland 4 (Thomas Picken 13’, Myron Manickum 19’, Josh Margetts 22’, Adam Larce-Paulsen 30’)
HT: 1-2

Southern United 5 (Michael Sannum 18’, Carlos Herrmann 20’, 21’, Iuri Batista de Souza Felix 28’, Thomas Petersen 38’)
Waikato Rapids 3 (Ethan Martin 24’, 34’, Levi Clark 26’)
HT: 1-0

Central 7 (Joshua Cremen 1’, Charlie Bayly 19’, Adam Cowan 23’, 27’, 38’, Jonathan Steele 29’, Elijah Smith 36’)
Northern Comets 2 (Ben Culpan 25’, 31’)
HT: 2-0

Canterbury United Dragons 3 (Hemi Innes 2’, Cameron Emberton 25’, Alex Kedzlie 30’)
Bay of Plenty Surge 4 (Tyler Ericksen 9’, Harris Edlin 13’, Jay Silcock 15’, 18’)
HT: 1-4

Capital 1 (Luc Saker 33’)
Waikato Rapids 3 (Ethan Martin 24’, 36’, Maxwell Ericksen 39’)
HT: 0-0

Central 4 (Charlie Bayly 12’, 21’, Jordon Joblin-Hall 25’, own goal 35’)
Auckland 2 (Stephen Ashby-Peckham 23’, own goal 24’)
HT: 1-0

Southern United 3 (Thomas Petersen 11’, 36’, Matthew Brazier 26’)
Northern Comets 6 (Ben Culpan 1’, 14’, 24’, 25’, Eduardo Espinosa 17’, Daniel Culpan 38’)
HT: 1-3

Sunday 24 November

Semi-Finals:

Waikato Rapids 2 (Logan Wisnewski 1’, Ethan Martin 42’)
Capital 2 (Miroslav Malivuk 18’, 49’)
AET, HT: 1-1 , FT: 2-2
Waikato Rapids won on penalties

Northern Comets 2 (Eduardo Espinosa 23’, Ouadhah Ragued 35’)
Southern United 3 (Thomas Petersen 3’, 28’, Carlos Herrmann 22’)
HT: 0-1

Grand Final:

Waikato Rapids 4 (Shaun Morgan 2’, Kyle Wisnewski 4’, Federico Marquez 18’, 21’)
Southern United 3 (Arnon Tapp 12’, Reid Hulleman 19’, Thomas Petersen 28’)
HT: 3-2

Article added: Monday 25 November 2019