Match report: VUW Unicycles 4-3 Tim's Boys
In a scintillating yet foul-infested semi-final, both Tim’s Boys and VUW Unicycles had periods of ascendancy but ultimately a late penalty gave the Unicycles their ticket to the final.
While Unicycles controlled more of the game than their counterparts, whenever Tim got a goal the momentum swang, hard. This is why Vic keeper Hamish Coghill faced a barrage of shots after each Tim goal, and why the score went from 3-1 to 3-3 in quick succession. Yet the Unicycles' consistency would win the day.
The goals:
Dan Hamilton (Unicycles, 30th minute) It’s not often you see a centre back pop up with a goal. It’s not often you see a centre back open the scoring. It’s not often a centre back opens the scoring with a thirty-yard screamer out of nowhere. But that is how this goal happened.
Hamish Patel (Tim’s Boys, 44th minute) The Unicycles played the ball back to their keeper Coghill, who attempted to get the ball rolling forward again - only to pass straight to Patel. He wasted no time in scoring against an undefended net.
Shannon O’Doyle (Unicycles, 52nd minute) Vic only scores screamers, apparently. A pitched battle took place a good 25 yards from the Unicycle goal, with both teams struggling to find a way around the other. But after picking up a muted clearance, O’Doyle decided to forgo the work of getting the ball into the box and instead drove it through the defence and past the keeper.
Joe Bryant (Unicycles, 56th minute) The Unicycles always had a good passing game going on, and said passing allowed an unhindered run down the right-hand side. Bryant therefore got himself in the area for the cross, which he collected and which he scored from.
Jared Solomon (Tim’s Boys, 68th minute) A quick and well-played counterattack from the Boys meant the defence didn’t have time to be in position, so Coghill came out to challenge the attack. Unfortunately, that only opened the goal up for Solomon to pass in.
Tay Neville (Tim’s Boys, 71st minute) After collecting the ball within the Unicycle half, Neville ran. He got past one challenge. He got past a second challenge. His third challenge was to place the ball in the net from distance - which he did, easily.
Shannon O’Doyle (Unicycles, 76th minute) After handball in the area, from the spot it was Shannon O’Doyle vs Shannon Lucas in goal. O’Doyle went left. Lucas did too, even getting a touch on the ball - but too light to prevent O’Doyle from nabbing the winning goal.
The pivotal moment:
In the 33rd minute following a deflected corner, Tim’s Boys had their best chance of the game. After collecting the Unicycle clearance, a second cross was sent in. Arlo Harriet did get his head to it but wasn’t able to get the power or control behind to send the ball goalside.
The stars:
VUW: Shannon O’Doyle. The pressure on him for his penalty must have been immense, but he came through when the time came with his brace seeing his side to the final.
Tim’s Boys: Shannon Lucas. Yes he conceded four but there was a lot of pressure on his goal, and with some splendid saves to his name, he’s worthy of stardom.
The comments:
Oli George, Tim fan: “I thought we played well, but it was frustrating for us as we couldn’t get out of our half. It’s a tough one to lose even though they deserved to go through to the final; they had plenty of chances and two worldie goals.
Chris Scarrot, VUW manager; “Really exciting match, everyone played some good attacking football. We really controlled the first half, ended up 3-1 up at one point. But overall very happy with the lads. We maybe did a bit better than a one-goal win, though.
The meaning:
Do I need to spell it out? The Unicycles are in the final against Man Titty!
The future:
Boyd Wilson was selected as host for the grand final, beating out intense competition from Alex Moore. The Unicycles will arrive for a 1 pm kickoff against reigning champions Man Titty.