At that point, United player-coach Josh Adams opened the scoring from the penalty spot after a Wainui player handled the ball.
Nine minutes later, Josh laid on a pass for elder brother Corey to blast the ball into the roof of the net from 12 metres to make it 2-0, and it seemed the dam was ready to burst.
Demons, though, were following a different script . . . one that had them getting under the skin of the more elegant footballers opposing them.
Fifteen seconds after the kick-off to restart the game after United’s second goal, Demons scored one of their own.
Chris Fox took off from halfway in what seemed like a planned move as the ball was played back to midfielder Jarom Brouwer on the edge of the centre circle. Brouwer rolled the ball forward a metre and hoisted it into the United penalty area, where — with Fox closing in — goalkeeper Andy McIntosh half-cleared the ball and chased it outside the area to try to head it farther away.
With Fox contesting the header, the ball landed at the feet of Matt Tong, then playing as a left-sided midfielder. His first-time left-footed chip from 30 metres never looked like missing.
In the 39th minute, Demons striker Ben Inder got away on the left side of the United penalty area but was off balance as he shot at goal. It was a timely reminder, though, of the fragility of a one-goal lead.
United played the first half with an unchanged line-up. In front of ’keeper McIntosh, Kieran Venema and Kaden Manderson were rightback and leftback respectively, with Jonathan Purcell and Kieran Higham in the middle.
Aaron Graham and Dane Thompson were the more defensively minded midfielders, while Corey Adams probed for openings in the middle and Damon Husband ranged up and down the left flank.
Jacob Adams played like a traditional right-winger, alongside elder brother Josh.
They introduced some rotation in the second half, with striker Stu Cranswick, rightback Ben Hansen and leftback Jimmy Holden all getting a run.
In contrast, Demons rotated their line-up throughout the game to keep the supply of fresh legs topped up. This tactic succeeded in keeping the score to a respectable level until the last six minutes.
United went 3-1 up in the 56th minute, when Josh Adams played a through ball to Husband, whose shot from the left side of the penalty area went in at the far corner.
In the 60th minute, Thompson turned on a ball in the Demons penalty area and shot, but Parker had narrowed the angle and blocked it with his body.
Less than a minute later, Thompson delivered a clever pass from a free-kick just outside the penalty area. He found Purcell on a run across the defensive line, breaking away from his marker and slipping the ball past the ’keeper for 4-1.
Josh Adams made it 5-1 in the 65th with a shot from an acute angle on the left, having been played in by a ball from brother Corey.
In the 89th minute, Corey Adams passed to younger brother Jacob and continued his run into the right side of the penalty area. Jacob played him in and Corey finished with a shot to the far post . . . 6-1.
In the first minute of stoppage time, Josh Adams still had plenty to do when Corey passed him the ball on the left side of the penalty area. He beat two players and held off a third before finishing with a left-foot drive into the far corner to complete his hat-trick.
In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Corey Adams dispossessed a Wainui player around the penalty spot and fired off a shot to bring up his hat-trick and make the score 8-1. The final whistle sounded before the game could restart.
Josh Adams said Demons disrupted United’s game a bit in the first half.
“They shook us and put us off the way we wanted to play.”
Childers Road Reserve No.1 was much bigger than their home ground, Harry Barker Reserve No.1, and United’s passing was not always up to scratch.
“At halftime I told the boys we needed to up our game, and we came out firing in the second half,” Adams said.
The win also meant the team achieved the four goals they set themselves after being knocked out of the Central Federation Cup. They wanted to secure the Eastern League-Bailey Cup double, avoid yellow cards for dissent for the rest of the season, score an average of four goals a game, and concede an average of one or less.
Adams said they had enjoyed the season and hoped the Eastern League first division would be strengthened by the addition of more teams next year.
“Demons had a good season after coming up from the second division last year,” he said. “I take my hat off to them for being here.”
Demons captain and coach Yannis Kokkosis said they had over-achieved by reaching the cup final.
“Everyone put in a good shift,” he said.
“Our goalkeeper Clay Parker would be our man of the match, and Jarom Brouwer was outstanding in midfield.”
Other Demons players to appear in the final were Manaaki Terekia, Ben Burgess, Jake Weeks, Matt Tong, Tom McFarlane, Simon Lawler, Mark Harris, Yannis Kokkosis, Chris Fox, Max Harris, Kaleb Jacobs, Ben Inder and Mana Taumaunu.
Leftback McFarlane impressed with his speed in closing down attackers and his tracking of runners, while rightback Terekia was kept busy with left-winger Husband. Tong and Weeks were solid in the middle of the defence, and Tong was also useful in midfield. Max Harris, Jacobs and Inder shone up front.
Referee Gordon Williamson kept the game moving at a brisk clip, with no major problems.
