Soccer: Rovers grind out win in tense and tight Chatham Cup final

It wasn't pretty, but Napier City Rovers earned their fourth Chatham Cup title with a 2-0 victory over Tauranga City United in Napier yesterday.

Tauranga were left ruing two missed chances before Napier's Leon Birnie sent a looping header over goalkeeper James Pamment after 23 minutes.

Several minutes earlier, Garry Board's close-range shot went wide with only goalkeeper Steve Graham to beat just moments before Graham pulled off a brilliant save to tip a James Creighton header over the crossbar.

It was a tight and tense cup final as both teams defended strongly. The 3400-strong crowd had little to enthuse about, although Napier enjoyed the majority of possession and looked the more threatening of the two sides.

Tauranga players demanded a penalty midway through the second half when a player was brought down but referee Derek Rugg disagreed.

A double substitution from Napier coach Charlie Howe, who introduced strikers Brad Scott and David Gearey, proved a winning move. As Tauranga pressed forward in injury time, Gearey intercepted and delivered a well-weighted through ball for Scott to find the net.

Howe was delighted his players had overcome the loss of the national league grand final with this win.

He picked out Napier's back four of Perry Cotton, Warren Gilbertson, Jonathon Taylor and Andy Rennie for their strong defensive games.

Tauranga captain Paul Probert praised his players for their valiant effort but conceded the better side won.

"We were well confident at halftime that we could get up and win. The lads tried and tried but overall Napier were just a bit more polished in everything they did."

Tauranga coach Larry Seales agreed but felt the Bay of Plenty side had been luckless.

"I didn't think that much fell for us today and we needed something to happen."

However, he disagreed with Probert's feelings that a penalty should have been awarded.

Napier City Rovers 2 (Leon Birnie 23, Brad Scott 90) Tauranga City United 0. HT: 1-0.

- NZPA