Sutherland Shire Football Association will long remember the 2018 Football NSW State Cup weekend, with shire clubs taking out five deciders.
The SSFA were by far the most successful of the Sydney associations, taking out five of the 15 finals on Sunday.
The knockout competition covers ages from boys and girls under-12s teams through to open men and women, with SSFA clubs making up 40 per cent of female teams and 20 per cent of all teams competing on finals day.
Chilly conditions greeted players at Glenwood as large crowds packed into Valentine Sports Park.
Cronulla made sure their 60th year would be one to remember with a double triumph.
The Seagulls kept the Robertson Cup in the shire for the fifth straight year with a comprehensive 5-0 thrashing of Canterbury club Balmain & District FC.
The Seagulls were worthy under-21s men’s champions, the club’s first male State Cup winners since the 1970s, on the back of a Thomas Nunn hat-trick.
Mitchell Lucas and Andrew Banning completed the scoring for Cronulla.
The Seagulls also downed fellow SSFA club Lilli Pilli 5-0 in the under-18s women’s final.
Kirrawee needed extra-time to down Eastern Suburbs club Coogee United in the all age men’s decider.
Coogee had Scott Jermy sent off for violent conduct just before half-time, with the Kangaroos making the most of their numerical advantage with Paul Skyllas putting them in front early in the second half.
United equalised late on through Luke Wright to send the game to extra-time.
But Kirrawee earned a penalty when Andrew Hajittofi was brought down in the penalty area.
Matthew Hall stepped up to calmly stroke the ball home to secure the Bill Cullinan Cup for the Kangaroos.
Two goals inside the opening six minutes to Polly McEvoy was enough for Sylvania Heights to lift the Cheryl Salisbury Cup as they took out the under-12s girl’s final with a 2-0 victory over Canterbury club Concord Juniors.
Gymea United got in on the act as they also downed Concord Juniors 2-0 to win the under-16s girl’s decider.
The successful weekend reiterates not only SSFA’s strength as the largest sporting organisation in the shire but their ability to compete against the rest of the state.
The five successful shire teams, along with the almost 19,000 SSFA players, will now turn their attention to the end of their regular seasons.
The SSFA finals start on August 11.
