St George FC have been crowned NPL 2 NSW men’s champions.
The Saints took on Mounties Wanderers FC in the grand final at Lily’s Football Centre in Seven Hills on September 15.
Scores of people from both clubs sat on the sidelines to watch the game as St George players ran onto the field with their children and young relatives.
After finishing second in the regular season, the Saints came up against a sixth-placed Mounties, who had the advantage of a coach and several players who had transferred from St George mid-season.
Saints marketing manager Jim Paras described the match-up as “a grudge match, in a nice way.”
He said the players were prepared for a tense encounter.
It was always going to be a close game considering the ex-coach knew the boys very well, he knew their strengths and weaknesses.
- St George FC's Jim Paras
“It was always going to be a close game considering the ex-coach knew the boys very well, he knew their strengths and weaknesses,” Paras said.
The eventual premiers got off to a flying start thanks to a pair of goals from Jason Romero either side of half-time.
Mounties returned with two of their own in the middle of the second half but neither team could break the deadlock and the score at full-time read 2-2.
Noah Chianese was to hit the back of the net in extra-time to give Mounties a leg up but Romero scored his third goal of the match to even the scores once again.
The score remained 3-3 until the end of extra-time, forcing a penalty shootout.
Paras said the shootout was not ideal but there had to be a winner with St George winning 4-3 on penalties.
Paras credited the Saints’ strong support base for helping them over the line.
“The atmosphere was great. Both clubs had a lot of their juniors coming to support,” Paras said.
“Special mention goes to the Banksia Tigers players who came in droves with their drums and were very vocal.”
Leader Scoreboard
St George FC 3 (J. Romero ‘39, ‘58, ‘115)
defeated
Mounties Wanderers FC 3 (B. Romero ‘70, Chianese ‘74, ‘113)
St George FC won 4-3 on penalties
