Ten minutes of magic helped Sale break a 33 year-old Gippsland Soccer League silverware hoodoo at Latrobe City Sports Stadium on Saturday night.
The Swans defeated Monash 3-0 in the GSL grand final on the back of three quick-fire second half goals – a double to Dean Nicholls and an Ash Ross-penalty – to win the club’s first trophy in more than three decades.
“It’s 33 years in the making and absolutely the boys deserve it,” Sale striker and club president Jon Piefke said.
“It started three or four years ago, we were getting our asses handed to us and now we’re champions.
“I knew, just like last week, towards the end as long as we played our game plan we’d have them and it worked like a charm.”
Neither side had won a trophy in 30 years and both showed signs of nerves in the opening exchanges.
The Wolves were hungry from the first whistle, swiftly stealing possession and earning a free kick, but their intent failed to result in goal-scoring opportunities.
Sale too was finding the Monash defence difficult to penetrate, but the Swans’ height threatened the smaller Wolves from set pieces.
A Sale corner on 13 minutes almost produced the opener when Robbie Stephen rose above the pack and nodded the ball goalward but Monash skipper Ash Birrell cleared off the line.
Wily Swans midfielder Nathi Khamchom forced Ross Johnson into action five minutes later, and the resultant corner eventually fell for Nicholls whose shot sprayed wide of the target.
Wolves lynchpin Trent Felici was stretchered from the field after 28 minutes with a leg injury, bringing Ryan Semple in to the game, and Monash was immediately caught out at the back from the next set piece.
Ross’ free kick found Stephen at the back stick who centered for Ray Allred, but the Sale midfielder’s header was thwarted by Johnson.
An ultimately uninspired opening half from both sides saw scored locked 0-0 at the break, but the game opened up in the second stanza.
Monash midfielder Ethan Lawrence was the first to break free on goal, charging on to a pinpoint through ball, but his shot sailed wide and he hobbled off 14 minutes into the half.
Soon after his disappearance Sale began to lift, as the crowd came in to the game.
Allred unleashed a length of the field dash but shot wide, before Ross used his pace to create a chance which Johnson expertly defused.
Piefke was substituted for Travis Patterson with 20 minutes to play, as Sale opted for pace over height, and the gamble paid off.
Gilt-edged chances to Khamchom and Ross went begging, but Sale’s ascendancy was clear.
Nicholls followed in a thumping shot which Johnson fumbled and hit the woodwork with the follow up, but he was not to be denied with his next effort.
A rare Monash attacking raid came to naught and Sale broke through Ross, who had options left and right in Tommy Nguyen and Nicholls in a three-on-one situation.
Ross held his pass to the last but finally released Nicholls who, with a hint of offside, slotted past a despairing Johnson.
Marcus Krznark almost answered back but his glancing header missed the target, before Sale was at it again. Another through ball unleashed Nguyen, who was brought down in the box by Johnson.
Ross made no mistake from the spot kick to send his side up 2-0, and tempers flared in the goal mouth as Monash tried for a quick restart.
The Wolves’ grand final hopes were shattered less than a minute later when they failed to clear their lines; Nicholls pounced on the loose ball to score his second, and Sale’s third in less than 10 minutes.
Eric Sostak and Birrell had late chances for Monash, but the league’s premier attacking team was held scoreless as the Swans emerged victorious.
“Hard to say (what it was), when I came off we opened the floodgates,” Piefke said.
“We can’t wait til next year but now the celebrations can start.”
