Victory is sweet and it could not be any sweeter for MetroStars SC captain Adam van Dommele as he lifted the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues trophy.
An ecstatic van Dommele could not wipe the smile off of his face as MetroStars SC completed a memorable finals series that saw them face three formidable opponents all away from home and come out the other end as the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2014 champions.
First up it was a nerving penalty shootout victory over Bayswater City in Perth, then a win against the odds away to the highly fancied South Melbourne FC in the Semi Finals, before the South Australian club capped it off with yet another performance full of resilience to hold out Bonnyrigg White Eagles in the big one.
If that was not enough of an accomplishment, there was also the cherry on top in the shape of automatic entry into next year’s Westfield FFA Cup Round of 32.
For a season that started in the early months of the year, van Dommele stated the feat of being the PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2014 Champions as the perfect way to round it off, even more so with the way they achieved it.
“We had a hiccup losing the (South Australian) Grand Final so we saw this as a great opportunity to band together and play another tournament,” van Dommele said.
“All three games were very tough, we had our backs up against the wall in just about every game being away from home, so I couldn’t be prouder of the group, they stuck tough.”
Former Adelaide United midfielder Fabian Barbiero’s 4th minute strike proved the difference at Lambert Park on Saturday afternoon as MetroStars SC became the competition’s second winners after Sydney United 58 FC claimed the inaugural title last year.
The result also sends coach Ivan Karlovic and defender Lee Robertson off on the best possible note after the stated publicly earlier in the year that this competition would be their last at the club.
“Bonnyrigg’s coach (Brian Brown) brought up a good point in the lead up to the game that you could almost class yourselves as the next best team outside of the A-League by winning this competition so we obviously feel very proud of our achievement, and I couldn’t see a better way of sending out Ivan (Karlovic) and Lee Robertson, who have been two stalwarts of this club,” van Dommele said.
The 30 year old also expressed his excitement of the club securing a spot in next year’s Westfield FFA Cup.
“It’s great to know we’ll be playing on the national stage once again and something to look forward to next year.”
Both sides created a number of decent chances in an entertaining encounter, MetroStars SC having to absorb a second half surge from Bonnyrigg to hold on.
While they were on the wrong side of the score line, the Football NSW side did have something to celebrate with David Vrankovic awarded the John Kosmina Medal as the player of the match.