Southern United secured their first Futsal National League title yesterday with a hard fought 4-3 win over Northern Football Federation in the championship final in Auckland.

The Darren Hart coached side, who went into the National Final Series 2 at ASB Arena in third place, were the best team under pressure over the weekend to secure the trophy for the 2017 season.

Long-time coach Hart, who has been a big part of developing futsal in Football South, said it was hugely satisfying to finally claim the national title.

“Our team is pretty happy,” he said in his understated way. “It has almost killed us to get here and achieve this but we are all in the same boat. I never did win a national title as a player so it is great to do that with these guys. The way Northern came back into it and just kept fighting all the way to the end almost got us from a mental perspective. In the end we just managed to come out the other side. Credit to our guys they hung in there.”

Hart said the way futsal has grown all around New Zealand is encouraging for the sport going forward. The teams look forward to the launch of the Trans Pacific Futsal Champions League in 2018.

“This weekend has been so close. It doesn’t matter where you are in the league structure any team can break in and take the title. The quality has really improved. We are happy to be here, it has been a big journey for us.”

Northern Football Futsal Coach Ouadhah Ragued was disappointed to come up one game short of the title, but said his side had plenty to proud of in 2017.

“To think back to the start of this year, there was a good chance that we weren’t going to have a team in the Futsal National League,” said the former national futsal rep. “It was a drive from the players that brought the team together because they really wanted to play. We have got a good squad who have become as close as family through playing together.”

The final began at a frantic pace. Northern opened the scoring through Art Twigg, before Tennessee Kinghorn got Southern United back on level terms three minutes later.

With five minutes remaining in the half Southern United finished as the stronger of the two teams. Thomas Peterson popped up at the back post to finish a good chance and with just over a minute on the clock Ito Shunsuke was on hand to finish off a fine team goal and take a 3-1 lead into the break.

Three minutes after half-time, Southern continued their momentum and Shunsuke found the back of the net again for a commanding 4-1 lead. It was the defining period of the final.

Like they did throughout the weekend, Northern fought back superbly again. Oban Hawkins got Northern back into the match when he produced a brilliant individual goal and Twigg scored his second to set up a tense final two minutes of the final. Southern held on to make history and were jubilant went the final whistle blew.

The semi-finals were closely fought affairs. Northern Football upset top seed Capital Football in the first semi-final, while Southern United booked their place in the final when they defeated second-placed Auckland Football 2-1 in the second semi-final.

Northern pulled a rabbit out of the hat to even make the final four. They needed to draw or beat Southern on Saturday night to make the playoffs. They were 5-0 down and came back to draw 5-5.

Southern United’s Michael Sannum was named as the Player of the League, while the Golden Gloves went to Northern keeper Mohammed Sabri and prolific Capital goal scorer Miroslav Malivuk claimed the Golden Boot.

The Futsal National League Finals also presented the opportunity to award the top performers from across all futsal activity in the 2017 season. Nic Downes, the coach of the Futsal Ferns, was named as coach of the season. Kareem Osman, a standout in the Trans-Pacific Futsal Cup series win over New Caledonia, was named as the Player of the Year. Chris Sinclair was named as the Referee of the Year for the second year in a row. In 2016 he was awarded the honours for representing New Zealand at the FIFA Futsal World Cup and making it all the way to the final. In 2017 NZF Referee Development Manager Ken Wallace was full of praise and recognition for his work to share his learnings through becoming an instructor, coaching and mentoring a generation of new Futsal Referees coming through the ranks.

New Zealand Football would like to thank NZF Futsal National League supporter – Lion Foundation and commercial partner – Datacom.

Futsal National League FinalSouthern United 4 (Shunsuke 2, Kinghorn, Peterson) Northern Football 3 (Twigg 2, Hawkins) HT 3-1

Futsal National League Awards:Player of the league: Michael Sannum (Southern United)Golden gloves: Mohammed Sabri (Northern)Golden boot: Miroslav Malivuk (Capital)