It was the dream final line-up, and the match delivered another ‘Classic’ affair between arch-Melbourne rivals Pascoe Vale FC and Vic Vipers FC for the third-running of the mens Futsal Oz Australian Futsal League Cup.
After one of the most action-packed matches on record, Pascoe Vale came away with a 4-3 victory.
Pascoe Vale drew first blood as Lucas Kruel hit a stunning free kick through the hand of Vic Vipers keeper Christos Apostolakis.
Vipers leader Fernando De Moraes levelled the scores when he turned Renagi Ingram down the line to sneak the ball past Pascoe Vale keeper Felipe Bley.
Pascoe Vale become far too eager to regain their lead and gave away one too many careless fouls which then resulted in a Vipers penalty only seconds before the half time whistle. Just as you thought that a late penalty was enough drama, a red card was handed out to the Vipers’ Thiago Priori for a head butt. With emotions running high and referees having to deal with both teams who were clearly upset at the decisions handed down, it almost seemed as though everyone had forgotten about the penalty yet to be taken. Despite all the happenings around him, Vipers target Diego Garcia kept a cool head to convert past Bley to make it 2-1 at half time.
The half time team talk given by Pascoe manager Paul Vidic must have been a motivating one as almost immediately after the restart an Andre Caro strike deflected off the foot of Fernando to wrong foot Apostolakis and level the scores. With their tails up, Pascoe ran with their new found momentum and added a further three unanswered goals with Matteo Rocca and a Sofiane Soufi double doing the damage.
The Vipers deployed captain Jonny Barrientos as the fifth man with less than three minutes remaining, and managed to pull a goal back after Andre Caro slid in an attempted block.
With the Vipers now breathing down Pascoe’s neck, they received a further boost when Joao Da Silva was given his marching orders for a second yellow card. This meant that Pascoe were a player down with a minute and five fouls on the scoreboard, but luckily for Pascoe Vale’s sake, they did enough in the end not to concede another goal and go on to record a hard-fought win to seal their third FAFL Cup title.
The MVP of the 2014 Cup was awarded to Fernando De Moraes of the Vic Vipers, while de Moraes also had a share of the golden boot with Pascoe Vale’s Sofiane Soufi. The Golden Glove was also handed to Felipe Bley who also had a brilliant FAFL between the sticks en route to holding the cup aloft.