WHAT THE COMBINATION HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE FINAL

With both these teams top of the table it was almost impossible to predict a result and as expected both teams gave a good account of themselves as they game was played at breakneck pace at times.Most of the early pressure came from Punjab with Finedon making just a few breaks into the opposition half.
As early as the 8th minute Punjab had the ball in the net but Andrew Cox was ruled off-side. After the early pressure from Punjab, some good build up play from Finedon almost lead to a goal, Chris Brown got a good cross into the box and as the defender lashed out at the ball it went straight up in the air and with John Savage battling to finish, the Punjab Keeper, Hassan Mumin just got a hand to it to punch the ball away. Punjab`s Michael Chong has had a good season and seems to be a crowd favourite and as the game went on he was more and more involved in the play, but he was let down by his finishing. As the half progressed past the 30 minute mark the game was starting to get exciting, although there were a lot of fouls from both sides which was breaking up the play. Finedon were now having a lot more of the ball having defended the earlier pressure well. The frenetic pace of the game lead to numerous errors from both teams and in particular Punjab`s passing was starting to let them down in all areas of the field, seeing this Finedon continued to press with Brown and Savage continually linking up well and but for some great stops the half could have ended with Finedon having the advantage.
Half time – Finedon Volta 0 v 0 Punjab United
As the second half began, Chong was extremely quick off the mark, making two early runs, but he was ruled off-side on both occasions.In the 52nd minute Finedon made a double substitution that seemed to work almost instantly as three minutes later some excellent build up play lead to Brown receiving the ball on the left hand edge of the penalty area and held his nerve as defenders bore down to slide his shot wide of the keeper into the back of the net for 1-0.
From this point on Punjab went all out for the equaliser, throwing everything they had forward in an effort to score. Chong did everything but score and Cox was in the thick of things regularly. Finedon were given no choice but to defend their narrow lead and defend they did, despite immense pressure from Punjab; the keeper barely had to make a save. Every time Finedon tried to launch an attack Punjab just punted it forward and countered.
With just two minutes of normal time left, Mumin received the ball from a throw in that appeared to be a foul throw and sometimes you need a little luck in cup finals, the error was not spotted and Mumin launched a long punt towards the Finedon area, Cox did well to control the ball before firing a low shot beyond Adam Watts for 1-1. With neither team able to regain the advantage so close to the end the full time score stayed at 1-1.
Full Time: Finedon Volta 1 v 1 Punjab United
The occasion seemed to spur both teams on in search of a winner and indeed early on Finedon looked the more likely to get it, but with a minute left of the first period Chris Bright picked up a loose ball for Punjab on the edge of the penalty area, after Finedon had failed to clear properly, and guided a well struck shot past the keeper for 2-1.
The second period was scrappy as neither team was prepared to finish runners up, but in fairness it was Punjab who had the lion’s share of the play in extra time and were worthy of their hard fought victory. Congratulations to this season’s winner, Punjab United.
After Extra Time: Finedon Volta 1 v 2 Punjab United