When Ben Watson’s header looped over Joe Hart a month ago in the English FA Cup Final, no one could fathom what they had just witnessed.
Wigan had overturned all the odds, and everyone’s predictions to create one of the biggest upsets in the FA Cup’s history.
Nobody gave them a chance in the world, yet the Latics could argue they actually deserved to win the match on the balance of play. A huge achievement over the big spenders.
They had more vigour and spirit compared to the lacklustre Manchester City outfit who everyone thought were going to rack up a cricket score.
Bring it back to this part of the world, where the women’s State Knockout Cup final saw its own significant upset.
Sandringham prevailed despite all odds to defeat a South Melbourne outfit who had swept all before them up to this point, having arguably the strongest squad in the league.
Of course, Sandringham are not relegation battlers by any stretch of the imagination like Wigan were, but going into this final, their backs were truly up against the wall, and the voices around the Veneto Club, the venue of the final, were all talking up South Melbourne’s chances.
They had their point too. Sandringham were missing a recognised goalkeeper with Peta Horman ineligible while Australian international full back Stephanie Catley was not available for selection.
This was compounded by the fact midfielders Sienna Fogarty and Steph Tanti had played a futsal competition in Canberra the day before the final, and had to catch a flight straight after to make it.
Talk of forfeit or postponement was bandied around, yet the fixture would go ahead, and you would not hear any more complaints from Sandringham.
As if immune to everything that had gone on, Sandringham came out of the blocks strong. South Melbourne had failed to settle down into the game as Sandringham’s midfield asserted their dominance in the first half.
Kirstie Shearing, Hannah Stuart and Sienna Fogarty had built a brick wall in the middle of the park, and if South did find a way past down the sides, Theresa Deas Medalist Emma Gunn and left back Lucy Kapusta repelled any attack away. Christie Parton was tasked with handling top scorer Laura Spiranovic, and kept her quiet for most of the game.
Even the introduction of Morany Chek before around the 18 minute mark failed to stem the flow of the game.
Indeed, Sandringham had their moments in the final third before they eventually scored.
When Tanti found space, she created moments of danger for South Melbourne. The closest she came to laying on an assist coming was when Emma Runnalls was an inch away from diverting a whipped cross home.
The 34th minute mark proved to be the decisive point of the match, as Amy Silver played Eliza Gleadell through with a wonderfully weighted through ball, for her to slot the ball past Cassie Dimovski.
Subsequent efforts in the rest of the half from South Melbourne to equalise were snuffed out by the in-form and in-sync defence of Sandringham.
The story of the second half was rather different, as a charged up South Melbourne out for blood were unable to put the finishing touches on their chances.
Morany Chek’s gliding run past Sandringham’s defence proving the clearest chance of all, but Sian Rogers did well to keep calm and make the vital save.
Then disaster struck for Sandringham, as Kirstie Shearing went down with a nasty looking knee injury. The hole that would be left in the middle of the park was one they ended up struggling to fill for the remainder of the game.
South Melbourne’s desire not to give up at this point almost got them the rewards, as Jessica Au found herself with a couple of chances to equalise.
Dogged defending from Sandringham did enough to put pressure on her finishes, as when Rogers saved the initial efforts, Au had little or no space to get a decent finish on the rebound.
The spirit shown by Sandringham ended up getting them through to the final whistle, defending their lead with all their might, all their efforts resulted in them winning silverware.
Suddenly nothing about what happened leading up to this game mattered anymore. The missing players, the players who flew in from Canberra an hour before kickoff, the talk of forfeit, none of that carried any stress.
They had what nobody expected, the trophy.
Sandringham will now look to ride the wave of this emotion to go on to bigger and better achievements, starting with trying to win the Women’s Premier League.