The Waikato Rapids have been denied a second title in two years right at the last, going down 2-0 to Auckland City in a gripping Men's Futsal SuperLeague Grand Final.

All eight SuperLeague sides, including the Rapids and the Bay of Plenty Surge, gathered at the Pulman Arena in Papakura on Friday for the National Series, the culmination of the abbreviated 2020 national competition. A punishing schedule of four games over two days fed into finals day on Sunday, which saw both the Rapids and Auckland, the regular season's top two sides, edge through tight semi-finals to match up in the league's showpiece game.

Five exhausting matches in two and a half days didn't detract from the quality on show in the final. Auckland grabbed a goal in each half, through Hamish Grey and Steve Ashby-Peckham to secure gold, but it was keeper, Mike Antamanov who was the undoubted star of the show. Auckland's custodian repeatedly denied the Rapids to maintain a match winning clean sheet for his side.

The Rapids, led superbly by Logan Wisnewski, left everything on court in their hunt to find a way back into the match, especially during an extended period of fifth-man futsal during the closing stages, but Auckland were incredibly disciplined in holding on to their precious lead.

Earlier on Sunday, the Rapids had defeated Southern United 4-3 to make a second consecutive final. Goals from Kyle Wisnewski, Jono Tobias (in his 86th SuperLeague match - a record for a player from our region), Logan Wisnewski and Casey Sharplin had given the Rapids a seemingly comfortable lead, but Southern were never out of the match.

Rapids keeper, Patrick Steele, was the busier of the two goalies throughout, even while his team was building their lead, but things started to get tense when Southern mounted a rousing fight-back. Three quick fire goals from the southern men got them within one, but that's where their charge ended as the Rapids valiantly held them off.

The group games, played over Friday and Saturday, had been predictably competitive for both the region's representatives. The Rapids had a couple of hiccups on Friday, before cementing their semi-final spot on Saturday with two solid victories. The Bay of Plenty Surge picked up a second point of the SuperLeague following a 2-2 draw with Capital on Saturday and performed well, if a little inconsistently, in their other matches. The youthful Surge will have taken a lot from their 2020 campaign, with the experience gained from these matches feeding into 2021 and beyond.

Men's Futsal SuperLeague National Series
Friday November 20 to Sunday November 22

Results

Friday

• Southern United 4-3 Waikato Rapids
• Central 5-3 BOP Surge 
• Canterbury United 2-2 Waikato Rapids 
• Southern United 8-1 BOP Surge

Saturday

• BOP Surge 2-2 Capital 
• Waikato Rapids 4-3 Central
• Waikato Rapids 8-4 Capital
• BOP Surge 3-10 Canterbury United

Sunday

• Semi Final: Waikato Rapids 4-3 Southern United
• Grand Final: Auckland City 2-0 Waikato Rapids

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