They were always going to be lifting the trophy after what they did last week. Team Wellington are too good of a team to be complacent enough to blow this with so much on the line… and besides, after a 6-0 win in the first leg the margins for error were pretty enormous. They’d have had a hard time buggering this up even if they tried.

Nothing much needed to change. Angus Kilkolly replaced Ross Allen in the starting line-up while Jack-Henry Sinclair came in for the suspended Scott Hilliar and the Tee Dubs resumed where they left off. Slightly curious that there wasn’t room for a couple fringers to have a run around from the start, say mid-season acquisitions Liam Wood and Hamish Watson for example, but that’s because Jose Figueira’s lads were cutting no corners. That ruthless attitude was clear last week and you could see it again in Fiji with the team they picked.

Fiji is a tough place to play and Lautoka FC are an extremely solid team at this level with more than a couple internationals in their ranks. But chances are they weren’t going to score six times and even if they did they probably couldn’t keep a clean sheet out of it. Nine minutes played, even those hypotheticals became all but irrelevant when Mario Ilich was gifted the ball in a bit of space and spotted the keeper off his line. He took a pop but Senirusi Bokini was able to get a hand on it as he spun back… only for Dave Radrigai to kinda step on the ball and accidentally slip it over the line for an own goal. Inches in it but that was 7-0 on aggregate, eighty minutes to go.

Ilich couldn’t get away with claiming that one but there were no doubts about the second in the 32nd minute. Bit of a scramble from Bokini in goal again and after a fine block to deny Kilkolly, the ball fell to Ilich on the edge of the area and his volley was hit hard and swift into the opposite side of the net. Bloody lovely strike, even if the goalie was a tad compromised.

Up until then it’d been tentative footy with Lautoka looking for attacking openings that weren’t really there, just set pieces and long drives. Team Welly were naturally more timid than last time, the conditions and the state of the tie allowing for that, but it was cool to see they were still looking to make those runs in behind the defence when the opportunity arose, looking to play their usual style of football.

Ross Allen was introduced at the half but it was Lautoka that came out sharper, Brian Kaltack buggering up their best chance of the game so far after sliding in behind the backline. That was merely a momentary scare. Nate Hailemariam struck one narrowly wide as a warning before choosing to pass the next time, with Ross Allen slamming a brilliant finish in for the third… once he’d gotten the ball from out underneath his foot.

It was now 9-0 with less than forty minutes left. Game over and then some but Lautoka, to their credit, kept on trucking and pulled one back almost immediately. Cory Chettleburgh made a nice reverse pass in the box and Scott Basalaj didn’t have his finest moment as he was beaten by Benjamin Totori’s dig.

In these situations, coaches usually give it the old: ‘start again from nil-all, lads’. No different with the second leg here, win this singular game and then the rest of it takes care of itself and then some. With Team Wellington 3-1 up and subs running on and time running out, that was about all that was left to play for and we got ourselves a mighty entertaining final fifteen minutes.

First with Scott Basalaj making a superb save at his far post to deny Shazil Ali’s header. But old mate Ali wasn’t going to be denied a couple minutes later with a curling, dipping effort that no keeper in the world was going to be able to save. Ripping effort. Within two minutes of that belter, Benji Totori sprinted through the defence, some rare parting of the seas between the two Marios in the middle, and it was 3-3 on the day. Oh but then Angus Kilkolly scored again, because scoring in the OCL is what he does, and Team Welly took this thing 4-3 and won the title 10-3 on aggregate. That’s that, then.

Wild ending but it was never going to have any effect on the overall outcome. Just a bit of fun along the way, is all.

And, mate, it sure has been fun along the way. This championship wasn’t about what they did in this most recent game, which lost its stakes after the first leg demolition. This championship was reward for what they’ve done along the entire journey. They had to play in the islands for their group stage games and did what needed to be done. They annihilated Lae City Dwellers 11-0 in the quarters. They famously toppled Auckland City in the semis, holding on despite a late scrap for the away goals triumph, getting revenge for the Premiership final and then finally breaking ACFC’s clean sheet streak along the way. Magical stuff, can’t wait for the film version.

Extra credit for Mr Kilkolly. He scored eight goals in the comp – including four in one game, the legend! – to take out the golden boot. He needed that last goal to split it too, with Ross Allen also scoring seven times (despite only starting four games, with two more bench appearances). Hailemariam bagged four as well, plus a fair few assists, no doubt.

They got this done with a remarkably steady team. Scott Basalaj, Justin Gulley, Mario Barcia, Mario Ilich and Eric Molloy started every game while Taylor Schrijvers and Nate Hailemariam each came off the bench in the only game they didn’t start. You can tell the chemistry this team has when you watch them and having such familiarity within all the major combinations is what makes that possible. That and a coach that orchestrates a positive team culture.

Shout outs to the lot of them, it’s going to be fascinating and exciting to see a different team doing it for Aotearoa at the Club World Cup.

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