THE SCRIPT for the 41st Football Challenge Cup at Nambucca Heads said the champions would likely come from Nerang in south east Queensland or the powerhouse clubs from Sydney in West Pymble or Glebe.
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But someone's dog must have chewed the preordained runsheet, as none of the big name clubs could even make the final.
Instead, Port United somehow navigated their way through the draw with an understrength side before they went down 2-0 to Coffs City United in the final.
Coach Nathan Wade was impressed with his side after they headed north with no expectations.
"On Sunday we had no goalkeeper; we had a reserve for our reserve grade in goals," he said.
"After Saturday we had four that had to go which left us short and we had to throw Crossy (team manager Damien Cross) onto the bench.
"We were down to one sub in the final and that was Kenny Staines who is new to the club, friends with the boys and just went up with us for the weekend."
An injury to Jake Pugh in the centre of defence meant United had four 18-year-old's across their backline.
"Lewis Warne impressed me," Wade said.
The fact North Coast football clubs came away with the dosh was a point not lost on host club Nambucca Strikers president Paul Cue.
At the presentation, he said the metro Premier League clubs looked at this annual preseason tournament as the opportunity to test themselves against the best on the coast.
In the open men's final, Coffs City added one goal in the first half and another after the break to keep their Port Macquarie opponent at bay.
It was a decider of utmost quality, and the Port coach was gracious.
"A number of our players were on the fringe, and this weekend they have proved to the coaching staff that they are worthy first graders."
In the women's final, it took a tense and marathon penalty shootout to find the victors.
Urunga Raiders got the lollies 3-2 in the shootout against Port United after the teams were locked at two-apiece after regular time.
The Nambucca Strikers had a number of teams in action on finals day at Coronation Park, and all stood tall against elite competition.
A shining light was the effort of the Young Boys FC - a composite development team from the Valley - who found the going tough against a well drilled Kempsey Saints outfit.
But the lads did get on the board when Quinton Threadgate made good on his surname as he pierced the needle with a curling sweet shot from 35 metres which whipped into the extreme top left of the strings.
In the men's Over 35s final, West Pymble defeated Cavanbah 2-1.
In the consolation finals:
Men's: Kempsey Saints 4 def Nambucca Strikers 2
Women's: Bellingen cruised past Nambucca Strikers.
And in case you missed it, you can see all the photos from Saturday here.
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