A club looking to return to its glory days will come up against another with a more recent history of success when Eastern Suburbs face Team Wellington in the final of the ISPS Handa Premiership at QBE Stadium in Auckland on Sunday.

Suburbs are one of the largest and most successful clubs in the country, claiming every honour available to an Auckland-based outfit. But the majority of their most memorable moments on a national level arrived around 50 years ago during a trophy-laden run.

Formed way back in 1934, the Lily Whites earned five Chatham Cup titles in the 1950s and 1960s – which they added to with another triumph in 2015 – before winning the Rothmans National League, a precursor to the ISPS Handa Premiership, in 1971.

At re-entry to national league level three years ago, their goal would have been to repeat that earlier title-winning feat and they have inched closer each season. Their debut campaign ended agonisingly near to a play-off berth, Suburbs missing out by just two points before going on to book a spot in the semi-finals the following season.

Their run was then brought to an abrupt end with a 4-0 humbling at the hands of Auckland City but they banished those memories in this season’s semi-finals with a 1-0 win over the Canterbury United Dragons to earn a historic appearance in Sunday’s final.

“It’s been a long time between drinks and the club has been around for a long time,” coach Danny Hay says.

“Eastern Suburbs have a proud history and we would like to play as well as we can for the people who have supported us within the club, for the fans and particularly the young players who are coming through. We're trying to create a pathway at the club for the serious young footballer, so we want to put on a good performance for those young players and show them what their future could potentially look like.”

In contrast, Team Wellington are a much younger club – formed to compete in the newly-established New Zealand Football Championship (as the ISPS Handa Premiership was then known) in 2004 – and have taken out a mortgage on a place in the final in recent seasons. Remarkably, they are set to compete in their fourth consecutive final and are chasing their third title after back-to-back wins in 2016 and 2017.

Their chances of making yet another final appeared slim when they finished as the lowest-placed of the semi-finalists. But they then showed they are still very much a force to be reckoned with by upsetting minor premiers Auckland City 3-1, becoming the first team to defeat the Navy Blues all season.

It’s already been a ground-breaking season for the men from the capital, who competed on the global stage for the first ever time with a heart-breaking loss to hosts Ail Ain at the FIFA Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi last December. They were three-nil up in that game before being pegged back and eventually losing on penalties, a crushing blow that appeared to knock them off their stride when they returned to domestic action.

Jose Figueira’s side won only four of their nine league matches after the festive break but appear back to their best at an opportune time after that impressive victory over Auckland. They will take confidence from their record against Suburbs in the regular season, in which they triumphed 2-1 and 3-1.

But Suburbs have enjoyed a better campaign overall with Hay’s young charges being kept off top spot only by the form of Auckland City and carving out both the best attacking and defensive records. Most of their offensive threat has been provided by Golden Boot winner Callum McCowatt and Andre de Jong, who have notched 35 of their team’s 54 goals.

Wellington’s have been shared around with top scorer Hamish Watson now no longer involved and six strikes each being supplied by Jack-Henry Sinclair and Angus Kilkolly, who both found the net in the semi-final. But it’s the defensive side of Wellington’s game that Figueira must look to get right as Suburbs have been kept scoreless on only two occasions this season.

Wily veteran Bill Robertson will have a key role to play in that with the 34-year-old looking to use all of his experience and organisational skills to combat the threat of Suburbs’ front-line, which also includes the likes of Elijah Just and Mohamed Awad.

“They’re a team that have got threats all over the park,” Figueira says.

“They’re energetic, technically good and have shown all season that they’re free scoring. That alone is enough of a warning and we’ll have to be right at the top of our game if we want to stand a chance of getting our hands on the trophy.”

ISPS Handa Premiership Grand Final

Eastern Suburbs vs Team Wellington
Sunday 31 March, 4.35pm
Live on SKY Sports
Entry $10, U-16 free
#ESvTW #ISPSHandaPrem

Referee: Nick Waldron
Assistant Referees: Mark Rule, Edward Cook
Fourth Official: Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh 

Eastern Suburbs (from): 1. Andrew Withers, 2. Alexander Clayton, 3. Kalvin Kalua, 4. Nando Pijnaker, 5. Adam Thomas, 6. Harry Edge, 7. Tim Payne (c), 8. Owen Parker-Price, 9. Callum McCowatt, 10. Andre de Jong, 11. Mohamed Awad, 12. Kingsley Sinclair, 14. Elijah Just, 15. Dalton Wilkins, 16. Dominic Wooldridge, 17. Michael Built, 21. Justin Biega (GK), 22. Hayden Johns, 2. Campbell Strong, 24. Jack Duncan
Coach: Danny Hay

Team Wellington (from): 1. Scott Basalaj (GK), 2. Tiahn Manuel, 3. Adam Mitchell, 4. Mario Ilich, 5. Liam Wood, 6. Taylor Schrijvers, 7. Eric Molloy, 8. Henry Cameron, 10. Nathanael Hailemariam, 11. Bill Robertson, 12. Andrew Bevin (c), 13. Daniel Mulholland, 14. Jack-Henry Sinclair, 15. Joel Stevens, 16. Angus Kilkolly, 17. Alex Palezevic, 18. Aaron Clapham, 19. Ross Allen, 22. Marcel Kampman (GK), 23. Charlie Morris (GK)
Coach: Jose Figueira

Article added: Thursday 28 March 2019