A spirited Middlemore Sangam team took home the Late Permal Sami Cup and $1500 prize money after defeating Hamilton Sangam 1-0 in a breath taking final of the New Zealand Then India Sanmarga Ikiya Sangam.
The Tournament was held at Bill McKinley Park in Panmure, Auckland on November 6, 2011.
Middlemore Laced with several former district representatives, including Nicholas Lawrence, Robert Shahib, Diwakar Mudaliar, Ritnesh Siwan and Avinash Reddy.
MVP of the Tournament Avneet Raju defied all odds to defeat an experienced Hamilton outfit laced with seasoned campaigners Sumeet Shankaran, Salesh Kumar, Ronesh Nadan, Shalen Nair and Dinesh Lingam.
The goal came midway in the first half, as young and crafty midfielder Siddharth Raju released speedy striker Karunesh Anand who was tackled from behind in the penalty box by former Rewa rep Ronesh Nadan.
The referee did not hesitate and awarded a penalty to Middlemore, which former Fiji team goalkeeper and Middlemore captain Nicholas Lawrence stepped up to take and made no mistakes in calmly placing the shot beating a diving Vimal Prakash.
The Middlemore defence stood tall after the goal and kept the Hamilton attack at bay. The Middlemore officials and players turned into cheerful mode as the referee blew the whistle when they wrestled the trophy away from defending champions Hamilton Sangam.
Middlemore Captain Nicholas Lawrence attributed the success to members of the team, especially Salesh Mudaliar, Devendra Dass, Doltun Nath and Vimlesh Reddy.
Fiji TIV President Tarunesh Reddy along with FIJI FA President Rajesh Patel attended the Tournament.
Teams now shift their attention to the Sangam World Cup scheduled to be held in Sydney, Australia this month.
