After three months of quality football, the 2022 U-NITE Cup came to a thrilling end at the Veneto Club last weekend.
The day opened with the women's final, where last year's runners up UNITE took on newcomers Melbourne United A. After a tense first half the teams went into the break deadlocked at 0-0 before Melbourne United stormed out of the gates to score twice in the second half and claim gold.
The men's final took place shortly after with Carlton Brazilians and Afghan United meeting in an entertaining encounter. The Brazilians started on the front foot, scoring twice before half-time to head into the break with a comfortable 2-0 advantage. The tables turned in the second period however, as Afghan United fought back valiantly to equalise, before a dramatic 85th minute Lucas Vaz goal settled the encounter in the dying stages of the game.
The two finals brought another brilliant U-NITE Cup to an end. Starting with 24 men's teams and 10 women's teams in October, matches were played across four ports venues.
The first week of group matches were dedicated to Hary Milas. A much respected and loved figure within the football community, Hary was a great supporter of MCSA and the U-Nite Cup over a long period of time.
Organised annually by the Melbourne Chinese Soccer Association (MCSA), the U-NITE Cup has become a staple of the football calendar since it was introduced in 2014.
MCSA was established in 1995 with the goal to provide opportunities for young people, predominately but not exclusively of Chinese heritage to play football in a friendly competitive environment.
Image Credit: All photos in this story are courtesy of GEM Photography.