Soccer: Big win secures Force promotion

The champagne fizzed with MHR John Castrilli copping his share of the drenching after presenting the All Flags Division One shield to Bunbury Forum Force skipper Jordan Rispin on Saturday.

Picture Gallery: Force secures promotion

The ‘‘na na nas’’ reverberated around Hay Park with the shield hoisted high more than a dozen times to calls of ‘‘see you in the Premier League’’.

Bunbury had just completed a superb run of five victories with 24 goals for and just two against to wrap up the Division One crown with an emphatic 5-0 walloping of Rockingham City.

Fittingly for the players, it was a double delight.

Revenge is always sweet and so it was at Hay Park on Saturday with the Force taking out the title and their right to promotion into the State Premier League.

It was also a sweeter taste after the raspberries and taunts dished out in Rockingham on June 25 when a 4-2 scoreline wounded the Force.

President Vern Merchant did not have much to say after South West soccer’s red letter day.

‘‘Naturally I am thrilled but really it is just a feeling of relief and satisfaction after coming so close last year,’’ he said.

It was smiles all round with marquee signing striker Paul Harvey coming off the bench in the second half after a season out with injury to finally score his first goal after three brief runs.

It was also a satisfying finish for goalkeeper Ryan Montgomery who made a series of telling saves to keep the opposition scoreless for the fourth successive match.

Force coach Nigel Wilcox was a frustrated man for the first 20 minutes as he watched his men matched by their tormentors of two months back with several chances going begging and Montgomery forced to make a couple of diving saves midway through the first half.

It was a sigh of relief for Wilcox coach when Jon Brooks collected a ball in the midfield and made ground.

He slipped the ball to Mike Marten to draw goalkeeper Craig Thompson off his line and open the Force account with an angled shot.

That initial strike saw the Force take command with stand-out defender Ryan Risdon, skipper Rispin, Jarrad Mort, goalie Montgomery and Jamie Tandy guarding their territory while Brooks and Ashley Young ran Rockingham ragged in midfield.

Two more goals came before half time, McGee heading home from a melee following a corner kick and Brooks smashing in a ripper from 25m.

A relaxed Force appeared to go through the motions for a frustrating half an hour before goals by Harvey and Evan Chate lead them to a handy 5-0 answer to their early season loss.