Melville United have returned to the northern premier league after just one season in the championship wilderness thanks to a fairy-tale finish in their final match of the season.

The Unicorns beat Hibiscus Coast 2-1 at Gower Park, in highly improbable circumstances given they were trailing 0-1 to a goal by 17-year-old Riley Byrne after 94 minutes, to somehow snatch promotion by securing two goals as stoppage time mushroomed to a further seven minutes.

The result earned Melville promotion at the expense of Cambridge and Northern Rovers, one point back, and Wanderers two points back.

During the course of a roller-coaster afternoon all those clubs would have sniffed their own chance of securing promotion at one stage or another.

But instead it was Melville who engineered an escape worthy of Harry Houdini in the dying seconds of the match and the season.

When they found themselves suddenly belatedly chasing the game Melville's urgency increased, they shovelled centre back Robbie McNicholas up front, and he proved to be their saviour.

Firstly he won a penalty which was quickly converted by Jama Boss in the 98th minute.

Them in the 101st minute he rose at the far post to nod home a header for the winner, in the final play of the match.

They've made movies out of less, and it triggered pandemonium, with a celebratory mini pitch invasion in front of the clubrooms just before the final whistle went.

The climactic finish was made even more dramatic by the fact progress scores from other venues at various times also had Wanderers, Cambridge and Northern Rovers in the promotion frame until that goal was scored.

When everything had settled, with Cambridge beating Wanderers 2-1 and Northern Rovers upsetting champions Manukau United, the table looked like this:

Until that grandstand finish the match had only been a modest spectacle, with Melville making limited impression in attack and it taking an incredible covering tackle from Campbell Brown to prevent Hibs from being further ahead.

"Just give Robbie player of the year now," urged one fan.

Robbie McNicholas

The win capped a memorable season for Melville, in which both men's a women's team earned promotion to northern premier ranks.

That will create some financial challenges for the club given the entry fee requirements for both leagues which subsidise end-of-season national league competition.

But it is better than any other alternative.

The match was Jarrod Young's last as Melville coach.

In his aftermatch speech he reflected on "a tremendous three years".

"There were big highs in the first year and big lows in the second year," he said. 

"What a fitting way for us to get promotion in the final seconds because we never did anything the easy way."

Article added: Thursday 04 September 2025