Vikings put cup queries in place | Hawkes Bay Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Hawkes Bay

Mirror, mirror on the wall, what's the most beautiful game of all?

"Soccer, of course. Oh, okay, football if you want to split hairs," is the resounding reply.

Really, is it?

That depends on who is standing in front of the mirror.

If you look closely you'll find it evokes myriad emotions and can degenerate to a good, bad or ugly game as well and quite often with a healthy dose of humour.

The Hawke's Bay division one club match between Maycenvale Strollers and Mr Green Taradale Vikings a fortnight ago goes a long way to proving that.

With SportToday publishing the enviable record of the Vikings' unblemished three-season home record, a pumped-up Vale player/stalwart, Graeme Hill, phoned at the height of the Mudgway PartsWorld Stakes horserace to say they had whipped the Vikings 6-2 at Akina Park, Hastings.

"It's our home ground but the game was to be played at Taradale Park and was moved to our ground so it should be the Vikings' home game," Hill claimed, demanding to know why the Vikings didn't put their Challenge Cup on the line in the top-four play-offs after the league round.

He had contacted Central Football general manager Phil Holt but wasn't convinced with his explanation that the cup was only up for grabs at home and in league fixtures only, not the extended play-offs or knockout cup matches.

"If it's their home game and they transfer it to another venue then they should still put it up for grabs."

Furthermore, it bamboozled Hill how that was possible when he suspected a premier team held it two years ago.

"The prem team must have lost it to division one in a Knockout Cup match for it to come down."

He added more fuel to the fire, questioning how the Vikings, who acrimoniously transferred wholesale from Napier Marist three years ago, were still in possession of the silverware.

"If you play for a club you can't just up and take the trophy with you to another club. Isn't it ridiculous?"

The 2010 Homeworx first division league champions Vikings, Hill said, had told them after the final whistle the game was a friendly one but "we don't care". Please investigate?

SportToday did. Reiterating what he said to Hill, Holt said the game wasn't supposed to be at Taradale Park unless he had erred in putting the wrong information on the draw although he hadn't checked it lately.

"With teams in some grades not playing 18 games I tend to divide them into top and bottom play-offs to give them their money's worth at the end of the season," he said.

Had Hill bothered to read the regulations on the website, Holt said, he would know the protocol behind putting up the Challenge Cup each season.

Enter Vikings player/co-ordinator Mike Baldwin to set the record straight.

Baldwin said the website clearly stated the game was at Akina Park and quite often Holt highlighted a cup game too in the draws when applicable.

He doesn't agree with Holt and would have put the cup up for grabs regardless of whether it was a league match, knockout cup or a play-off one provided it was against division-one sides.

"Whenever we play at home it's always on the sideline for everyone to see," Baldwin said.

In a comical twist, he revealed the Vikings had lost their grip on the silverware in their last season at Marist in 2007.

Unaware who the holders were the Vikings transferred lock, stock and barrel to Dale and in the beginning of the season Taradale club stalwarts handed them the cup.

"The club held it but because we were the first-division team they said, 'Here you go, go and defend it'," said Baldwin, laughing at how they had regained the cup "by default".

Ironically, the Vikings lost the trophy in their first game in 2008 to - wait for it - Maycenvale.

"They [Vale] had players like Leon Birnie and Dakota Lucas in there," he said, adding the Vikings took it off Vale in the second round that season and hung on to it.

"It seems Magpie [Hill] hasn't done his homework," said Baldwin whose team have won their fourth league title.

The moral of this story, my friends, is to know what you're playing for before you run on to the field.

Of course, in Hill's defence, there's no harm in asking the question because if you don't then chances are it could be a life sentence in total darkness.