Striker lays down the law in search of cup final glory

KENT BLECHYNDEN/Dominion Post.

JUGGLING BOOTS AND BOOKS: Lawyer and Mirimar Rangers striker Dom Rowe at work ahead of Sunday's Chatham Cup football final in Auckland.

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Juggling the books with the boots hasn't always been easy but come Sunday it will all pay off for Dom Rowe.

The 26-year-old commercial lawyer is also a striker for Miramar Rangers, who will play the Chatham Cup final against Auckland's Bay Olympic at North Harbour Stadium.

Those in the know say England-born Rowe could have played at a higher level, but he has no regrets about focusing on a career in law.

Rowe's father, Malcombe, played in Liverpool's age-group sides and ensured his son was hooked on football from an early age.

After moving to New Zealand as a three-year-old, Rowe progressed through the ranks at Rongotai College, Wellington United and now Rangers, as well as a stint with Manawatu in the NZFC.

The crunch career decision came when he was forced to choose between trialling for the New Zealand under-20 team while studying at Victoria University.

"I'm not sure I would have made it anyway, but it was the first introduction to what a full-time football schedule would look like," Rowe said.

"I was at university at the time and doing a few other things and it was something I decided was not going to be the rest of my life. While football was a passion, it wasn't something that was going to be my livelihood.

"So at that point I decided there was no chance of having a career but I would still play to a high and competitive level, which I could do."

The decision has panned out well.

Aside from holding down a good job at Russell McVeagh, Rowe has overcome a groin injury and will lace up the boots for his first Chatham Cup final, the showpiece of domestic club football in New Zealand.

"This is probably going to be the biggest game that I've played in," Rowe said. "The Chatham Cup is something special. It's the competition that's the premier club competition in New Zealand and this is a very significant game for us.

"Work try to be pretty flexible around those kind of things and you can manage your time, but it does become quite difficult when you do get quite busy at work. Something has to give and on occasion it has had to be football. Coaches over the years have been fairly understanding about that, including Matt [Rangers coach Matt Calcott] this year."

Calcott said Rowe was building nicely for the big decider. "The last little while he's struggled with injury, but he's starting to come right at the right time," Calcott said. "He's had a good couple of runs in the last two weeks. I'm sure if he wanted to head in that direction, he could play at a high level, but he's someone who's made some decisions to head another way. By all accounts he's very good at his job."

Calcott said Rangers were injury-free for the final apart from Michael Eager, who is in doubt with a quad strain.

"But we think he might make it at the moment. If the cup final was on the 4th or 5th, as it was originally scheduled, then we might have struggled but the boys have really started to come right."

- © Fairfax NZ News