The 1979 Chatham Cup was the 52nd annual nationwide knockout football competition in New Zealand.
North Shore's Adrian Elrick and Keith Hobbs appeared in both finals (the latter as a substitute in the first match), as did Mount Wellington's Tony Sibley and Bill de Graaf.
The final has been described as "the one that slipped away", as the expected venue, Newmarket Park, was made unavailable after a small landslide destroyed much of the playing area.
Early in the second spell Mount Wellington's Stewart Carruthers was sent off, tipping the scales towards the North Shore side.
The Mount were entrenched deep in their own half for much of the remainder of the match but Ian Ormond was brought down in the box and slotted the ball home from the resulting penalty to take the cup over the Waitematā.