Napier City Rovers Reserves lead the competition on 24 points while Havelock North Wanderers are second on 21 points.
On Saturday, both come to Gisborne, Napier City Rovers to play United at Harry Barker Reserve at 12.30 pm and the Wanderers to play Thistle at Childers Road Reserve at 2.45pm.
If both Gisborne teams win, their second and third placings would be restored and they would be just two points behind Rovers.
While it’s too early to start talking about promotion, it’s worth remembering only clubs’ first teams are eligible for Central League 2, so Napier City Rovers Reserves could not contest a playoff with the winners of the Western Premiership to determine the promoted club. Their place would be taken by the next eligible team.
Reports indicate, though, that Thistle and United will have to do better than they did in Hawke’s Bay on Saturday.
Jags coach Tam Cramer said his side left themselves with too much to do after going 4-0 down in the first 35 minutes.
“After they scored their fourth goal, we were the only team in it,” Cramer said.
“We pulled two goals back by halftime [through Travis White and Jimmy Somerton]. After an hour, we hit the bar twice inside a minute.
“Then, because we were chasing the game, we left ourselves open at the back and they scored in the 78th minute. Jimmy [Somerton] scored again a few minutes later to make it 5-3.
“In the first half, we couldn’t string two passes together. We couldn’t control the ball. We didn’t compete. It didn’t look like we wanted to be there.”
With a few stern words of encouragement at the break, the Jags were a different team in the second half, but Taradale would not be denied.
Josh Jenkins, the striker who scored a hat-trick in Taradale’s 5-1 victory over High School Old Boys in Gisborne last month, scored his side’s first, fourth and fifth goals on Saturday.
For Thistle, Charlie Harvey played well at right back while Jay Houthuijzen, on the right flank, and Carlos Guerra, on the left, put in good shifts after coming on for the second half, Cramer said.
Defenders Te Kani Wirepa-Hei and Daniel Venema had solid games and striker Somerton worked hard, but Thistle would have to start better to beat Havelock North Wanderers.
United player-coach Josh Adams said his team were in the game at 2-2 but a strong-finishing Western Rangers side scored two goals in the last 15 minutes to take the points.
St Leonards Park was boggy from heavy rain that stopped less than an hour before the match, and enterprising football was hard to achieve.
Rangers came at United hard from the start and scored after six minutes. After 21 minutes, Adams was pushed over in a challenge for a half-clearance from a corner and scored from the resulting penalty.
Rangers went ahead again 10 minutes into the second half and United equalised within the next 10 through midfielder Dane Thompson.
Rangers “ran away” with the game in the last quarter. They brought on three substitutes in the last 15 minutes to keep the workrate up, while United had only one.
Right back Kieran Venema came off in the latter stages to avoid aggravating an injury niggle and Campbell Hall came on, with the next game – against Napier City Rovers Reserves – the target for his return to full duty.
Hall came through the test with no apparent ill-effects, while centre back Ryan Anderson was United’s man of the match for his strength in the air and in the tackle. Goalkeeper Andy McIntosh’s shot-stopping kept United in the game till near the end.
Josh Adams has a balancing act in the next few weeks, as Corey Adams and Kieran Higham try to recover from injury. Corey Adams did a light training session last Thursday and Higham is hoping to return to training soon.
In Napier this week, Gisborne Boys’ High School are playing Napier Boys’ High School in a qualifying match for the premier secondary school football tournament. Their first qualifier, against Hastings Boys’ High School, ended 1-1.
They resume their Eastern Premiership campaign against Napier Marist in Hawke’s Bay at 1pm on Saturday.
