Doesn’t get any easier as Thistle hit the road again

Gisborne Thistle striker Travis White is covered by Wainui’s Jamie Atiken with Jamie Gallagher backing up during the Geoff Logan Memorial tournament. Thistle kicked off their Central Fed League campaign last weekend with a 3-0 away loss to Taradale and are on the road again to face Palmerston North Marist tomorrow. Marist lost their first game 2-1 to Palmerston North United.Picture by Paul Rickard

It’s hard to see Gisborne Thistle catching a break in the first two months of football’s Central Federation League.

Coming off a 3-0 away loss to Taradale, Electrinet Thistle are away again tomorrow . . . to defending league champions Palmerston North Marist.

The week after that they’re at home to Palmerston North United, last year’s runners-up who beat a depleted Thistle team 6-3 at Park Island, Napier, in the Federation Cup two weeks ago and then beat Marist 2-1 on Marist’s home ground last week.

No league games are scheduled for Anzac Day weekend but the following week, on May 4, Thistle play New Plymouth side Western, who last week beat Whanganui Athletic 2-0 at Wembley Park . . . no mean feat at Athletic’s stronghold.

Next, on May 18, they play Havelock North Wanderers, relegated last year from the Central League but perennial contenders at this level.

The Jags get a chance to draw breath with a bye on May 25, and they return to action with a fixture that has become a sort of derby.

Whanganui and Gisborne are over 460 kilometres apart by road, but the games between them were so keenly contested over a four or five-year period that both teams regarded them as derbies. Thistle are at home for the first one this season, on June 1.

Then it’s New Plymouth Rangers and Peringa United at home on consecutive Saturdays. Peringa beat Rangers 1-0 in New Plymouth last Saturday.

Thistle coach Tam Cramer is right: none of the teams in this league will be easy to beat.

Roll on the first home game.