Stoppage-time bonus: Gisborne Thistle leftback Oli Davies scores at the end of a move that began at halfway and ended with a goal that put Thistle 4-2 up in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Thistle won the match 5-2. Picture by Paul Rickard
Childers Road Reserve was a field of dreams and nightmares for 97 minutes yesterday, and both teams had their share.
Gisborne Thistle goalkeeper Mitchell Stewart-Hill experienced both as his miskick gifted Palmerston North Marist the lead during a tense first half and then his string of brilliant saves kept Thistle in the match long enough for them to snatch victory at the death.
Three goals in stoppage time gave Waikanae Beach TOP10 Gisborne Thistle a 5-2 win against second-placed Palmerston North Marist in Central Federation League football in Gisborne yesterday.
The late goals came from an Ander Batarrita penalty in the first minute of added time, an Oli Davies finish to a sweeping move from halfway in the fourth, and a Jimmy Somerton penalty in the seventh.
Somerton was the player brought down for both penalties, and the yellow card was shown to Marist skipper Adam Cowan and fellow centreback Adam Gill for the fouls.
Marist finished the game with 10 men after rightback Campbell Wallace was sinbinned for dissent after the first penalty was awarded.
The top of the table remains the same after front-runners Havelock North Wanderers' 3-2 home loss to second-last Napier Marist on Saturday and second-placed Palmerston North Marist's loss yesterday. Thistle moved from an overnight position of fifth to third, Whanganui Athletic are fourth after a 5-2 away win against North End on Saturday, and Massey University are fifth after they took a weekend off league duty to beat Napier City Rovers Seconds 2-1 in the final of the Central Federation Cup.
Yesterday's game in Gisborne started at a fast clip and never let up.
Thistle went ahead in the second minute when — from around the penalty spot —attacking midfielder Jarom Brouwer swept in Somerton's left-wing cross.
Marist equalised when Thistle failed to clear a long ball into the box from Marist's right flank and roaming striker Melvin Rumere found space at the far post to guide the ball in with the outside of his right foot.
Thistle went behind in the 25th minute. Rightback Brandon Josling threw the ball in to Stewart-Hill on the edge of the penalty area. Unable to pick it up (a throw-in to the keeper is counted as a backpass), Stewart-Hill hit the ball first-time, but miskicked it straight to the league's leading scorer, Nick Carrick, who controlled it and chipped it into the empty goal.
Thistle equalised three minutes later when Batarrita's long ball was taken forward by striker Alan Zarate and crossed from the left. Midfielder Nick Land missed connecting with his attempted header and the ball fell to Somerton, who beat two men as he travelled across the top of the penalty area, then angled his left-footed shot into the bottom right-hand corner.
Marist had the better of the second half but Thistle defended in depth to deny Carrick, in particular, space to cause trouble. Josling and Davies were the fullbacks and three centrebacks — Ryan Anderson, Uruguayan newcomer Gonzalo Brunelli and Batarrita — pounced on any loose balls in the penalty area.
Alex Davies, younger brother of Oli, came on for the injured Josling at rightback in the 50th minute. Both brothers impressed in unfamiliar positions after being told to play their natural game, only further back.
Brunelli had a strong game, too, although he was lucky not to connect with a long-range sliding challenge that could have drawn the ire of Manawatu referee Edward Cook in the first half.
Batarrita was as sound as ever, and Anderson continues his steady development in general play.
Goalkeeper Stewart-Hill made crucial saves in the 82nd minute — a block that foiled an attacker who was clean through — and in the 84th when he got down to save a free-kick from Jordan Joblin-Hall at the near post. Then after Thistle went ahead 3-2, he protected their lead with a fine reflex save from Carrick's free-kick up and over the wall, and a clean catch of the resulting corner.
In midfield, Brouwer added zip to Cullen Spawforth's expansive passing game and Land's box-to-box doggedness.
Up front, Somerton was back to his best early-season form, scoring two goals and having a hand in the others. Zarate proved a good foil and when he was replaced in the 68th minute by Felipe Torres, we had a chance to see another of Thistle's Uruguayan guests in action. He had a hand in the build-up to the goal by Davies, putting pressure on the ball in Marist's half.
Marist's best were their goalkeeper, Liam Outtrim (his double-save from Zarate in the first half deserved to be a match-winner), centrebacks Cowan and Gill (notwithstanding the late penalties they conceded), midfielders Luke Palfreyman and Joblin-Hall, and roaming attacker Rumere. Carrick was always dangerous, but Thistle kept tabs on him.
The two penalties in stoppage time came when Somerton broke away and was bearing down on goal. The proximity of covering players might have been what saved the offenders from a red card. But the Davies goal was the pick of them all. The move went from Brouwer to Oli Davies, to Spawforth, back to Davies, to Somerton and back to Davies to finish.
Thistle coach Garrett Blair said they had a plan to stifle the threat of Carrick.
“We knew how deadly he could be when he got the ball on the edge of the penalty area,” Blair said.
“He has the ability to turn and score from nothing, and we wanted to suffocate that threat by strengthening our backline.”
The last three goals were a result of the solid platform at the back, and a commitment to break out of defence as soon as possible to reduce the possibility of play breaking down in bad areas.
“Everyone dug deep and we came out with a good result,” he said.
Marist skipper Adam Cowan said they had close to their best line-up on the pitch but had only one substitute.
Midfielder Taylor Monk had to come off at halftime with a neck injury that had been troubling him before the game. He was replaced by Anthony Bell, but that left no one else to come on, and centreback Adam Gill was cramping up well before the end.
Cowan — a 40-year-old veteran of about 180 national league games with the likes of Team Wellington and YoungHeart Manawatu, and central league football with Wairarapa United — said Marist didn't want to settle for a draw; they wanted the three points to put pressure on Havelock North.
“We had the majority of the chances; we just didn't finish,” he said.
“That keeper had an outstanding game. If it wasn't for him, it would have been a different story. Both keepers made some great saves.”