Gisborne United's Corey Adams with Gisborne Thistle's Euan Cramer (left) and Nick Land either side of him. Adams scored twice in his top-of-the-table side's 9-0 Eastern Premiership win against Maycenvale in Gisborne on Saturday while Thistle had a 3-2 away victory over Taradale Reserves. Photo / Paul Rickard
Gisborne United beat Maycenvale 9-0 at Harry Barker Reserve while Gisborne Thistle had another close win away from home in Eastern Premiership football on Saturday.
Maycenvale were “wounded” before the game started, but Heavy Equipment Services United were in the sort of form that would have swept aside most teams at this level.
Striker Jimmy Somerton scored four goals – making 14 in five games – and midfielders Corey Adams (two), Dane Thompson, Cullen Spawforth and Matt Hills completed the picture by scoring with varied degrees of panache.
Electrinet Thistle beat Taradale Reserves 3-2 in Hawke’s Bay. Striker and skipper Leo Maisey scored twice and a Taradale player scored an own goal with a miscued clearance.
United are now clear leaders of the league, following a 4-4 draw between Havelock North Wanderers and Napier City Rovers Reserves.
The top five are: Gisborne United on 13 points; Havelock North, 11; Gisborne Thistle, nine; Maycenvale, seven; and Port Hill, five.
Maycenvale had considered defaulting on Thursday and management left it to the players to decide.
“We’d lost four players from the previous week,” coach Christian Jirkowsky said. “The boys felt it wouldn’t be fair to the league or the other team to default, so they decided to come up and give it a go.”
A centreback, Jono Marshall, was in goal – he’s played there before – and players were brought up from lower-division competition to fill the gaps.
Maycenvale had two subs - Jirkowsky, 58, and Dion Andrews, 57. Both played the last three minutes.
But it was hard to imagine any premiershlip teams holding United in this type of form.
Somerton scored in the 15th and 22nd minutes, turning the marking defender both times and finishing with precision. In the 40th, he took a free-kick near the byline on the right flank and hit a slide-rule pass to Corey Adams, who scored at the near post.
United keeper Josh Adams saved a penalty three minutes before the break, and a minute later Maycenvale’s Dakota Lucas and Thistle’s Corey Adams were shown the yellow card after Lucas tried to get his body between a Jags player and the ball, and execute a turn.
Referee Ben Chisholm ruled the contact in the attempted move was excessive, and the reaction of Adams to the challenge brought him a caution, too.
In the 87th minute, Lucas was shown the yellow card again, this time for a heavy and reckless tackle, the two yellows made a red and he was sent off.
Between the first and second yellows, Lucas was a target for special attention from some of the United faithful.
It’s a form of verbal bloodsport that seems an acquired taste. A few hecklers get the ball rolling, and a group of good, salt-of-the-earth types – gathered together in a grandstand – let their hair down by making things as uncomfortable as possible for the opposition.
To the neutral observer, it can be unpleasant. And that’s what it’s meant to be.
United added to their tally a minute into the second half, Corey Adams putting the finishing touch to a cut-back from the right.
Seven minutes later, Thompson found himself in a metre of space, looked up and curled a left-footed shot into the goal from 30m.
Spawforth got in on the act in the 61st minute, turning a player and letting fly from 45m ... 6-0.
In the 68th, Spawforth took the left-wing corner that Somerton rose to meet at the edge of the goal area and head in from 6m.
Somerton scored his fourth goal when he went round the keeper in the 79th minute to make it 8-0, and turned provider in the 85th when he cut the ball back from the right for Hills to finish.
With Malcolm Marfell and Campbell Hall unavailable, United changed their formation.
Jirah Wanoa on the left, Kieran Higham in the middle and Mal Scammell kept things tight at the back.
Spawforth supported his defence from in front, tackling and being tackled without giving away fouls, and delivering dangerous passes to attackers.
Hills on the left and Jacob Adams on the right troubled the Maycenvale defence with their runs from midfield, while Josh Harris, Thompson and Corey Adams created plenty from central midfield.
Maycenvale had their heroes, too. Midfielder Charlie Meek never gave up, showing pace and determination getting back to help in defence, and skipper Shaun Newland tried hard to stem the flow of United attacks from midfield.
Right back Rashil Naiker seized his chance as a starter, while centre backs Nick Yorke and Thomas Alve battled, and were unlucky to strike Somerton in blistering form.
Lucas, despite his misdeeds, was always interesting – and sometimes uncomfortable – to watch.
United co-coach Kieran Venema made special mention of youngsters Jacob Adams and Hills, and the back three.
The team had worked hard on their passing and execution, and he was “pretty pleased with everyone”.
Maycenvale coach Jirkowsky said that while disappointed with the result, he was pleased with the effort put in by his side, especially those brought in to help.
Referee Chisholm controlled the game well.
In Taradale, Thistle fell behind to an own goal in the sixth minute, when Aiden Norris tried to block a shot and deflected it past goalkeeper Drew Churchwell.
The Jags equalised in the 40th minute. A three-pass move from defence to attack put Maisey through and ended with a clinical finish.
Thistle coach Tam Cramer said Churchwell didn’t have much to do in goal, but in the first half he made a crucial save when a Taradale player had only him to beat.
Taradale went ahead in the 57th minute when Ethan Berge, from the corner of the penalty area, met a cross from the right and lashed the ball into the net by way of the underside of the bar.
“If we’d had two goalkeepers in there they wouldn’t have saved it,” Cramer said.
Maisey equalised in the 76th minute from the penalty spot after he was “bundled over”.
Euan Cramer came close to breaking the deadlock when he met a cross from the right and volleyed the ball goalwards, only to see the Taradale keeper tip it on to the post.
Thistle’s winner came in the 86th minute, when a defender stuck a foot in the way of a low cross from the left and lobbed the ball over the keeper.
Cramer said the whole team played well, but centre back Daniel Venema was man of the match, and central midfielders Luke Jarvie, Euan Cramer and Nick Land were also outstanding.
Centre back Louis Sengelow, wide midfielder Leo Starck and Maisey all put in good shifts.
The other premiership game, between Port Hill and Western Rangers, ended 4-4.