From the 55th minute, PNU made four substitutions for no loss of momentum.
In the 66th minute, creative deep midfielder Daniel McDougall was rewarded for a productive outing with a goal direct from a right-wing corner.
One of the substitutes, Anthony Jones, controlled a difficult ball well and screwed a shot just inside the goalkeeper’s right-hand post to make it 5-0 in the 69th.
In the 80th, PNU went six up from what looked like a header almost on the goal-line by classy central midfielder Olly Ceci from a right-wing corner. However, it has been recorded as an own goal by Ziggy West-Hill.
Repeated viewings of this part of the match video have left me none the wiser.
Two substitutes combined to make it 7-0 in the 81st minute. All-action right-winger Bay Shi made room to cross the ball beyond the far post to Tom Bell, who took the ball down and drilled it home.
In the 83rd minute, good work in midfield from McDougall ended with a searching pass to Bell, who scored his second of the afternoon – he scored a hat-trick in a 5-3 win against the Jags at the Reserve last year.
Three minutes later, Jones scored his second, splitting the defence with a diagonal run and finishing well for 9-0.
Thistle set up with a five-man defence, three of whom were youngsters — Shai Avni at rightback, Kaden Manderson at leftback and West-Hill as one of a central trio. Lava, one of three players from Vanuatu in the squad, and Daniel Venema added experience to the mix.
They were helped by some wasteful PNU finishing in the first half, while the extra manpower helped them scramble the ball to safety. Even with the extra defender, though, they were exposed by speedy diagonal runs through the line. And when the fullbacks pushed up, the three-man PNU forward line – Dylan Bary, Mori and McDermott – exploited the space behind them.
Matt Hills on the right flank and Hotas, another Vanuatu signing, on the left showed plenty of skill and determination. As their match fitness develops they will be able to give more support to central midfielders Matt McVey and Cory Thomson, who had their work cut out against a PNU central trio of McDougall, Ceci and Mahiro Hada.
Thistle striker Jimmy Somerton was not available for this game. The lone frontrunner was Travis White. That left PNU with spare capacity at the back. Central defenders Francis Tombs and Thomas Cudby were a composed pairing, while fullbacks Joseph Craven and Jacob Riley pushed on whenever they could. Goalkeeper Brooklyn Browne was seldom troubled.
It wasn’t all one-way traffic. In the 17th minute, Hotas volleyed just over the bar from the edge of the penalty area; in the 29th McVey hit a respectable first-time shot from 30 metres, and in the 72nd repeated the effort; and in the 55th, Thomson went close from about the same distance.
Kenny Sovuai, from Vanuatu, Gavin Derr and Connor Evison were introduced progressively for Thistle from the 70th minute.
Jags coach Tam Cramer said the penalty should not have been awarded and he did not think Thistle deserved to be two goals down at halftime. Silly mistakes and fatigue took their toll in the second half.
The players from Vanuatu would make a difference, and David Salmon and Isaac Bush would be available soon.
“We just need time,” Cramer said. “Unfortunately time is a luxury we don’t have.”
Palmerston North United coach Don Piper said the things his team worked on in training were bearing fruit in games.
A feature of the team was the depth they had from the bench, and this time four goals came from players brought on in the second half.
Referee Russell Jones kept the game flowing, and was helped by the spirit in which the match was played.
