A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
FIT, fast, skilful and committed — Massey University showed all of these attributes as they beat Gisborne Thistle 3-1 at Childers Road Reserve on Saturday.
The result leaves Massey in third place in football's eight-team Central Federation League, and ALH Gisborne Thistle in last place. Both teams have four league games to go.
Thistle now turn their attention to the Federation Cup quarterfinal against Heavy Equipment Services Gisborne United at Childers Road Reserve on Saturday at 2pm.
Thistle will want a better start than they had against Massey.
In the fourth minute, former Gisborne Thistle centreback and now Massey University central midfielder and skipper George Andrew ran on to a long ball down the left flank and crossed into the Thistle goalmouth.
Fellow midfielder Matt Hilson had made a run into the box and arrived unmarked to fire the ball low and hard into the net.
Three minutes later, Andrew took a snapshot and hit the bar.
Those two passages of play were a portent of the influence Andrew would have on the game. He was outstanding.
Thistle striker PJ Goodlett showed a willingness to shoot, but his 23rd-minute effort from outside the penalty area was too high.
Massey went two goals up in the 27th minute when Andrew got the last touch in a confused goalmouth scramble that had the ball spinning so hard that it looked to be heading for a goal kick till it hit the ground and dug in like a Shane Warne leg-spin delivery.
The question, “What just happened?” hung in the air as the Massey players trotted back to the halfway line.
Four minutes later, the Massey players might have asked the same question after Thistle left-flank midfielder Sam Patterson hit a crossfield ball to Goodlett, who swivelled and hit a left-footed volley from beyond the far post, 10 metres out.
The shot came so suddenly that it wrongfooted Massey goalkeeper Tom Johnston, who was powerless to stop it.
In the 33rd minute, referee Jim Adcock showed attacking midfielder Raydon Semmens the yellow card for reckless play. Semmens has obviously been a good player at this level and above — his touch, distribution, competitive fire and even his aerial ability show as much — but he could not match the pace of the greyhounds of this Massey side, and that hampered his effectiveness.
The athleticism of every member of the Massey team was a feature of their play. They produced good football but also gave the impression that, all over the field, they were fast and would run till they dropped.
So it reflected well on Thistle that for so much of the game they had at least as much of the play as Massey. Nevertheless, goalkeeper Mitchell Stewart-Hill had to make a couple of smart one-on-one saves as the first half drew to a close. The first, in the 40th minute, was a tip over the bar and the second, in the 42nd, was a blocking save of a close-range shot from Andrew.
Thistle almost equalised in the 51st minute when Semmens launched a massive throw from the left touchline deep into the Massey penalty area. The ball fell to central midfielder Ash McMillan, whose shot from the edge of the penalty area clattered against the crossbar.
In the 57th, centreback Alex Davies was shown the yellow card for a reckless tackle and, in the 80th, replacement midfielder Cullen Spawforth picked up a yellow for the same reason.
In between those indiscretions, in the 61st minute, Matt Hilson played a beautifully weighted through ball for Andrew's diagonal run to the right side of the Thistle penalty area. His hard, low shot into the near-post corner gave the keeper no chance, and Massey led 3-1.
From the 68th minute on, Thistle coach Garrett Blair used his substitutes.
Cory Thomson came on at rightback for Andre Riley; neither looked out of place in this company. Reece Brew came in at centreback for Davies. I thought Brew might have been in trouble against the speedsters, but his positional play was up to the challenge in the last 20 minutes. In the 76th minute, Spawforth came on for Semmens, who had — like his Massey counterparts — run himself into the ground. Late in the game, Max Kume made his Federation League debut, coming on for leftback Ander Batarrita.
The last shot was fired in the 89th minute, when Goodlett again connected well with a left-foot volley, but this time Johnston had it covered, and saved.
Thistle introduced extra pace at the back for this game.
Plans to start Patterson at leftback were shelved when he was needed further forward on the left, but Riley at rightback and Davies at centreback added zip to the Jags backline.
Batarrita at leftback and skipper Ryan Anderson in the middle provided the solidity, while midfielders Nick Land and McMillan supported the defence and toiled tirelessly in the “engine room”.
Semmens was at his best with the ball played to feet — his lay-offs were usually first-time and accurate — but Goodlett, Travis White and Patterson were always outnumbered up front.
Massey had Ben Meyer, Caleb Young and Kurtis Medcalf at the heart of their defence, but also wingbacks Alex Kilkelly on the left and Jacob Riley on the right.
This meant they usually had at least four and, when needed, five players to combat attacking threats. And Kilkelly and Riley worked prodigiously on the flanks.
With Quinn Grainger, Matt Hilson and Andrew in central midfield, Massey could quickly overload the middle of the park with their wingbacks, and in turn support front-runners Michael Hilson and Ben Mori.
During the second half, Massey refreshed the midfield by bringing on Nishan Raut, Konrad Kiefersauer and Adam Miller.
Thistle coach Blair said Saturday's performance was markedly different from that in the 6-0 loss to Napier City Rovers the week before.
The team played as a cohesive unit, not 11 individuals, and he felt that the potential had been there for at least a share of the points had luck gone their way in the build-up to the first two goals.
Massey coach Donald Piper said the game was a battle of attrition. Both squads were depleted but he felt that as long as Massey were in the game they would have enough match fitness to bring it home.
“I thought we let them off the hook in the first half,” he said.
“But they fought to the end and we had to work really hard for the points.”