A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
WAINUI Sharks came within 30 seconds of pulling off one of the biggest upsets of Eastern League Division 1 football this year.
They lost 2-1 to league leaders Thistle Massive, who scored the winner through a clinical piece of Nic Somerton finishing.
Wainui had time only to restart the match before referee Chris Niven blew for fulltime at Childers Road Reserve on Saturday.
“I suppose if you’d asked us before the match if we’d settle for a 2-1 loss, we’d have taken it,” Sharks stalwart Mike Vita said.
But when it came down to it, Sharks — sixth on the table — were gutted to have lost after coming so close to sharing the points.
Thistle Massive coach John Stirton said that while his side missed plenty of chances, the whole Wainui team “stepped up”.
“We deserved to win, but if they had got a draw they would have deserved it,” he said.
“They defended well.”
Thistle had more possession for much of the game but a combination of missed chances and outstanding goalkeeping from Wainui’s Andy Daubé kept them scoreless until just before halftime.
Regular keeper Storm Hitaua was unavailable for this game, and Daubé makes a useful stand-in.
Daubé has a better goalkeeping pedigree than he likes to let on — he prefers to play up front these days. He looked just about unbeatable until David Ure latched on to a searching ball from centreback Ander Batarrita and drilled it into the far corner from the right side of the penalty area.
Stirton’s halftime message was basically “keep doing what you’re doing but finish better” . . . easier said than done when opponents won’t play ball the way you’d like.
Ten minutes into the second half, Wainui drew level. Nippy 16-year-old striker Tristan Bannink whipped the ball past Thistle keeper Mario Hatzilamprou into the keeper’s left corner from near the penalty spot.
The goal came after good work from fellow striker Ricky Boyd, who had the distinction of hitting the bar with a second-half header and then also heading the rebound on to the bar.
Wainui spent much of the match defending, and they defended in depth.
Midfielders Shane Hooks, Jimmy Lawrence and Tobias Tillman had a titanic, at times fractious, battle with their Thistle counterparts.
Mike Smith organised the Wainui defence expertly and on either side of him had Noel Amor and Mike Vita getting stuck in for all they were worth.
Flank players Jeff Allen, on the right, and William Eivers, on the left, did most of their work on defence and never shirked their duties.
Thistle’s man of the match was defensive midfielder Max Mika, who was strong in the air and on the ground, and sprayed the ball around nicely when given the chance.
Alongside him, Kane Stirton had a lively, combative game that had him in the thick of the midfield action.
Hatzilamprou in goal, sweeper Reece Brew and centreback Batarrita formed a solid defensive core, while Daniel Contreras, Shannon Dowsing and Emerson Araya filled the fullback duties efficiently.
Batarrita was the provider again when Somerton scored the winner. Breaking out of defence, Batarrita threaded the ball into the path of Somerton, who found space to snap his shot away with minimal fuss to maximum effect.
In other Division 1 matches, Heavy Equipment United stayed on Massive’s heels with a 5-2 win against Gisborne Boys’ High School on the Rectory field, Bohemians beat Riverina 5-2 at Nelson Park, and Wainui Demons beat United (2) 4-1 at Anzac Park.
In Division 2, Bohemians (2) beat Boys’ High (2) 3-1 at Nelson Park, Ngatapa Silkies beat Campion College 3-1 at Campion, Liquid Thistle Allsorts beat United (3) 3-0 at Childers Road Reserve, Smash Palace Shockers beat Boys’ High (3) 6-2 on the Rectory field, and Thistle Vintage beat Bohemians (3) 10-0 at Childers Road Reserve. Wairoa beat Lytton High School by default.