Somerton scores five of six in Gisborne Thistle Eastern Premiership victory

Gisborne Thistle striker Jimmy Somerton scores his second goal of five despite the efforts of HSOB Gisborne Boys' High School defender Kaden Manderson to block the shot. Thistle won this Eastern Premiership game at Childers Road Reserve 6-1 on Saturday. Photo / Paul Rickard

Before the weekend, Gisborne Thistle striker Jimmy Somerton had never scored more than three goals in a game.

By 3.30pm on Saturday he’d scored five in a 6-1 win against HSOB Gisborne Boys’ High School in Eastern Premiership football at Childers Road Reserve.

Having trailed 2-0 at halftime, Boys’ High pulled one back in the 65th minute but Electrinet Thistle goals in the 68th, 85th, 87th and 89th blew out the scoreline.

At Harry Barker Reserve in the later game, Heavy Equipment Services Gisborne United beat Maycenvale 3-2 in a match that threatened to explode like a powder keg in a forest fire.

It was great fun, though.

The Gisborne crowd’s pantomime villain was 33-year-old Maycenvale striker Dakota Lucas.

The 1.7m Lucas earned the ire of local fans when he tangled with 1.93m centreback Ryan Anderson in the 32nd minute.

Referee Chris Niven showed Lucas the yellow card for instigating the commotion, and Anderson escaped sanction because he merely held Lucas at bay. Just as well, otherwise the yellow he was shown in the 85th would have turned to red and sidelined him next week.

Lucas has a notable pedigree that includes New Zealand Under-20 and U-23 teams. He was in the side who played Brazil at the 2012 London Olympics.

Lucas seemed to feed off the crowd’s hostility, and when he laid on the pass that led to Maycenvale’s equalising second goal, he and the crowd exchanged taunts.

Also getting in the spirit of the contest was Dakota’s father, 50-year-old Maycenvale right-flank midfielder Nick Lucas. He played the whole game and showed flashes of the flamboyance that made him one of the most entertaining Hawke’s Bay players of the 1990s and 2000s.

The tackling in Saturday’s match was never less than enthusiastic, and play was fast and skilful.

The defensive feat of the day belonged to Gisborne United midfielder Aaron Graham, who raced back from general play to cover his goalkeeper and head away a goal-bound shot in the 18th minute.

As a unit, Graham and fellow midfielders Dane Thompson and Corey Adams were vital to Gisborne’s victory.

Out wide, Campbell Hall and Malcolm Marfell dropped in to help in midfield when needed. On attack, they were joined by Corey Adams to link with striker Josh Adams.

Gisborne were sound defensively. Rightback Sam Royston, leftback Dan Torrie and centrebacks Ryan Anderson and Kieran Higham did not stand on ceremony once they found their groove.

Goalkeeper Andy McIntosh came to their rescue in the 59th minute, saving Maycenvale striker Liam Shackleton’s one-on-one effort, and again in the 86th minute, with a good stop from a free-kick.

For Maycenvale, Jono Marshall – normally a centreback – did well in goal while centrebacks Tyler Jones and skipper Shaun Newland, and fullbacks Jono Arrell and Tom Alve coped well with Gisborne’s attacking pace.

Midfielders Lapalapa Toni, from Samoa, and Risqi Triyanto, from Indonesia, relentlessly contested the middle of the park.

Nick Lucas linked defence and attack, while Ethan Rideout was ever-ready to join Dakota Lucas and Shackleton in a three-pronged attack.

Triyanto was shown yellow in the 22nd, and then was first to score, in the 40th, nodding in a cross from the right.

In the 59th, McIntosh saved when Shackleton was clean through. Play swept to the other end and, within a minute, Thompson rode a tackle inside the penalty area and fired a 10m shot into the roof of the net.

A minute later, Corey Adams gave Gisborne a 2-1 lead, but it took only three minutes for Maycenvale to equalise - Dakota Lucas bursting down the right flank and cutting the ball back for Triyanto to finish.

Gisborne’s winner came in the 76th. Corey Adams rolled the ball into the path of Hall, whose run from the right ended with a first-time drive into the far corner.

Niven refereed firmly, stamping on any lit fuses.

Gisborne player-coach Josh Adams said his side made it hard for themselves in the first half, but kept fighting.

Maycenvale skipper Newland said his team “were a little messy in areas” but could hold their heads high.

Striker Jacob Adams gives HSOB Gisborne Boys' High School a sniff of a comeback as he goes round Thistle goalkeeper Mark Baple to make the score 2-1, but the Jags had a late goal-rush and won 6-1. Photo / Paul Rickard

In the early game, Somerton put Thistle ahead against HSOB Boys’ High when he chased a long ball and got his head to it before the goalkeeper got there.

In the 21st minute, he found room for a shot and made it 2-0.

In the 65th, Boys’ High scored, Jacob Adams latching on to a long ball and rounding keeper Mark Baple to make it 2-1.

Three minutes later, Somerton brought up his hat-trick, chasing a ball behind the defence, turning inside a defender and shooting hard and low.

Boys’ High goalkeeper Aiden Armstrong made a string of saves to keep his side in contention and leftback Kaden Manderson cleared two shots off the line.

Somerton made it 4-1 in the 85th with a free-kick that went low and wide of the defensive wall.

Two minutes later, leftback Oliver Aldridge curled in a free-kick from wide on the right and it eluded everyone.

Somerton completed the scoring in the 89th, heading in Federico Suarez’s cross after the Argentinian’s jinking run down the left wing.

For Thistle, new Argentinian centreback Martin Kees had an impressive debut alongside Nick Land in defence, while Suarez and Cory Thomson put in an honest 90 minutes’ work in central midfield.

Suarez, after shining in a creative role two weeks before, showed he was up to a marking assignment, sticking close to Boys’ High attacking midfielder Matt Hills.

Boys’ High midfielders Euan Cramer, Xavier Priestley-Mennie and Hills tried to set their forwards away but Gavin Derr, Anton Larkins, then Korbin Wigglesworth, and speedster Jacob Adams could not get enough ball in dangerous areas to seriously trouble the Jags.

Napier referee Gordon Harris had a trouble-free run, with no yellow-card offences.

Thistle coach Tam Cramer said his side gave Boys’ High a sniff of a comeback but got back into their stride. He was pleased with the debut of Kees and hoped to further strengthen the side in coming weeks.

Boys’ High coach Garrett Blair said they had now played two of the top three teams in the league, and he looked forward to fixtures with teams further down the rankings.

Other Eastern Premiership results: Western Rangers 4 Taradale AFC 2, Port Hill United 2 Havelock North Wanderers 4, Napier Marist 1 Napier City Rovers 2.