Tweaks to be tested

ON THE BALL: Gisborne Thistle skipper Nick Land takes on the Taradale defence in a Pacific Premiership football match at Childers Road Reserve in June. Thistle won 3-0. Land will be a key player as Thistle take on Napier Marist Seconds in Gisborne tomorrow. Picture by Paul Rickard

FOOTBALL

A WEEK of reflection will be put to the test when Gisborne Thistle play Napier Marist Seconds in Pacific Premiership football at Childers Road Reserve tomorrow.

Last Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Gisborne United at Harry Barker Reserve caused Thistle to look at their strengths and weaknesses and how they could tweak things for the better.

Some of the conclusions will be given effect against Marist tomorrow in a game that has the later-than-usual start time of 2.45pm. Some of the Marist starters play for their school in the morning, and the school insisted they be available for the whole game, not just the first half, which means they can’t leave as early.

One of the things in the Gisborne United game that pleased Thistle coach Garrett Blair was the way the Jags played once they went to a four-man defensive line.

That means rightback Emerson Araya and leftback Kuba Jerabek will almost certainly line up alongside central defenders Daniel Venema and Ander Batarrita.

The tweaks are subtle positional changes for midfielders and frontrunners aimed at making the most of players’ individual strengths for team benefit.

Flank players Brandon Josling and Justo Rodriguez and central attackers Davie Ure and Tomek Frooms have had their roles fine-tuned.

Ema Martos is likely to start tomorrow’s game in midfield alongside skipper Nick Land, and the formation could look something like 4-3-3.

Gisborne Vehicle Testing Thistle didn’t do a lot wrong in the game against United, so not a lot of adjustment was needed. In a ding-dong battle they were in with a chance of at least sharing the points right up to United’s third goal two minutes from time.

Heavy Equipment Services Gisborne United, meanwhile, face a testing away game against Maycenvale, who beat Taradale 6-1 at Taradale last week.

Maycenvale defaulted their June game against Gisborne United, so neither side will know too much about the other, beyond what all the teams know about each other.

In Gisborne United’s case, that common knowledge will include the fact that they have a triple strike threat in Josh Adams, Jarom Brouwer and Josh Harris.

However, tomorrow — and probably for the rest of the season — they will not have Brouwer, who is entering police college.

Another blow will be the absence of sweeper Kieran Higham for the next two games. He will be on holiday — booked before the season was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic — in the South Island.

Higham’s speed across the backline is the bolt that slides across the United defence, locking it up against outside forces.

Coach Corey Adams intends to play a 3-5-2 formation but yesterday he had not decided who would come in for Brouwer and Higham.

One of the options he was considering entailed the use of skipper Kieran Venema as a sweeper and the deployment of utility player Dane Thompson in midfield, where he has played a lot of his football in the past few seasons.

Defender Steven Husband and attacker PJ Goodlett are both available again, injury and suspension respectively having lately taken them out of consideration for selection.

Adams says the squad can provide the players to fill the gaps; the trick is to find the right combination. He wants a strong travelling party to cope with anything the unpredictable Maycenvale outfit might throw at them.

Port Hill lead the premiership, six points ahead of second-placed Thistle and nine ahead of third-placed United, both of whom have a game in hand.