Napier’s Port Hill United completed their programme with a 2-1 win against Maycenvale United on Saturday. They are on top of the table, three points ahead of Thistle with a goal difference two goals better than that of Thistle.
The permutations are explained .
Taradale head coach Ricky Foote made the trip to Gisborne with a minimal squad, and a mix of young and senior players. Three of the starting 11 had represented Napier Boys’ High School at this week’s Super 8 Tournament at Rotorua Boys’ High School. Foote was going to play a conventional 4-4-2 system.
United head coach Corey Adams was playing his season-long formation of 3-5-2 with a change up front as his brother Josh Adams was serving a one-match ban for being red-carded last week.
Jarom Brouwer was given the job of being Stu Cranswick’s strike partner.
Corey Adams was excited about trying to retain the Challenge Cup and said it would be a proud moment for everyone at the club.
Not many teams could remain unbeaten at home for that length of time — almost three years.
The game got off to a high-intensity start with both sides testing their opponents’ defence at regular intervals. Neither keeper was tested for the first 19 minutes of the half, although Cranswick went close on 12 minutes when Brouwer put him through, one on one, with Taradale keeper Graham Healey. Cranswick’s shot beat Healey but missed. It was agonisingly close to going in on the left post.
On 20 minutes, United made a defensive error. The ball was not cleared properly and from 20 metres out, Taradale striker Matt Single drove the ball into the top left corner of Seth Piper’s goal.
United were not going to let any more mishaps occur this half and the defence tightened up. Centrebacks Mal Scammell and Jean-Charles Fixot, and sweeper Kieran Higham put in some crunching tackles. Central midfielders Dane Thomson and captain Kieran Venema put in a very good defensive shift, too.
Taradale maintained their 1-0 lead up until local referee Ben Chisholm blew his whistle for halftime.
Corey Adams gave his side a grilling at halftime and this put fire in the bellies of his players for the start of the second half.
It took United 11 minutes to draw level. Josh Harris delivered a through-ball for Brouwer, who took the ball well and drilled a thunderous shot into the top right corner.
Ten minutes later, left centreback Malcolm Scammell upended Taradale skipper Tony Parkinson, who was substituted as a result. Scammell was shown the yellow card and a free-kick was awarded.
Central midfielder Thomas Hall hit a thunderous free-kick, which rattled the post and deflected wide.
In the 74th minute, United thought they had taken the lead when Venema hit a beautifully weighted free-kick into the Taradale penalty area for Thompson to head home. However, the goal was ruled out for a push in the back.
Six minutes later, United took a deserved lead when Cranswick was fouled in the box by centreback Toby Thorp-Walker.
Referee Chisholm pointed to the spot and Venema coolly guided the ball into the net, giving Healey no chance.
United’s celebrations were short-lived as, five minutes later, central attacking midfielder Jarrod Coutts scored the goal of the match — a fierce drive from 35 metres into the top right corner of Piper’s goal, again giving the United shot-stopper no chance.
Two minutes from time, United put together some glorious one-touch passing in a move that ended in central attacking midfielder Josh Harris rounding the last defender and slotting a perfect shot into the right corner of the net.
When Chisholm blew the whistle for fulltime, United had won a hard-fought contest 3-2.
Taradale coach Foote was disappointed with the result and thought his side deserved a draw. Conceding the winning goal with only a couple of minutes left on the clock was a hard pill to swallow.
“The team worked hard and played well,” he said.
He gave credit to the youngsters who had given everything to the jersey, after a huge tournament all week.
“It was hard to lose Tony Parkinson who was working tirelessly in the centre of the park,” Foote said.
He gave his man-of-the-match award to central midfielder Nick De Maine, who ran the engine room of the side.
Corey Adams was ecstatic with his team’s comeback after such a bad performance in the first half.
“The boys lifted in the second half and played with passion and urgency,” he said.
He gave credit to his backline and also key midfielders Venema, Thompson and Harris.
Adams gave his man-of-the-match award to skipper Kieran Venema, who gave a captain’s performance.
Referee Chisholm and his assistants, Gisborne high school students Liam Barbier and Rubi Perano, had very good matches, without incident.
