Stand-in skipper Josh Harris scored the second five minutes later, and in the 13th minute central midfielder Dane Thompson hit a long ball in to Brouwer, who gave himself a metre of space and beat the keeper from just outside the penalty area . . . three goals in eight minutes. A rout looked imminent.
Things got worse for Maycenvale in the 15th minute when Gisborne keeper Jack Faulkner parried Shaun Newland’s penalty kick, then saved the follow-up.
Maycenvale got one back in the 22nd minute through left-winger Liam Percy-Fysh, and then Gisborne United missed a penalty of their own. Josh Adams hit the junction of the post and bar with his effort after he was fouled in a run on the Maycenvale goal.
Six minutes before halftime, Maycenvale missed a golden opportunity when midfielder Adam Woon got free in the goal area but missed his kick as the ball came across.
Gisborne United led 3-1 at halftime but striker Josh Adams had not been as accurate as usual, and the defence had lived dangerously with some wayward distribution. United still had work to do.
A ball from Maycenvale’s right flank brought a glancing header from Woon in the 53rd minute to make it 3-2, and the Hawke’s Bay side were on a roll.
Next minute, Thistle player-coach Corey Adams brought on Aaron Graham for rightback Lucian Nickerson. Graham was assigned the job of shoring up the defensive midfield, and the versatile Brouwer was shifted from striker to rightback.
In the 55th minute, Corey Adams took on half the Maycenvale defence, got to the byline to the right of the goal and half-chipped, half-scooped the ball to the far post, where left wingback Malcolm Marfell’s header had too much power for keeper MacDonald to keep out.
Seven minutes later, Corey Adams set up younger brother Josh with a perfectly paced through-ball that was dispatched with power. Even when the radar needs adjustment, United’s strike weapon can still belt a ball, as he did on a couple of other occasions when the keeper did well to parry.
Both teams, while trying to play good football, made more mistakes than they would like. Yet the game was not lacking in incident.
Maycenvale would not go away, and rightback Xavier Herrick popped up to score in the 76th minute to close it to 5-3.
Two minutes from time, Maycenvale’s Woon was sent off for committing a second yellow-card offence — showing dissent. He had been shown the card in the 52nd minute for a reckless foul. Without the first card, he would have been sinbinned for the rest of the game, but would not have faced the prospect of a suspension.
Corey Adams was pleased with his team’s periods of good play and the number of chances they created.
He was especially pleased with Thompson and Harris in midfield, Marfell on the left and Brouwer in attack and defence as required.
He could also have added his own name to the list of outstanding performances. Spending most of his time in midfield, often surging from deep positions, he has the ability to bust open defences when he runs at or across them. His vision and distribution are usually spot-on, too.
Maycenvale coach MacDonald said Gisborne United were top of the table for a reason.
“They got off to a cracking start and we had to adjust to the pace,” he said.
“With the injuries we’ve had this season, we have to be pretty happy we’ve pushed them.
“Week to week, we’ve had seven or eight players unavailable through injury . . . a dislocated elbow, broken leg, ankles. It’s a battle getting a team on the park. I’m the sixth-choice goalkeeper.”
The game was well controlled by referee Chris Niven.
