One of the Whanganui attackers got on the end of a cross and an equaliser looked certain.
Thistle goalkeeper Mitchell Stewart-Hill parried instinctively but the ball fell kindly to the attacker. Again he struck, and this time Stewart-Hill swung his arms in what appeared to be a game but hopeless attempt at a block.
The block connected. The attacker got to the rebound but his third strike went over the bar and the keeper celebrated as if he’d scored, which — in a way — he had. A goal saved is one that doesn’t have to be pegged back or overhauled.
Whanganui coach Tex von Kwiatkowski said that was a key moment in the game.
“For the last 30 minutes I would say we took over the game because Gisborne’s physical fitness was fading, but the key point was we couldn’t make it 1-1,” he said.
“They counter-attacked and made it 2-0, 3-0.
“Thistle are a new team in the league. They are on a cloud of enthusiasm that will fade out, but today they did very well and absolutely deserved their win.”
Von Kwiatkowski is from Germany, where he coached third division football. He took over at Whanganui last year and instituted changes in attitude and commitment. They finished the season runners-up to New Plymouth Rangers by a whisker.
Whanganui are without three key players. One is in the United States and can’t return till early June, and two are out till then with injuries picked up playing cricket.
Von Kwiatkowski said his players could go skydiving if they wanted, but he would like to stop them playing cricket.
Whanganui underestimated Thistle, he said.
“In the first half we didn’t come into the game because they were fighting for every inch of the park and we were watching.
“It’s no excuse we are three or four key players short. We were reacting, not acting, and got punished.
“In the second half I made a little change, put another striker on and it started changing.”
Thistle coach Garrett Blair said he was ecstatic with the result “against a team that should have won the league last year”.
He couldn’t fault any of the players and was “extremely proud” of Davies and Somerton, strikers on the left and right flanks respectively.
“They both caused a lot of trouble for the Whanganui defence,” he said.
“Last year they were playing Eastern League. To jump up two levels is awesome.”
Blair said Brouwer did well as a central striker attacking from deep, and Cullen Spawforth — in his role as holding midfielder — did much to control the tempo of the game.
Thistle would face another stern test on Saturday, when they would fly to Taranaki to play New Plymouth Rangers.
Against Whanganui, Thistle’s first good chance fell in the ninth minute to Brouwer, whose shot was well saved, down to his right, by keeper and skipper Matthew Calvert.
Somerton threatened every time he cut in from the right. A 16th-minute strike from 35 metres brought from Calvert a full-length diving tip away for a corner. In the 24th, Somerton won a race to the ball down the right, cut in and let fly from 30 metres. Calvert tipped it over the bar.
The first goal came when Somerton was left free on the right after leftback Jake Simcox moved inside to cover his centrebacks. Before Whanganui left midfielder Jordan Candish could get back to fill in, the ball was played forward for Somerton, who reached it just before Calvert and lobbed it over him into the net.
A minute later, Whanganui right midfielder Quinn Mailman’s shot brought a good save from Stewart-Hill.
Thistle had the legs on the Whanganui back four, who could have made life easier for themselves by having one of their number drop off to sweep. The offside trap worked occasionally but not often enough, and the gap between the back line and the penalty area was sometimes too big for the keeper to patrol.
Von Kwiatkowsky gave the defence extra pace by bringing Candish into the back line for the second half. Meanwhile, the addition of Neihana Kahl down the left flank put more zip into the attack.
Strikers Josh Smith and Scott Burney were getting close support from midfielders Ryan Holden and Mailman, and some breathtaking long balls from Tesco von Kwiatkowski (son of the coach). One such ball, in the 72nd minute, sent Holden through, but in going past Stewart-Hill he lost his angle and shot into the side-netting.
By this time, Thistle had gone two up.
Three minutes after Stewart-Hill’s lead-preserving double save, Whanganui centreback James Satherley made an astonishing recovery run to peg back and tackle a runaway Thistle striker. But two minutes after that, he produced what every centreback dreads: a mistake that costs a goal. The ball came in, too low to head, too high to kick, and dipped as he tried to chest it down. It beat him completely and Brouwer pushed it past the keeper and into the net.
In the 79th, Stewart-Hill dived full length to his right to push a Holden free-kick past the post.
Two minutes later, Davies finished off a slick interpassing move by Tomek Frooms and Brouwer . . . 3-0.
In the 87th, Whanganui keeper Calvert produced his own brilliant double save, diving left to get a hand to a strike from Somerton, and then saving the rebound shot. It was a pity more wasn’t riding on it.
Midfield was the usual battleground. Thistle skipper Nick Land and Frooms provided the ammunition for their sharpshooters up front.
Centreback Ryan Anderson had a promising Federation League debut, and will benefit from playing alongside Ander Batarrita. Brandon Josling looked at home at rightback, and Kuba Jerabek was seldom troubled at leftback.
Referee Chris Niven controlled the game well, and booked Spawforth, Frooms and Stewart-Hill for Thistle, and Satherley and Holden for Whanganui.
