Football: Hawke's Bay United midfielder relishes relaxed lifestyle

Adam Thurston will have to be a workaholic again in the No 10 shirt if Hawke's Bay United are to upset the defending champions tomorrow. Photo/Ducnan Brown

English soccer midfielder Adam Thurston came to Hawke's Bay searching for a more relaxing lifestyle pace.

"Back in England things are getting pretty stressful. It's a little bit nicer here," Thurston said before the Thirsty Whale Hawke's Bay United team's training session last night in the countdown to tomorrow's third round ISPS Handa Premiership clash against defending champions Team Wellington at Napier's Bluewater Stadium.

It's fair to say things could get stressful for Thurston and his Hawke's Bay United teammates if they don't start scoring more goals than they have during the first two rounds of the Premiership. They failed to find the net in a scoreless draw with the Wellington Phoenix Reserves in round one and managed just one goal in a 1-0 win against Hamilton Wanderers last weekend.

Thurston, 23, who hopes his first stint in New Zealand will take him another step closer to securing a fulltime professional career, acknowledged scoring is the team's main work-on.
"We have to be a little bit more clinical in front of the goal. That will come. In our games so far we have got better each week and we've improved at trainings. Once we play a little bit more it will be fine."

The biggest positive about the Brett Angell-coached outfit's campaign to date is the fact they are unbeaten and Thurston said maintaining that run will be the No 1 objective tomorrow.

"We sat down at the start of the season and set a few goals and targets. Remaining undefeated is one of them."

Thurston has impressed with his pace, workrate and ability to set up scoring opportunities for his strikers. A quick check on his background and it's easy to gauge why he boasts this class.

From the age of 8 to 16 he was with the Manchester United academy.

"That's my claim to fame. A few of the lads I came through with are now playing in the Premier League."

Thurston, who is working as a labourer at Simply Squeezed and also doing coaching for Central Football, played for Hyde United in the Premier Conference. On his way to New Zealand he had a season with South Adelaide in Australia and helped them win the State League One competition to gain promotion to the National Premier League.

While there was a chance he could play two seasons for Hawke's Bay United Thurston, who is single, said he would see how this season went first.

"I'm really enjoying my time here. From the time I got picked up from the airport I realised the franchise was full of good people. I settled in straight away. While we don't get a lot of time off when we do I like to go on nature walks and take in the beautiful scenery."

It didn't take much for Thurston's focus to switch back to tomorrow's match.

"We played them pre-season [the game was drawn 0-all] so we know what we can do against them. It's important we concentrate on ourselves and not worry too much about what they will bring. If we turn up and play the way we can we will win the game."

Thurston agreed having the input from captain and defender Bill Robertson, who spent the past three seasons playing for Team Wellington, has been beneficial.

"Bill has played a massive part in our buildup this week," he added.

Robertson and Graham Craven have been inspirational on defence. They will have to be again tomorrow otherwise the likes of Andy Bevin, Angus Kilkolly and Nathanael Hailemariam, who all know their way around Bluewater Stadium pretty well, will create havoc.

Tomorrow's match will complete a double-header of fixtures between the two franchises as Hawke's Bay United's National Youth League team will take on their Team Wellington counterparts at Bluewater Stadium from noon today:

Teams for the 1pm match tomorrow:
Hawke's Bay United: Ruben Parker (GK), Hayden McHenery, Kohei Matsumoto, Graham Craven, Bill Robertson (captain), Alex Palezevic, Wesley Cain, Adam Thurston, Hayato Wakino, Gavin Hoy, Jim Hoyle, Liam Hayes, Fergus Neil, Birhanu Taye, Bjorn Christensen, Vinnie Mackirdy, Jorge Akers, Karan Mandair, Mack Waite.
Team Wellington: Scott Basalaj (GK), Justin Gulley, Scott Hilliar, Mario Llich, Erik Panzer, Taylor Schrijvers, Eric Molloy, Cole Peverley, Tom Jackson, Nathanael Hailemariam, Mario Barcia, Andy Bevin, Andy Bevin, Roy Kayara, Joel Stevens, Angus Kilkolly, Louis Fenton, Sekou Diane, Junjie Zhang, Marcel Kampman (RGK).