This was the only Central Federation League match played at the weekend.
Thistle had the perfect start to Saturday’s game when, in the fifth minute, left winger Travis White collected the ball just inside the Marist half and quickly played a through ball to striker Jimmy Somerton, who shot into the far corner of the goal.
Nine minutes later, Marist equalised. Thistle seemed to have the danger in check on the left byline when a Marist player got hold of the ball and fired it across the goalmouth, where striker Paul Awa scored from 2m out.
Play swept back and forth, with plenty of vigorous challenges from both sides. Thistle hit the front again in the 36th minute through a simple move. Right winger Samson Hotas fed the ball to Somerton, who gave it back to Hotas, who made room for himself and gave Marist keeper Nicholas Hayward no chance with the shot.
Just before halftime, Marist suffered a blow when influential central midfielder Luke Palfreyman went down injured. He was helped from the field, and replaced by Mason Charlton.
Five minutes after halftime, Thistle had their own injury concern when Somerton, who appeared to be feeling the effects of a knock, came off.
Ruben Garcia came on as a left winger and White moved to centre forward.
Marist piled on the pressure and in the 58th minute, midfielder Luke Minshull cut in from the right and hit a firm shot that was net-bound till Lodewyk flung out his right leg and got his foot to it.
Garcia took every opportunity to harass the Marist right flank, and in the 66th minute his efforts bore fruit. The move started on the Thistle right flank with Hotas. He played the ball inside to central midfielder Isaac Bush, who moved it out to Garcia. He headed for the byline at pace and sent across a ball begging to be hit. Jags skipper and central midfielder Cory Thomson obliged, scoring from 5m out.
In the 83rd minute, Lodewyk made the save of the game. The ball came to Awa, unmarked about 6m out, and he volleyed a shot Lodewyk managed to reach up and palm on to the bar and out for a corner, which he duly caught under pressure.
Marist played the last six minutes with nine men after referee Chris Niven showed the yellow card a second time to defender Austyn Beales for pushing Thomson over while getting the ball for a free kick. He had earlier been booked for stopping a promising attack with a foul, so his second yellow activated the red. Thomson was yellow-carded for his part in the exchange, and Marist player-coach Adam Cowan was sin-binned for dissent.
Thistle were solid in defence, with centre backs Nick Land and Junior Jimmy and fullbacks Shai Avni on the right and Ziggy West-Hill on the left clearing their lines decisively.
Midfielders Thomson, David Salmon and Bush worked hard in soft going that must have made their legs feel like lead in the closing stages.
Hotas had a busy game on the right, and White was at his best when feeding balls into space for Somerton, who is in contention for the golden boot award again (third at the moment, with 10 goals).
Garcia went off injured in the 81st minute but packed 60 minutes’ worth of action into the 30 he was on the field.
For Marist, player-coach Cowan pulled the strings for much of their play. He had good support in midfield from Minshull, Palfreyman (’til he was injured) and Nokutenda Mufanda, while Nicholas Carrick and Awa tried hard up front for scant reward.
At the back, keeper Hayward could do little about the goals, while skipper and left back Jaeden Shaw and centre back Jake Erskine shone in a defence that leaked more goals than is normal for them.
Thistle coach Tam Cramer said they prepared ways to deal with Marist’s tactic of overloading the side on which they were playing. The plan called for hard work from the players, and they responded.
It was a good all-round performance, but he had special praise for Avni, who he said had seized the opportunity of a starting place, and Lodewyk, who made “a couple of key saves”.
Cowan said Thistle had capitalised on their limited chances in the first half and, in the second, Marist had not capitalised on any of theirs.
He said this result handed Palmerston North United (PNU) the advantage in the title race, and it could come down to both sides’ last game in the campaign - a match between PNU and Marist on August 31.
Thistle’s games in hand and their late-season surge give them the prospect of a continued climb up the table. With five league games remaining, they still have a chance of third place and automatic membership of next season’s Central League second division.
The top three will go into the Central League second division being reintroduced next season. The fourth to seventh-placed teams will go into playoffs with teams from the Capital Premier and Capital 1 leagues to determine who else will be in the new competition.
Federation League points, with games played, are: Palmerston North United, 27 points from 12 games; Palmerston North Marist, 27 from 13; Havelock North Wanderers, 22 from 12; FC Western, 22 from 12; Taradale, 21 from 13; Gisborne Thistle, 15 from 11; New Plymouth Rangers, 13 from 12; Whanganui Athletic, 7 from 12; Peringa United, 7 from 13.
