Whanganui Athletic down North Wellington for first win of the season

Whanganui Athletic and supporters celebrate after Charlie Meredith scores the winning goal. Photo / Hamish Wareham

It’s taken a while but Whanganui Athletic have secured their first points in football’s Central League.

Second-half struggles have plagued the club this season but the 3-2 away win over North Wellington flipped the script.

Charlie Meredith struck twice in stoppage time to snatch the game.

Player/coach Matt Calvert said there was a massive sense of satisfaction and relief among the players.

“This was a game where two teams just went gung ho, they went at it.

“If you were watching for the first time, you would have had no idea they were at the bottom of the league.

“We just had to win. Everyone was aware of it and they were just fully engrossed in making sure the game was played for as long as it could be.”

Being at the bottom of the table meant being criticised and questioned, Calvert said.

“One of those questions is how we react once we go behind.

“We’ve conceded a second goal but gone straight up the other end and scored one of our own - off a pattern of play we talked about.”

A massive fixture is coming up this weekend.

Stop Out Sports Club, currently eighth on the table, will travel to Whanganui on Saturday.

Athletic are still in 10th and if they remain there it’s back to the Federation League next season.

Calvert said it would be silly to assume the Stop Out game would be a straightforward win.

Travelling Whanganui Athletic supporters in raptures after the last-gasp win. Photo / Hamish Wareham

“People have to remember that we’ve played them three times and still haven’t beaten them.

“We are going to go into this week absolutely buzzing and not fearing the game. We’ve got a win, we’ve shown we can do it, and now we need to kick on.

“It will be an absolute cracker. There’s no way us playing against Stop Out will be a boring ‘nil-niller’.”

Personally, he thought the club needed to win four of the last six games, Calvert said.

He expected North Wellington to pick up more points by the end of the season.

“It’s very clear - go and win, then win again.

“I’d be very disappointed if we got to nine points and it wasn’t enough but that’s the beauty of football, you just never know what’s coming around the corner.”

Despite the barren run leading up to Saturday, his belief hadn’t wavered, Calvert said.

“Imagine if the coach didn’t believe, you would be screwed. It’s my job to instil confidence in the players and to set them up the right way to get results.

“I’m just delighted they’ve got that monkey off the back.

“The lads are inexperienced at this level but they always come in on a Tuesday and Thursday, listen to game plans and analysis and try to execute the best way they can.”

After Stop Out, the club are up against Napier City Rovers, Western Suburbs, Miramar Rangers and Waterside Karori.

Those clubs were still in the running for a top-four spot. Calvert said.

“There’s going to be a level of edginess and when you play against the bottom team, you’re expected to win.

“We’re going to make it very tough for anyone coming up against us.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.