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NZ Herald
4 days ago
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Eastern Premiership football: Gisborne clubs fall to second and third
Gisborne clubs Thistle and United each dropped a place in football's Eastern Premiership standings when they lost on Saturday. Heavy Equipment Services Gisborne United lost 3-1 to Port Hill at Harry Barker Reserve, and Electrinet Thistle lost 2-1 to Maycenvale in Hastings. Napier City Rovers Reserves moved to
NZ Herald
7 days ago
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Hawke's Bay football teams eyeing upsets over Gisborne big guns
They will try all sorts of ways to stop Gisborne Thistle goalscoring machine Jimmy Somerton, including fouls, which earned this Port Hill player a yellow card in their recent Eastern Premiership match. Photo / Paul Rickard Gisborne teams Thistle and United face opponents who would like nothing better than to put a spanner in their works in Eastern Premiership football this weekend. Port Hill and Maycenvale are mid-table teams who can struggle against the ordinary and trouble the best. As such, they bear watching closely.
NZ Herald
27-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Honours shared by Gisborne rivals in Eastern Premiership football top-of-the-table derby
Nevertheless, United took the lead in the 36th minute through Dane Thompson, the man assigned to mark Electrinet Thistle danger man Jimmy Somerton, and United dared to dream. Then in the last minute of the first half, referee Chris Niven showed the yellow card a second time to Thistle centre back Junior Jimmy. The red card immediately followed and the Jags were down to 10 men for the second half. Thistle had gone from favourites to underdogs in the space of 10 minutes. Yet they came out in the second half and went toe to toe with a United side emboldened by the events of the first half. Somerton equalised in the 63rd minute, and for about 90 seconds it looked as if he had won a last-gasp penalty. But after Niven consulted assistant referee Ben Chisholm, he reversed his decision and restarted with a drop ball. After the game, the officials said Somerton and United keeper Andy McIntosh contested the loose ball and the keeper had palmed it away an instant before Somerton tripped over him. With the players running away from him, the referee had seen only the trip, but they were going towards the assistant, who had seen the keeper's hand strike the ball first. It showed the benefit of three-point control, a resource not available to the game's other assistant referee, Gordon Williamson, when he refereed the earlier Eastern Premiership match, between High School Old Boys Gisborne Boys' High School and Taradale Reserves. It was played across the road at the Boys' High back field near the school pool, and Williamson had no linesmen to help him. Offside decisions were a judgment call from wherever he happened to be when the ball was launched forward, and he had only his own view of any infringement. Taradale won the match 5-1, having led 4-0 at halftime, and the teams played in a spirit that minimised the problems that could have arisen from the lack of assistant referees. Spirit was not lacking in the Thistle-United game, either, but it was of the combustible kind. Junior Jimmy was the first of six players – three from each side – shown the yellow card. His first came in the 11th minute. A lunging, studs-first challenge that connected with the ball (thankfully) was one of a series of challenges from both teams that crossed or threatened to cross the line between robust and foul play. These games have always had an edge, and Niven kept it within bounds by policing it firmly. The extent of United's injury woes had spread among the crowd before the match. Strikers Hall (out with an ankle injury) and Corey Adams have been in devastating form this season, and the pace and game sense of defender Kieran Higham (Achilles tendon) are invaluable in defence. Player-coach Josh Adams went old school, with a back four and sweeper. Thompson picked up Somerton, Ryan Anderson was there for any scraps or support runners, Jonathan Purcell swept behind them, and fullbacks Kieran Venema on the right and Dan Torrie on the left closed down the flanks or covered when Thistle attacked down the other wing. They reorganised when Corey Adams went off. Jake Robertson came on at left back, Torrie went to central midfield and Malcolm Marfell went to the left flank. Aaron Graham roamed the central midfield with Torrie, Sam Royston was on the right flank and Josh Adams was lone striker. Thistle were close to full strength, with a back four (right to left) of Kuba Jerabek, Martin Kees, Junior Jimmy and Oliver Aldridge. Te Kani Wirepa-Hei was on the right flank, Samson Hotas on the left, skipper Cory Thomson and Nick Land were in the middle, with Travis White acting as link to Somerton up front. Both sides were well served by their goalkeepers, Andy McIntosh for United and Mark Baple for Thistle. United scored in the 36th minute. A free-kick on the right flank, just inside Thistle's half, was hoisted deep into the penalty area. It dropped in no-man's-land between the defensive line and the keeper, Thompson had made a run from the side, controlled the ball and flicked it past Baple into the net. Three minutes later the Jags could have equalised. White hit a first-time through ball for Somerton, who attacked the right side of the penalty area. He opened his body for a left-foot shot into the far corner but it went wide. In the 40th minute, Thompson was shown the yellow card for cleaning out Somerton as he reached a ball down the left flank. Thistle's Land was shown the same card for a rough tackle in the 42nd, and three minutes later Junior Jimmy saw the yellow card a second time. The pattern till then was Thistle applying pressure and United defending in depth, crowding Somerton and threatening on the break and at set pieces. The second half opened with a foot race between Josh Adams and Kees for a ball over the top. Adams appeared to have the edge, but as he prepared to shoot Kees made clean contact with the ball for a match-saving intervention. In the 55th, Adams got free on the right and Baple saved with his foot. In the 61st, United had another free-kick from near halfway. Baple resolved to deal with it but couldn't make contact and the defence scrambled to clear the danger. A minute later, Somerton got his nose in front of Thompson in the race for a ball in behind the defence, then held him off and scored with a left-foot shot into the far corner. Land was filling a more defensive role in the absence of Junior Jimmy, but the chances kept coming. In the 70th, Somerton broke clear on the right but his shot was straight at the keeper. Somerton appeared to go clear again in the 74th but Thompson recovered well and McIntosh was able to block the shot. Marfell was free 20 metres out in the 76th but Baple saved with his legs, then in the 85th Anderson rose at the far post for a header that Baple blocked by instinct and the defence cleared in relief. Advertise with NZME. Two minutes later, Hotas hit one from 20 metres that McIntosh dived to save just inside his right-hand post. In a hectic final 20 minutes United's Graham and Robertson and Thistle's White were shown the yellow card and the match ended moments after the reversal of the penalty award. Thistle coach Tam Cramer said his side, with 10 men, outplayed United in the second half but couldn't put them away. 'But we will take the point. It's good that we're still top of the league.' United coach Josh Adams said that before the game he would have been 'very happy' with a 1-1 draw. 'We know how dangerous Jimmy Somerton is, and we had to respect that and have a marker on him all day. Dane Thompson did well there.' He was also pleased with how well Purcell and Anderson combined in the middle of the defence. 'We think Kieran [Higham] will be out for a minimum of four weeks, so Jonathan [Purcell] has come back at the right time.' United next play Thistle at Harry Barker Reserve on July 26. The game between HSOB Gisborne Boys' High and Taradale Reserves was over as a contest by halftime, but Boys' High – still searching for their first points of the season – did better in the second half. A hat-trick by Taradale striker Josh Jenkins was the individual highlight. He scored in the 14th, 39th and 80th minutes, his last a spectacular right-footed horizontal bicycle kick that connected with a cross from the right. Goals by Oskar Sherratt in the 37th minute and Ethan Bryan in the 45th completed the Taradale scoring. A minute after Taradale's fifth goal, midfielder Matt Hills scored for Boys' High, latching on to a ball from the right and firing into the keeper's right corner. Boys' High coach Garrett Blair said that debutants Jonah King up front and Nathaniel Fearnley in midfield had adjusted well to the pace of the Eastern Premiership, while right back Mako Fukushima-Hall, centre back and captain Shai Avni and right-winger Jacob Adams had continued their good form. Matt Hills tried to get the Boys' High midfield going, but in the Taradale engine room Logan Hutchinson, Nico Correa and Bryan were industrious and creative, while strikers Jenkins and player-coach Matt Single were prepared to come back and fetch. Taradale fullbacks Josh Ratcliffe and Theo Munialo, and centre back Sherratt were an uncompromising defensive line that Boys' High struggled to break. Taradale player-coach Matt Single, 42, said it was two years since he'd played at this level. He was pleased for his young team that they'd got their first win of the season.
NZ Herald
12-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Gisborne Thistle ace striker Somerton makes it 20 goals in six games
It bodes well for the Boys' High tilt at qualification for the premier national secondary schools tournament. Thistle head the Eastern Premiership table on goal difference from Napier City Rovers Reserves, Havelock North Wanderers and Gisborne United. All four sides won on Saturday. The Boys' High-United game was played at a rollicking pace on a school pitch that had a bit of 'give' in it. United went 1-0 up in the 15th minute, when Josh Adams crossed from the left for brother Corey to latch on to the parried ball to finish from close range. HSOB Boys' High, already several short of their first-choice squad, lost two starters to injury in the first half. Right back Anton Larkins was replaced by Mako Fukushima-Hall in the 24th minute, and left midfielder Xavier Priestley-Mennie came off for LeRoy Hill in the 30th. Josh Adams scored United's second goal in the 33rd minute. He let fly from 30 metres with a shot that gave goalkeeper Aiden Armstrong no chance. Adams scored again in the 42nd, arriving at the far post to force in left midfielder Malcolm Marfell's cross. United looked set for a runaway win. So it was pleasing to see the students score through Jacob Adams in the 54th minute and withstand considerable United second-half pressure while mounting some dangerous raids themselves. They owed much to their player of the match, keeper Armstrong. He made several crucial one-on-one stops and foiled Corey Adams with a double save that goalkeeping coach Mitchell Stewart-Hill would have been proud to make. Fullbacks Gavin Derr on the left and Fukushima-Hall on the right coped well with dangerous United flank players Campbell Hall and Marfell. Centre backs Shai Avni and Kauri Holmes did well to hold Josh and Corey Adams scoreless in the second half. Jacob Adams, named captain for the day to mark the game against his brothers, was in central midfield alongside Rylan Crosby-Wright, Hill, Euan Cramer and Korbin Wigglesworth. Alex Langford came on for Crosby-Wright with about half an hour to go. They were up against a full-strength United midfield – Dane Thompson, Dan Torrie and holding midfielder Aaron Graham, supported out wide by Hall and Marfell, with occasional help from either Adams brother darting back to seek the ball. Boys' High striker Connor Evison and his second-half replacement, Oliver McManaway, were outnumbered by well-performed United defenders Kieran Higham, Ryan Anderson and Kieran Venema but kept them on their toes. Andy McIntosh's influence in goal is another factor in United's good start to the season. He has the happy knack of getting some part of his body in the way of goal-bound shots. The return of centre back Jonathan Purcell, who came on for Anderson late in the game, gives the defence strength in depth. Hawke's Bay referee Marty Roil kept the game flowing smoothly. United coach Josh Adams said his side had taken the second half too easily, and Boys' High stepped up their effort and showed they deserved to be in this competition. Boys' High coach for this game, Sebastian Itman, said four key players had been unavailable for the game. Those who played showed great courage in rising to the challenge. In the later game, Thistle went close in the 36th minute, when Somerton stretched to reach a long ball from left back Oliver Aldridge but volleyed over the bar. A minute later, though, he made no mistake, and it was 1-0 at halftime. Port Hill came close to equalising in the 57th minute when a defender slipped and keeper Mark Baple was called on to make a fingertip save. In the 60th, Thistle centre back Junior Jimmy broke out of defence and fed Somerton, who made ground and hit a hard shot that Port Hill keeper Michael Mason could only parry as far as on-rushing right midfielder Te Kani Wirepa-Hei. He scored from five metres to make it 2-0. Three minutes later, Jimmy was tackled on the edge of the Jags' penalty area and the ball was passed into the goalmouth, where Port Hill skipper Matt Betesta fired the ball home from five metres. Thistle regained their two-goal cushion in the 65th minute. Somerton aggressively chased down a long ball ahead of pacy centre back Sam Skilton, beat the keeper to it and scored. Three minutes on, Jags centre back Martin Kees was penalised for a foul on Betesta, and defender James Mason scored from the penalty spot. Somerton scored the last in a flurry of goals, turning on the bouncing ball after a left-wing corner by Travis White and blasting it from close range. Thistle had more chances to score but Michael Mason blocked shots by Somerton and then Samson Hotas, who had come on for Alex Shanks in the 67th minute. Two minutes from the end, Wirepa-Hei capped a fine game with a goal-line block. Thistle keeper Baple had a strong game, and fullbacks Kuba Jerabek and Aldridge kept a lid on the danger from the flanks. Centre backs Jimmy and Kees broke up numerous attacks but frayed supporters' nerves when they lost the ball in or around the penalty area. Port Hill strikers Luke Posthumus and Betesta harried the Gisborne defence at every opportunity and kept their side in with a shout. Thistle's Nick Land, Cory Thomson and White had a battle on their hands with Jamie Provines, Kaleb McKenzie and Ollie Berry in the Port Hill engine room, while Jags left midfielder Alex Shanks was up against a rugged opponent in right back Nick Yorke. Referee Chris Niven kept the lid on a competitive game Thistle coach Tam Cramer said the game should have been put to bed much earlier but his team's finishing was 'not great', and they had done 'stupid things' that let Port Hill back into it. 'It was good to have Junior Jimmy and Samson Hotas back. Te Kani Wirepa-Hei played well, Jimmy Somerton led the line well and Nick Land is resisting taking a break. Cory Thomson was unlucky not to get a couple of goals.' Port Hill coach Dan Johansen said it was encouraging his side had pushed Thistle right to the end after a three-hour road trip. 'I'm proud of the guys for putting in a shift.'
NZ Herald
09-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Plenty of Gisborne home team action in Eastern Premiership football
Port Hill caused the upset of the round last weekend when they defeated previously unbeaten City Rovers Reserves 2-0. Thistle coach Tam Cramer noted that City Rovers Reserves were stronger when the first team played at home and the reserves had access to Central League squad members. The City Rovers first team were playing away last weekend. Skipper Matt Betesta and Luke Posthumus, two of Port Hill's best players in their 4-2 victory over Boys' High three weeks ago, scored the goals against City Rovers Reserves and will need close watching on Saturday. Cramer is hoping to be able to rest Nick Land so he can get over a niggling injury, but expects to have defender Kuba Jerabek back in the match-day squad. Goalkeeper Mark Baple and centre back Martin Kees are also likely starters and, with skipper Cory Thomson and Travis White in central midfield and Jimmy Somerton up front, Thistle are looking solid through the middle. Cramer said the Jags were starting to get the number of available players up, but it was still a juggling act coping with injuries. Gisborne United player-coach Josh Adams says he has his full first-team squad available for the first time this season. That's bad news for HSOB Boys' High, who have had a tough introduction to Eastern Premiership football. Thistle striker Campbell Hall and midfielder Dane Thompson are available after they missed last week's 6-0 defeat of Napier Marist, while centre back Jonathan Purcell is expected to be back in contention for a place after a work-related absence. Adams called on Stu Cranswick last weekend, and it paid off. Cranswick scored a goal and harassed the Marist defence at every opportunity. But he stopped playing regular football two years ago and his future appearances are likely to be irregular treats. Even so, the coach has some interesting decisions to make when he considers his starting line-up. Gisborne Boys' High School head of football Sebastian Itman is looking after the Boys' High team this weekend as coach Garrett Blair has been away at a conference all week. Whereas Adams has an embarrassment of riches, Itman will be without several key players. Left back Kyran Lasenby fractured an elbow after four minutes of the game against Maycenvale United. He will be out, as will midfielder Matt Hills, who twisted his knee and hurt his ankle. Itman said the surface of the Hastings ground was hard and unforgiving. Goalkeeper Aidan Armstrong would be fit to play, despite a finger injury received during last Saturday's game. Shai Avni would likely start at centre back alongside Kauri Holmes, and Gavin Derr could take Lasenby's place at left back. Rylan Crosby-Wright was a possibility for the midfield role formerly filled by Hills, while Jacob Adams had shown a different side to his game last weekend, and that could be used to advantage. Itman said a decision had yet to be made on whether the match would be played at the Rectory ground or the pitch near the school pool. He would contact United representatives on the morning of the match.
