After tomorrow’s game, United have three games left in their league programme — all against Thistle . . . in Gisborne on August 26, Palmerston North on September 2 and Gisborne on September 16.
Thistle also play Napier City Rovers Reserves in Gisborne on September 9.
If you were the Marist coach, you wouldn’t want to rely on the bottom-placed team in the league to win the title for you, so that game in Palmerston North tomorrow night should be a cracker.
As for Thistle, they get four chances to show their lowly league placing is an aberration, a product of extraordinary circumstances that affected them more than any other team in the league.
After the previous week’s 7-2 humbling at the hands of Napier City Rovers Reserves, Thistle started the game against Marist with a five-man backline, two holding midfielders, an attacking midfielder and two strikers.
Fullbacks Andre Baple on the left and Sam Royston on the right could support the midfield when it was on, but it was obvious their primary role was defensive.
Regular centrebacks Finn McAuley and Ryan Noon were joined by Hugo Elwood for a solid central trio.
Cory Thomson and Cullen Spawforth covered the ground in front of the backline.
David Salmon had the job of linking Thistle’s defence and attack, and Jimmy Somerton and Campbell Hall were there to score.
Ranged against Thistle’s defence were central striker Cam Wallace and wide players Melvin Rumere and Paul Awa. Midfielders Luke Minshull and Elijah Smith supported them from deep, and player-coach Adam Cowan filled the holding role.
That left a back four of Zak Jenkins and Troye Aitken at right and leftback respectively, and Michael Boso and Josh Cremen as double centrebacks.
At times Thistle had two men spare at the back and were outnumbered in the midfield by a Marist frontrunner dropping back or a fullback pushing forward. Thistle could do likewise, but the point of overloading the back was to get bodies in the way of the Marist attack, and for 41 minutes it worked.
Jags goalkeeper and skipper Mitchell Stewart-Hill led by example, and the outfield players blocked and harried well around the penalty area.
In the sixth minute, Cowan’s volley from the edge of the penalty area was goalbound until Stewart-Hill flung himself high and to his right to palm it away for a corner.
In the ninth, McAuley’s first-time clearance found Somerton, who advanced down the left flank before passing to Salmon, who found Spawforth on the right. His first-time shot did not trouble Marist ’keeper Nick Howard.
Two minutes later, Elwood fouled a player just outside the penalty area and Rumere’s free-kick had Stewart-Hill diving low to his right to turn the ball past the post. From the corner, Thomson headed off the line and in the same passage of play made the clearance that relieved the pressure.
Marist had all the territory but finding a way through the packed Thistle defence was like playing marbles in rush-hour traffic.
They almost scored in the 32nd minute. Spawforth was shown the yellow card for persistent infringements and from Cowan’s free-kick just outside the box on the right the ball was headed across the goal where first McAuley and then Stewart-Hill made goal-line interventions.
In the 41st, Boso — a recently recruited 32-year-old Solomon Islands international — made a run from the back, brought the ball down expertly eight metres out and crashed a shot against the Jags bar. It rebounded out wide to the left, where Minshull pushed the ball past Royston, who instinctively flung out a leg and caught the player . . . penalty.
Awa, another Solomon Islands recruit — 20 and playing only his second game for Marist — calmly slotted the spot-kick.
Thistle were now chasing the game but were still resolute at the back.In the 48th, Awa was through but Stewart-Hill saved well at his feet. Four minutes later, Awa headed over the top from six metres, but in the 61st he made a clever run from the left-wing spot into space behind Noon and rounded the ’keeper . . . 2-0.
Both teams rang the changes from midway through the second half. Marist brought Mason Charlton on for Wallace, Che Boag on for Cowan, and Mateo Godoy on for Awa.
Cowan later said he and Wallace were on four yellow cards, so their substitutions were to avoid the possibility of suspension for yellow cards in the last two games. The red card Cowan was shown in Gisborne on July 14 was downgraded to yellow on appeal.
Awa came off in the 80th minute, having scored four goals in two games.
For Thistle, Daniel Venema came on in the 64th for Elwood, whose nagging foot injury is a worry for coach Garrett Blair. Spawforth was sent off in the 68th minute for a second yellow-card offence, which seemed to be retaliation for a clip at his feet. Davie Ure came on for Royston in the 71st and Alex Shanks came on for Somerton in the 86th.
Thistle had a couple of chances. Hall was brought down on the edge of the area and Boso was yellow-carded for it in the 66th, and Noon just missed with a far-post slide to connect with a free-kick from the right in the 81st.
Marist subs Charlton and Godoy put the result beyond doubt with goals in the 85th and 87th respectively, and Stewart-Hill stopped the defeat becoming a rout by saving Rumere’s spot-kick — for a trip by McAuley — in the 88th.
Palmerston North referee Russell Jones was busy. He showed the yellow card to Thistle’s Somerton, Spawforth (twice) and Hall, and Marist’s Boag.
Thistle coach Blair said they had set out to play with heart and pride, and for the most part had achieved that. If they could have kept it scoreless till halftime, it could have been a different game.
Going down to 10 men effectively ended their chances of an upset result.
He said Noon stood out for his leadership and defensive organisation, but he thought the whole team put in an “above-average” performance.
Stand-in Marist coach Cowan said they knew that with the chances they were creating, goals would come eventually.
He was especially pleased with Jenkins and Cremen in a strong back-four showing, and Minshull and Smith in the midfield.
Cowan — at 42 and having played 180 national league games for Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay and Team Wellington, over 150 games for Wairarapa and over 100 for Palmerston North Marist — wants to play a few years yet. His aim is to play in the same team as his son Taj, who is 11.
