Gisborne Thistle winger Ruben Garcia (right) and a Taradale player contest possession in last Saturday's Central Federation League match at Childers Road Reserve. Honours were shared 1-all. Photo / Paul Rickard
Gisborne Thistle winger Ruben Garcia (right) and a Taradale player contest possession in last Saturday's Central Federation League match at Childers Road Reserve. Honours were shared 1-all. Photo / Paul Rickard
Half the team will be fresh and half will be exhausted. That’s the uncomfortable scenario for Gisborne Thistle as they head into their last Federation League game of the season.
They play Havelock North Wanderers at Childers Road Reserve at 2.45pm tomorrow, with half the team – and more than half the squad – coming off school football tournament duty.
Electrinet Thistle coach Tam Cramer gave the rest of the first-team squad the week off, so depleted were their ranks.
“We should have (midfielder) David Salmon back, but we’ll be without (winger) Samson Hotas because of his red card last week,” Cramer said.
“The rest of the squad should be pretty much the same, although Alex Shanks is unavailable.”
Shanks came on for the last 20 minutes against Taradale last Saturday and scored a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw.
Cramer feels the Jags have the potential to beat any team in the league.
“Consistency is the problem,” he said. “We’ve taken points off three of the top five teams. When we play, we play. This weekend, half the team will be fresh and half will be exhausted.”
Both teams have plenty to play for tomorrow. They are out to improve their chances in the playoffs for places in next season’s Central League second division.
Midfielder Euan Cramer tries to get past a Taradale player in Central Federation League action in Gisborne. Cramer is one of several Thistle players who will be backing up after a busy secondary school tournament week. Photo / Paul Rickard
Havelock North are fifth in the league, three points behind Taradale. A win against Thistle would take them past Taradale on goal difference. Instead of playing the sixth-placed team of the Capital Premier/Capital 1 contenders, they would play the team placed seventh.
Thistle are seventh, level on points but behind New Plymouth Rangers on goal difference. A draw would take them to sixth, and a match against the fifth – rather than the fourth – team in the Capital rankings.
Thistle lost 3-0 to Havelock North at Guthrie Park in May, when the Hawke’s Bay team were title contenders. Since then, the Wanderers’ form has been uneven, but they are good enough to beat most teams in this league on their day.
Thistle have come a long way since the 10-0 and 9-0 defeats against Palmerston North teams Marist and United early in the season. They beat New Plymouth team FC Western home and away, and Western gained automatic entry into Central League 2 by finishing third.
Jimmy Somerton plays a big part in this Thistle side, and he is only one goal off the pace in the Golden Boot standings. He has 15 goals; Palmerston North United’s Benjamin Mori has 16 but has no more league games to play this year.
Salmon’s return should make a difference in midfield, where skipper Cory Thomson has been a model of consistency.
At the back, Ziggy West-Hill is developing well as a ball-winning centreback, in the air and on the ground. Beside him, Junior Jimmy has the knack of spotting danger and putting out fires early. And Thistle have been well served by goalkeepers Mitchell Stewart-Hill and Hugo Lodewyk.
It should be a cracking game to end the Federation League programme, and then they have the playoff challenge to come.
