The result left Taradale in fourth place and Thistle seventh, behind New Plymouth Rangers on goal difference.
Only one game remains in the Federation League – Thistle’s home match against Havelock North Wanderers on Saturday – and plenty rides on it.
If Wanderers were to win, they would go above Taradale on goal difference and meet the seventh-ranked Capital Premier/Capital 1 team in the playoffs for next season’s Central League 2 competition. Thistle would stay seventh, and meet the fourth-ranked team.
But if Thistle drew with or beat Wanderers, Taradale would remain fourth and Wanderers fifth, and Thistle would rise to sixth and meet the fifth-ranked Capital team in the playoffs.
The four playoff games – 4 v 7, 5 v 6, 6 v 5 and 7 v 4 – will be played at Massey University, Palmerston North, on September 14.
Thistle did well to foot it with Taradale on Saturday, especially in view of the Jags’ continuing difficulties in fielding their strongest team.
Those problems were compounded three minutes from time when right-winger Samson Hotas was sent off for a second yellow-card offence. The automatic one-week suspension for a red card means he will miss the game against Wanderers this week unless Thistle can get the card rescinded, something that rarely happens.
Thistle coach Tam Cramer said he thought his side deserved a draw, at least.
“They got a massive bollocking at halftime,” he said. “It [the first-half performance] was way below what I expect of us.
“They needed to turn it round and they did.”
Cramer said he called Shanks into the squad on Saturday because of the number of players unavailable.
“He caused them problems and played with great heart.”
Shifting Somerton back into midfield allowed him to get more of the ball and create chances for others.
“And Jimmy can play anywhere,” Cramer said.
Taradale coach Jamie Dunning said he was “a bit gutted” to concede right at the end.
“We kept Jimmy Somerton quiet, but then he set up the equaliser. We’ve just got to learn to manage the game better.
“I thought we controlled the game, especially the first half. The man of the match was probably their goalkeeper. In the second half, they came into it more.”
He said his team would have to get themselves up for the Federation Cup final (against New Plymouth team Moturoa in Palmerston North) on Saturday and then the playoffs the week after.
Thistle keeper Hugo Lodewyk was indeed a standout performer. In the 22nd minute, Taradale striker Liam Percy-Fysh wriggled his way clear in the Jags’ penalty area and Lodewyk spread himself and stopped the shot with his foot.
Seven minutes later, Percy-Fysh got a shot away from close range. Lodewyk blocked it, then parried a follow-up from another Taradale player from the same distance.
The keeper had no chance with Taradale’s goal. Right-flank midfielder Zac Madsen moved on to a ball played into the Thistle penalty area, took it to the byline and cut it back into the goalmouth, where Percy-Fysh finished efficiently.
Thistle had two good first-half chances. In the 18th minute, left-winger Ruben Garcia received the ball inside the Taradale penalty area and crossed early to Travis White, whose shot hit the side-netting.
In the 27th, Hotas made a run from right to left and passed to Garcia, whose driven cross just eluded Somerton.
Thistle got busy in the second half. In the 53rd, Hotas shot, Taradale keeper Graham Healey saved, and Jags skipper Cory Thomson put the rebound wide. Two minutes later, Garcia and Somerton combined to set up Hotas for a shot that Healey did well to tip over the bar.
Nick Land came on for Garcia, who was limping, and in the 57th minute Percy-Fysh had the ball in the net a second time but the goal was disallowed for offside. In the 64th it was Percy-Fysh again, this time firing just past the far post from the left.
Things got testy towards the end as tired bodies tried to save the game or put it to bed. Well-performed Taradale midfielder Nick De Maine was shown the yellow card for a rash challenge in the 72nd minute and Thistle’s Hotas was shown yellow for the first time in the 85th.
Then came Shanks’s goal, a second yellow (turning to red) for Hotas, and then a first yellow for Taradale’s Jake Bryan.
For Thistle, Lodewyk, centrebacks Junior Jimmy and Ziggy West-Hill, holding midfielder Thomson, and wingers Hotas and Garcia stood out. Somerton was well-marked but made the match-defining pass.
Euan Cramer played good one and two-touch football in midfield, Travis White looked for the telling delivery, and fullbacks Te Kani Wirepa-Hei and Shai Avni put in steady shifts. It was good to see Kaden Manderson and Jakeb Te Kani-Brown getting a run late in the game.
It was concerning, though, to see centre-back Jimmy incapacitated by a severe cramp late in the game.
In Jacques Markram and skipper Jackson Haines, Taradale had one of the best young centre-back combinations seen at Childers Road Reserve this season. Fullbacks Thomas Hall and Rory O’Mahony kept things tidy on the flanks.
Up front, Percy-Fysh was always a threat, and he had good support from midfielders Madsen, Cameron Patterson and Ethan Clarke.
Hawke’s Bay referee Gordon Harris kept a firm grip on a keenly contested game.
