Lone McHenery Goal   Fires Metro Into Last Eight by Jeremy Ruane

A lone Danny McHenery goal put paid to plucky West Auckland's Chatham Cup run in the sixth round on June 21, Feltonmix Metro advancing to the quarter-finals on the back of a 1-0 win at Albie Turner Field.
The Bluebird Premier League leaders, in truth, always had a little more in hand to counter their Second Division counterparts, who, nevertheless, gave their all in pursuit of a place in the last eight. Indeed, Mark Quinlan forced Grant Schofield to pull off a good save in the eighth minute, while Stewart Bola and Quinlan both went close before the half-hour.
It was goalkeeper Joela Baleidrokadroka who kept West Auckland in the contest however, with a string of fine saves. John Van Dort was his first unwilling victim, with Willie Thompson next on the list, after shots from Steve Nickson and Van Dort had been blocked by the massed ranks of West Auckland defenders.
McHenery was next to be rebuffed by the Fijian shotstopper, thrice in as many minutes, the last of these being on the half hour. Seconds later, Baleidrokadroka pulled off a magnificent save low to his left to foil Nickson's header, a stop reminisicent of Gordon Banks' save from Pele in the 1970 World Cup Finals.
Nickson proved he wasn't Pele soon after, pulling his shot well wide of the target after pouncing on a defensive blunder to find himself through on goal with just the goalkeeper to beat. But the co-leader in the race for the Bluebird Premier League Golden Boot redirected his radar before the interval, only for Baleidrokadroka to pull off two more fine saves, the first of which, from a searing thirty yard volley, appeared too hot to handle!!
Just before the interval, Steve Cain squandered West Auckland's best chance of the tie, slipping at the vital moment as Quinlan's low cross found him with just Schofield to beat, and a lot of Metro fans' hearts in their mouths as a consequence.
The tie was decided seven minutes into the second spell. Nickson, inevitably, was involved, his hard work paying dividends for McHenery, his strike partner, who, after rounding Baleidrokadroka, tapped home what proved to be the winner.
The home team held sway for much of the remainder of the game without causing the opposing 'keeper too many more problems. Willie Thompson and McHenery were both foiled by the custodian, who was relieved to see Nigel Curties blaze his shot over the bar in the 73rd minute, after good work by Sean Hird and Nickson.
If anything, Metro put themselves in more trouble than West Auckland created in the second spell. The only occasions Schofield was called into action came as a result of defensive lapses. In the 67th minute, the goalkeeper was forced to clear an under-hit Van Dort backpass off the toe of Cain, who was fast moving in for the kill.
And with four minutes of running time left, the former All White shotstopper found himself in further trouble as a result of a probing Quinlan through ball which sought out Bola. Schofield raced off his line to avert the danger, and went a tad too far, handling the ball barely a foot beyond the edge of his penalty area.
Referee Derek Rugg whipped out the red card - despite Schofield's protests of innocence, he had handled the ball outside the box in a goalscoring situation - meaning Jason Thompson had to don the gloves for the remaining minutes of the tie. West Auckland, however, failed to trouble 'JT', and Metro, while not capturing the imagination of the gathered throngs in their usual manner, held on for a comfortable 1-0 victory.

Metro:
Schofield (sent-off, 86); O'Mara, Mair, Van Dort; W. Thompson, Jorgensen (Davidson, 69), Hird, Curties, J. Thompson; McHenery (booked, 29), Nickson (booked, 89).

West Auckland:
Baleidrokadroka; Penman (Callis, 74), Baleinuku, Lagaivau, Daley; Quinlan, Hornsnell, Reeve, Whiting; Cain, Bola.

Referee:
Derek Rugg

Assistants:
Duncan White, Roy Philpott

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