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Delta Tapware Metro surged to an overnight sixth placing in the North Island Soccer League on May 29, as a result of trouncing Metro Motors Melville United 5-2 at Albie Turner Field in a match in which all the goals were scored in the second half.
The punters who enjoyed the summer-like conditions were treated to a frenetic first forty-five minutes during which hustle and bustle abounded, sadly at the expense of guile and style. The half was largely bereft of goalscoring opportunities, mainly due to the efforts of Melville's defence, who got back en masse to frustrate their hosts on several occasions, simply through sheer weight of numbers.
Whenever Metro found a way around this obstacle, there was the little matter of Simon Eaddy to contend with. A fine shot-stopper at the best of times, Eaddy proved the point in the twelfth minute with an excellent one-handed save low to his left to turn Stu Roberts' driven effort around the post, this after the same player had unleashed an angled shot which cleared United's crossbar by mere inches two minutes earlier.
The goalkeeper comfortably dealt with long-range efforts from Hoani Edwards and Jonathan Perry before the half was concluded, while Heath McCormack could only direct a close-range header straight at the goalkeeper just before the interval, after Edwards and James Stewart had worked a short-corner routine.
Melville's lone chance of a first half played at too great a pace for the players' collective abilities came in the 27th minute, when the impressive Marcus Traill picked out Alan Lamb on the left. The Newcastle fanatic has just returned here from his 'other home' on Tyneside, and after weaving his way past a couple of challenges, was denied a goal to mark the occasion this time round by Grant Schofield, who palmed the shot around the post.
What the first half lacked in goals the second spell more than made up for, with the first of the seven strikes witnessed coming in the 49th minute, courtesy Kara Waetford's penalty. There was a spot of controversy too, with Mark Youngjohns, Melville's coach, being sent behind the fence after vehemently questioning the officials' judgment of the incident, which saw referee Derek Rugg awarding the spot-kick for hand-ball, upon being advised of the offence by his assistant, Dave Watkins.
Clearly rattled, Melville weren't given the opportunity to regather their senses, as Metro struck again within three minutes to go 2-0 up. The spadework was done by Danny McHenery, who was to have quite an influence on the outcome after coming on as a late first-half substitute for the injured Willie Thompson. McHenery drew the defence before slipping the ball into Perry's path, and the All White, whose work-rate in this match was immense, hit a screamer on the run which crashed off the crossbar ... straight into the path of the incoming Roberts, who headed home from close range.
The game was up for Melville in the 59th minute. Young Luke Malcolm, given his chance from the start for the first time in the senior side, galloped away on a run to the byline, from where he pulled the ball back too well - everyone overran it! Thus it was that the ball arrived at the feet of Metro's player-coach, Sean Hird, some thirty yards out from goal.
A half-time substitute for the injured Heath McCormack, Hird doesn't play himself as often as many spectators would like him to these days because he considers himself "too old". The spritely and stylish manner in which he dribbled his way around three challenges before coolly slotting the ball into the bottom far corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area to make it 3-0 suggests that there's plenty of life left yet in "the wee man"!!
Melville's response was to pull a goal back six minutes later. Lamb was the architect, slipping a ball through from midfield for Mark Cossey, who cleverly used the pace on the pass to his advantage, in doing so deceiving both Sakdy Phommahaxay and Schofield, around whom he took the ball before confidently steering it home inside the far post - 3-1.
It should have been 3-2 within three minutes. Lamb was again the instigator, his measured crossfield pass dropping over Hird's head into the path of the overlapping Jeremy Fields, who took one touch to control the ball before letting fly with a sweetly struck angled twenty yard drive. Schofield was beaten by the pace on the shot, but was relieved to see it whistle past the far post.
Instead, it was 4-1 come the seventy minute mark, courtesy that man McHenery. The substitute certainly made a very strong case for inclusion in Metro's next starting line-up in this game, as evidenced by this solo effort, where he took on and beat Melville's defence before doing the same to Eaddy, the goalkeeper unable to prevent the striker sliding the ball past him and over the line, with Stewart, following in, ramming the ball into the net to make absolutely certain.
A delicious thirty yard chip by Stewart seconds later was superbly dealt with by Eaddy, the goalkeeper doing exceedingly well to tip the ball over the top. But the custodian was beaten for a fifth time in the 82nd minute by McHenery, whose brave diving header did full justice to the combined efforts of Roberts and Perry in creating the opening which saw Metro go 5-1 up.
The scoring was completed two minutes from time by Lamb, and it was a goal well worth waiting for. He set off on a mazy run past four players before curling a gem beyond the diving Schofield into the far corner of the net to bring about the final 5-2 scoreline, which, but for the legs of the former All White 'keeper, could have been 5-3 - Greg Larsen was denied in stoppage time as he looked to capitalise on a defensive blunder.

Metro:  Schofield; Phommahaxay (booked, 5), Waetford, Mair, Thompson (McHenery, 40); Edwards (booked, 77), Malcolm, Perry, Roberts; Stewart (Thou, 80), McCormack (Hird, 46).

Melville: Eaddy; Traill (booked, 59), Milne (booked, 48), Jones, West (Maharaj, 87); Fields, Lamb, Harris (Bridges, 88), Cooper (booked, 57); Cossey, Larsen.

Referee: Derek Rugg

Goalscorers:
Metro: K. Waetford (49, pen.), S. Roberts (52), S. Hird (59), D. McHenery (70, 82).

Melville: M. Cossey (65), A. Lamb (88)

Arcus Trophy: Danny McHenery (Metro) 3; Jonathan Perry (Metro) 2; Marcus Traill (Melville) 1.

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