North Shore United took an overnight fourth placing in the Northern Premier League table on July 2, after downing Metro 4-0 at Albie Turner Field in a match which saw two well-taken goals scored, as well as two with a distinct hint of controversy about them.
Shore set out their stall from the off, Brad Scott blazing narrowly wide against one of his old clubs just 102 seconds into the match, before breaking on the right and crossing for Mike Gwyther in the fourth minute, the young striker forcing Craig Wilkins to produce a fine save to his left on this occasion.
Metro flexed their attacking muscles in the ninth minute, with Peter Wild just failing to get on the end of a Vladimir Yugov cross, then steering wide another cross from the Bulgarian two minutes later.
In between times, the first note of controversy in a generally hard-fought game came to pass, when Gwyther darted through on goal with just Wilkins to beat. The NZ Secondary Schools international knocked the ball around the diving goalkeeper, and then dived over him in an attempt to claim a penalty when none was merited.
Referee Steve Fletcher saw right through Gwyther’s plans, and waved play on, but did nothing about punishing the striker for his attempt to con the official, nor did he sight the youngster’s violent reaction towards Wilkins, after the ‘keeper had channelled his aggression into a verbal outburst about the striker’s behaviour to the world at large.
Do yourself a favour, Master Gwyther - channel your aggression into scoring goals, rather than throwing your weight around against older players while learning the ropes in senior level football.
You might get away with that sort of thing in schoolboy soccer, laddie, but you won’t earn the respect of the older heads playing in the Premier League with tantrums of this nature. If anything it’s a weakness that, once exposed, they’ll look to exploit to your - and North Shore’s - detriment.
Metro came desperately close to taking the lead in the 24th minute. Wild broke on the left before crossing for Dylan Beckham. Shore’s ‘keeper, Rob Read, blocked well at his feet, but Yugov was following up, and duly let fly, only for the ball to thud against the base of Read’s left-hand post and ricochet wide.
Back came Shore, with Scott receiving the ball from Sam Bailey when in an offside position. Wisely, he played to the whistle as Metro pleaded mercy, and raced on, only for Wilkins to block with his legs. The rebound sat up nicely for Shaun Van Rooyen, whose goal bound drive was blocked by the covering figure of Daniel Markham.
After Chris Jackson had fired wide, and Jason Beeston had seen his thumping thirty-yard effort well saved by Read, the first of the half’s controversial goals came to pass, six minutes before the break.
Jeff Campbell clipped in a free-kick from the left-hand edge of the penalty area, which Wilkins fumbled. As Metro screamed for a handball offence against Jackson, the wily midfielder prodded home from inside the six-yard area, and referee Fletcher awarded the goal - hearing the Shore players joking about it in the dressing room after the game made it all the more frustrating for the home team to accept.
In response to this setback, Beeston sent a long-range free-kick dipping over the bar by a yard at best, to which Shore retorted through Campbell. After releasing Gwyther down the left, he charged forward to support the attack, and when the cross came in, he was perfectly placed to unleash a ferocious drive. Everyone stood and looked as his fifteen-yard missile hurtled goal wards, only for the post to come to Metro’s rescue.
But when Campbell received the ball in an offside position mere seconds later, and without a defender within three yards of him, the offside flag Metro anticipated never materialised. If you thought they were furious about the first goal, livid barely describes their reaction to this decision!
Meanwhile, the one-time All White wasted little time in charging goal wards, and although he rounded Wilkins, the ‘keeper forced him wide of the target. Campbell’s low cross was swept home from close range by Scott - 2-0 Shore, a minute before the break.
The second spell saw Shore begin brightly, with Campbell agonisingly close to curling home a beauty just two minutes in - his shot arced narrowly past the far post with Wilkins beaten. The goalkeeper fumbled a corner from the same player just shy of the hour mark, but no-one in a gold kit was on hand to turn home the rebound this time.
Instead, Metro came storming back, Beeston seeing another fierce drive from well outside the penalty area just clear Shore’s crossbar by not a lot on the hour. Two minutes later, a dazzling run by Wild saw him evade three challenges and nutmeg Sam Jasper before letting fly. Read parried this effort, and then saved Yugov’s acrobatic attempt from the rebound.
After Wilkins had saved a rasping Campbell drive, Shore made the game safe in the 67th minute. If the first two goals had been controversial, this was a humdinger. Jackson picked out Scott with a fine swerving ball wide, and the striker controlled it neatly before smashing a dipping volley over the flailing figure of Wilkins and into the far corner of the net - great strike!
The game was up for Metro, but they kept on pressing for a goal of their own. Arek Kubicki’s smart solo effort eighteen minutes from time deserved better fate than to culminate in a shot straight at Read, while the same player sent a rasping twenty-yard drive sizzling over the bar six minutes later, four minutes after Wilkins had produced a superb flying save to his right to deny a solo effort from the hard-working Bailey.
With time up on the clock, Metro came desperately close to scoring. Beeston - who copped a battering throughout but still kept coming back for more - was again fouled, but referee Fletcher played a superb advantage to allow substitute Andrew McDaid to take charge of the situation. Challengers came, saw and were left behind in the youngster’s wake as he weaved his way into the penalty area, only to pull his shot across the face of goal with the home team’s last attack of consequence in the match.
Shore had one more foray left in them, and it brought about the final goal of the night. Van Rooyen made his way down the right before crossing, the ball ricocheting off the chest of the covering Metro defender to put a vicious spin on the sphere.
It completely deceived Wilkins, who could only get his hands to the ball as it spun towards the near post, and was unable to keep it out - 4-0, a result which lifts Shore into fourth spot, and leaves Metro still in need of points in the quest to stave off the threat of relegation with the season approaching the final turn into the home straight.

Match Details

Metro: Wilkins; Smith, R. Beeston, Hendriks, Markham; Beckham (McDaid, 79), Kubicki, J. Beeston, Newall (S. Campbell, 60); Wild, Yugov (Naidoo, 89)

Shore: Read; Cunneen, O’Rourke, Hitchen; Bailey, Jackson, Van Rooyen, Jasper, J. Campbell; Scott (booked, 66), Gwyther (booked, 90)

Referee: Steve Fletcher

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