Feltonmix Metro stormed to the top of the Bluebird Premier League on June 27, albeit for forty-eight hours, with a merciless 6-0 mauling of East Coast Bays at Albie Turner Field.
Bay were behind the eight ball as early as the fourth minute. Stu Roberts, who had gone close in the first sixty seconds after a well constructed Metro move, unleashed a fifteen yard snapshot to put the finishing touch to a Danny McHenery-inspired attack.
This seemed to spark Bay into life, with Chris Ruffell, twice, and Graham Green going close to levelling the scores before the twenty-minute mark, at which time Wayne Roach pulled off a superb double-save to foil both Green and Philip Porteous.
Inspired by this, Metro responded in the manner to which we have become accustomed. Kenny Harlock lined up a free-kick on the edge of the area, stepped up and curled home a beauty, over the wall and inside Paul Harvey’s near post, a shot which left the ‘keeper beaten all ends up.
The defending champions’ approach work, to this stage had been quite tidy, but as for their finishing ... it’s a wonder there were no reports of UFOs being sighted in the Mt. Albert area this evening, such was the height at which a handful of shots cleared Harvey’s crossbar!!
After Sakdy Phommahaxay and Steven Laus had exchanged shots, Metro stretched their lead still further, courtesy Steve Nickson. An injury to Stuart Mair paved the way for the introduction, from the bench on the half-hour, of the league’s equal leading scorer, who wasted no time in making his mark.
A free-kick from the outstanding Shaun O’Mara found Harvey in no man’s land. Numerous probing Metro corners had found him wanting under the high ball, and this set-piece proved no different. Nickson had an empty net to aim at - 3-0, six minutes before the interval.
Porteous attempted to pull a goal back either side of the break, in the latter case being foiled by a superb recovering tackle from Benny Hall. From this, Metro surged forward and scored a fourth goal.
Nickson’s raking pass picked out Roberts in acres of space on the right. He cut in before playing the ball short for Harlock, who turned and touched the ball back into the path of the rampaging Nickson. His 55th minute grasscutter was struck with ferocity aplenty, leaving the hapless Harvey with not a prayer of stopping it.
Green twice breached Metro’s well-marshalled offside trap soon after, as did Craig Coleman, but their efforts came to naught. Meanwhile, a wonderful Willie Thompson run saw him beat four opponents before unleashing a fierce drive which Harvey, at full stretch, did well to stop.
A fifth goal was inevitable, and duly came fifteen minutes from time. O’Mara’s pass from right to left switched the point of attack, leaving Thompson with room aplenty in which to run at goal unchallenged. Harvey parried the Auckland rep’s shot, but McHenery was on hand to pick up the pieces and put them away.
Thompson was unlucky not to score a deserved goal two minutes later, heading over Hall’s measured cross. Coleman, at the other end, couldn’t believe his luck when first Roach, then John Van Dort, combined to clear his shot off the line, after he had been picked out by Porteous.
But with two minutes left, the coup de grace was applied by a team ‘Bays coach, Brian Turner, considers to be the best his side has encountered this season. Roberts did the spadework, Nickson collected the match-ball, his hat-trick strike a twenty-yarder on the turn.
Harlock forced a sprawling save from Harvey at the death, but six was Metro’s lot, six too many as far as Bays were concerned.

Result:
Feltonmix Metro 6;    Roberts 4,   
                              Harlock 22,
                              Nickson 30, 55, 88,
                              McHenery 75

East Coast Bays 0

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