Onehunga Sports climbed to an overnight third placing in the Northern Premier League on May 24 when defeating Metro 3-1 in the Central Auckland derby at Albie Turner Field, but the victors owe a hearty debt of thanks to goalkeeper Mark Fulcher for his role in securing three points for “The Green Machine”.
The shot-stopper produced a string of fine saves to thwart a Metro attack which, while profligate on this occasion, could easily have scored five on any other night. It was their misfortune, in this match, to come across a goalkeeper whose belief in the phrase “Thou Shalt Not Pass” was evident for all to see.
Vital clearances by the respective number fours were the highlights of the first eight minutes of action in what was, at times, a rollicking affair between local rivals who have enjoyed their fair share of fiercely-fought encounters in recent seasons.
Murray Saunders was the first interventionist of the evening, getting back to clear the danger in the sixth minute after Christian Martin’s clearance from a Sports corner had sent Shane Campbell sprinting clear down the left.
With Willie Osborne haring through the middle, an early Metro goal looked odds-on, but Campbell’s low cross for his team-mate was intercepted by Saunders, who did well simply to keep pace with the speedy Metro front-runners.
Two minutes later, it was Jay Thomas’ turn to save the day, metro the beneficiary of their captain’s covering efforts this time. Andrew Shepherd sprinted clear of the defence and tripped over the diving Jordan Dupuis as he was forced to the byline, but played to the whistle and forced the ball back to Steven May. The midfielder rounded the recovering goalkeeper but fired tamely at the target, allowing Thomas to clear off the line.
After Dupuis had plucked Shepherd’s looping header from under the crossbar, following a Mark Elrick free-kick, Campbell’s pace again opened Sports up, this time down the right. The jet-heeled striker lured Fulcher out of his goal before drilling in a low eleventh minute cross for Martin.  The striker had virtually the entire target to aim at, but shot straight at the only player who had a hope of keeping the score line intact - that man Saunders was there again.
The persistence of May down the right on the quarter-hour presented a chance for Michael Loftus which the midfielder sent flashing past Dupuis’ right-hand post.
Three minutes later, “Lofty” found himself the target of a hip-high challenge from Thomas which earned the Metro defender nothing more than a censure from referee Sam Narayan - to say the official was decidedly lenient regarding a number of incidents in this match would rank as the understatement of the month!!
The resulting free-kick was taken by Elrick some thirty yards from goal, and the former All White deserved better fate than to see his screamer crash back into play off the crossbar, Dupuis looking on helplessly. The rebound was eventually fired wide by Loftus.
Fulcher began to earn his keep in the 21st minute. Metro’s new signing, midfielder Paul Dempsey, battled his way through two challenges before feeding Osborne ahead of him.
The striker whose speed defies logic, given his penchant for cigarettes, this time laid a superb first-time reverse pass off into the path of the rampaging Leaveil Titus, who careered goal wards before slipping the ball across for Osborne. Before the Fijian could pounce, Fulcher did - chance spurned.
On the half-hour, Mark Baker blocked Titus’ shot, before the midfielder, two minutes later, motored past three startled Sports men en route to the target, Fulcher his only obstacle. Titus took the ball on, and looked to round the ‘keeper, but found Sports’ custodian impassable - Fulcher produced a superb diving save at the feet of the rampaging midfielder to pluck the ball cleanly off his toes.
Dupuis was next to ensure parity on the scoreboard, producing a fine reflex save in the 36th minute, despite being unsighted until the very last second, to thwart Elrick following a short corner routine on Sports’ left.
Six minutes later, the visitors took the lead. Elrick earned a free-kick just outside Metro’s penalty area after tangling with Peter Hendriks. Sports’ co-coach drilled the free-kick goal wards, and the ball deflected off the defensive wall and flew past the diving Dupuis before cannoning off the ‘keeper’s left-hand upright.
The rebound ricocheted off the shin of the incoming Scott Foster and bounced across the goalmouth and into the net beside the opposite post.
Martin’s attempts to level the scores with a spectacular diving header in the dying seconds of the half, following the approach play of Osborne and Daniel Mulrooney, proved fruitless, while Fulcher foiled further efforts early in the second spell, Martin denied by the custodian seconds after Dempsey’s twenty-yard free-kick had been turned to safety by the diving shot-stopper.
Just after the hour mark, Fulcher again proved his worth to “The Green Machine” with two more highly impressive saves. A clever pass from Titus saw Martin taking on Fulcher after scampering through Sports’ otherwise effective offside trap.
For their efforts towards making this so, take a bow, Blair Ramsey and Stuart Mair, the latter the epitome of determined defending and complete commitment in this match against his old club - how Metro could benefit from following his example.
Back to the incident, and there was only going to be one winner, such was the form the goalkeeper was in, and sure enough, he pulled off the save, low to his right in the 63rd minute.
Three minutes later, he was hurtling off his line again, this time successfully stopping the surging Titus in his tracks, as he cut into the penalty area after a strong run down the left.
Back came Sports, who in terms of chances created, were behind Metro. But on the scoreboard, they were ahead, and in the 68th minute, the visitors doubled their advantage. Ian Grainger, “The Green Machine”’s seemingly ageless marksman, had come off the bench in the 65th minute, and promptly hit the crossbar with a thirty yard speculator, within two minutes of entering the fray.
His next party piece was to score the goal which all but broke Metro’s spirit. The home team failed to adequately the danger following Grainger’s crossbar-rattler, and when Foster forged his way to the left-hand byline, the first goal scorer fired in a hard, low cross across the face of goalmouth. Grainger was lurking by the far post, and duly steered home for 2-0.
A well-timed pass from Thomas sent Titus scurrying in off the left flank once more within seconds of the second goal, but you-know-who was proving unbeatable - Fulcher, after a shaky spell between the sticks, chose this match to get his game back together again, much to Metro’s chagrin.
After Elrick had shown fine control to gather in a Baker pass with the minimum of fuss, before surging past three players and letting fly at Dupuis from twenty-five yards, Sports sealed victory with a scintillating third goal, fourteen minutes from time.
Grainger fed Elrick on the right, and the front-man’s first-time lay-off sent fellow player-co-coach Eddie Kennedy careering down the right at pace on the overlap. The former Barrow man picked out Loftus, arriving on the far post, and his diving header was a classic, the ball flying into the net off the upright to put Sports 3-0 in front.
Seven minutes later, Metro pulled a goal back, Thomas the inspiration. His cross field ball picked out substitute Andreas Riikonen, whose cushioned header was tailor-made for the speedy Osborne. Fulcher saw the danger and reacted quickly, but Metro’s leading goal scorer was quicker still, and steered the ball home inside the far post.
It set up a grandstand finish, as Metro went in search of two late goals. But despite a few close calls, Sports held on to their 3-1 advantage, and leapt into third spot for their efforts, leaving Metro entrenched in seventh place, and in need of a spot of finishing practice, particularly in one-on-one situations.

Details:

Metro:    Dupuis; Mulrooney, Hendriks, Thomas, Knapp (Clark, 75); Campbell, Ellis, Dempsey, Titus; Osborne, Martin (booked, 70) (Riikonen, 77)

Sports:   Fulcher; Baker, Ramsey, Mair, Saunders; May (Grainger, 65 (booked, 90)), Tierney, Loftus (booked, 79), Foster; Elrick, Shepherd (Kennedy, 55)

Referee:  Sam Narayan

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