Some moments of magic from French teenager Matthieu Thebault inspired Metro to a come-from-behind 3-1 victory over Onehunga Sports at Albie Turner Field on June 18, as the two injury-hit Central Auckland sides gave their all in an entertaining yet rain-drenched Northern Premier League encounter.
There were initial doubts about playing the match, as monsoon-like conditions swept across the park half-an-hour before kick-off, but the quick drainage on Metro's sand-based pitch meant what surface water there was wasn't there for very long, ultimately making referee Sam Narayan's decision fairly straight-forward.
The players wasted little time in getting down to brass tacks, Peter Spelman thwarting Vladimir Yugov in the fourth minute of play, seconds after Shane Campbell had been clearing the danger at the other end of the park, as Andrew Shepherd looked to continue his goal scoring form from Sports' goal-glut at Glenfield six days prior.
Peter Wild went close from twenty yards five minutes later for Metro, after a Bradley Newall-inspired raid, while Sports' response on the quarter hour saw Craig Wilkins racing off his line to block at the feet of David Rayner, who had been slipped through by the well-performed Jeremy Christie - his critics may think him slow, but in this match, he wasted very little possession.
The visitors opened the scoring in the 21st minute, with Spelman sparking the move on the left flank. He played the ball forward to Shepherd, who evaded a challenge before clipping a cross to the near post. Paul Sluyter came racing in off the opposite flank and turned the ball home inside Wilkins' near post for a well-taken strike.
Metro, who had lost their last four league and cup games, must have been wondering at this stage what they had done recently to incur the wrath of the Gods, given those setbacks, their injury crisis, and now finding themselves behind on the scoreboard against opponents who are similarly challenged in the lower reaches of the league table.
Their response was to press on for the bulk of the remainder of the half, only to be confronted by the seemingly impenetrable James Bryce, who had a fine game in goal for "The Green Machine". Before the interval, he turned a long-range free-kick from Wild round the post, and pawed out Thebault's resulting in swinging corner.
After Shepherd had blazed over the crossbar upon latching onto Christie's through ball - Sports' last first half raid of note came on the half-hour mark - Metro continued to hunt for an equaliser, but joy wasn't forthcoming. Arek Kubicki saw his drive deflected to safety, while Bryce flicked Shane Campbell's resulting corner over the crossbar at the second attempt.
The Metro speedster's next delivery was cleared to Dylan Beckham, who spotted Yugov lurking with intent on the far side of the area, and put through a pass which the Bulgarian was only a yard away from turning into an equalizer. Bryce got there first, however, and either side of the half-time break, denied long-range efforts from Thebault.
The former Paris St. Germain youngster is a long way from his native land, but has no doubt been inspired by his countrymen's performances in Portugal so far this week. It certainly appeared so, if his dominant second half display is anything to go by.
It was from his 48th minute corner that Metro engineered their equaliser. Ben Murphy headed the ball clear, but only to Wild, who evaded a challenge before unleashing a pile driver from the edge of the penalty area which took a deflection en route to beating Bryce all ends up.
The goal scorer was denied a second goal eight minutes later by the offside flag - both referee's assistants, Steve Fletcher and Kevin Stoltenkamp, had fine games this evening - while on the hour, Christie blocked a Wild drive, after Thebault and Newall had combined, something they were to do again with telling effect moments later.
Beforehand, however, we were treated to some French flair from Thebault, who produced a dazzling piece of close control to jink his way through five challenges before whipping in a low cross to the near post. Yugov met it with a thumping drive, the ball striking the arm of a Sports defender before ricocheting to safety.
Three minutes later, more wizardry from Thebault paved the way for Metro to hit the front. Again, four opponents were left bewildered by their young opponent's dribbling prowess in a fairly confined area, before another low cross this time hit pay-dirt, with Newall perfectly placed to turn the ball home.
Such flair-laden flourishes as Thebault displayed in both the 61st and 64th minutes are seen all too rarely in men's football in particular these days, but when they are witnessed, it makes going along to so many matches in the hope of seeing something that little bit special all the more worthwhile.
Not that Sports would agree on this occasion. But they were fast becoming a clear second-best in this contest, as Metro weren't prepared to settle for just two goals. After Newall and Rayner had exchanged efforts on goal, Thebault had Bryce in trouble with a stinging free-kick which the goalkeeper spilled. Thankfully for Sports, their 'keeper's reactions were far quicker than those of Metro's front-runners.
Wilkins had had little to do at the other end of the park, but in the 72nd minute, he proved his worth with a fine save from substitute Reginaldo Richard, whose combination play with Rayner and fellow replacement Alex Robb had certainly livened up "The Green Machine"'s attacking options.
Three minutes later, a slip by Daniel Markham was pounced on by Robb, who sent Shepherd scurrying clear. But the striker, in his eagerness to beat his work-mate in Metro's goal, got his angles all wrong, and fired the ball well wide of Wilkins and the target.
Twelve minutes from time, Newall made the game safe for the home team. Breaching the offside trap, he surged past one opponent before cracking a shot past the advancing Bryce and into the empty net, much to the delight of Metro's supporters who have had little to cheer them in recent matches.
With Newall on a hat-trick, Metro's remaining chances all featured the striker. Thebault put him through seven minutes from time, only for Rowan Wikohika to intervene. Mark Sly followed suit two minutes later, after Arek Kubicki and Campbell had combined well on the right prior to the latter's cross for the target man.
And after Robb had been thwarted by Wilkins in the dying minutes, the overlapping Beckham produced a marvellous cross which was a virtual invitation for Newall as he arrived on the far post. The striker launched himself forward, but with just Bryce to beat, directed his diving header wide of the mark.
3-1 was what Metro had to be content with, a result they'd have gladly taken in light of their recent results, and one which greatly assists their cause in avoiding any prospects of relegation. But the outcome leaves Sports firmly entrenched in the relegation placings, having played two games more than three of the four teams around them, and with ten matches remaining to save their Premier League position.

Metro: Wilkins; Beckham, R. Beeston, Smith, Markham; Campbell, Wild, Kubicki (booked, 81), Thebault (booked, 76); Newall, Yugov

Sports: Bryce; Murphy, Sly, Wikohika, Spelman; Sluyter (Richard, 65), Christie (booked, 54), Rayner, Saunders; Shepherd, Donn (Robb, 65)

Referee: Sam Narayan

Print this page