The biggest soccer club in the country, Three Kings United, look destined to accompany Manukau City into the Northern League First Division after copping a 4-0 hiding from Metro in their twentieth round Northern Premier League encounter on August 17.
How the home team delighted in this result, an almost complete turnaround from when the teams clashed earlier in the season, on which occasion United had triumphed 5-0 at Keith Hay Park.
Defences dominated in the early stages of the local derby at Albie Turner Field, with the first shot in anger coming in the thirteenth minute, a Shane Campbell drive which United goalkeeper Greg Ovens tipped round the post.
During this phase of play, Metro’s defensive stalwart, Peter Hendriks, picked up an injury which forced his early departure from the fray. United were quick to attempt to take advantage of the absence of Metro’s defensive rock, but twice too often, Matthew Jones strayed offside when a touch more patience could well have proven fruitful.
After Craig Jamieson had a goal disallowed for offside following a Robert Cooper corner, Metro’s Willie Osborne launched a 39th minute raid against his old club which saw him linking neatly with the equally lively Campbell.
Daniel Turner put an end to their raid with a timely block, in the aftermath of which United’s most influential player, Scott Hall, surged forward with Metro’s defence all at sea. A through ball left Jones one-on-one with Jordan Dupuis, but the striker squandered a glorious chance to put relegation-threatened Three Kings in front by shooting straight at the ‘keeper five minutes before half-time.
At least, five minutes before the forty-five minute mark was reached, because referee Nick Groot deemed it necessary to add eight minutes of stoppage time onto the end of the half, just about all of which was justified, in light of the treatment necessary for Hendriks and Hall.
United’s driving force was scythed down from behind by Ben Dundas during the additional period - the youngster got there as quick as he could, but late doesn’t even begin to describe his badly mistimed effort.
It was insult to injury for George Ritchie’s team, who sixty-eight seconds into the time added on for stoppages, found themselves a goal behind, after referee Groot - from whom any number of weird and wonderful decisions and non-decisions emanated throughout - deemed the solidly performed David Gray had committed a foul when tackling Leaveil Titus which left the Metro players as mystified as their Three Kings counterparts.
Unperturbed, Paul Dempsey lined up the free-kick, aware that Football Kingz coach Ken Dugdale was looking on with particular interest in his performance. The midfielder’s driven effort was parried by Ovens, and the perfectly placed Nigel Curteis couldn’t miss from the rebound - 1-0 Metro.
Eight minutes into the second spell, Jay Thomas played a lovely ball forward which sent Campbell scampering down the left for Metro. His cross to the far post picked out Krish Singh, whose diving header crashed into the stanchion.
Soon after, United’s frustrations bubbled over, the catalyst being a foul on Jones. Much like team-mate Matthew Keene had in the first half, when he was fouled by Thomas, Jones took umbrage, and pushed his opponent away vigorously, an action which, like Keene’s 36th minute retaliation, earned him a yellow card.
“What about the original offence?” screamed United’s bench, and with some justification. Referee Groot was unmoved by their pleas, however, but he was forced to act on the hour mark, following a corner. Cooper was in his sights, after the midfielder had taken the law into his own hands and applied his own means of retribution for something which had gone unnoticed beforehand.
Unfortunately for the visitors, Cooper’s actions were spotted on this occasion, and referee Groot was left with little option but to dismiss him for violent conduct - this at a stage of the season when an already injury-hit Three Kings combination can ill afford key players to be absent due to indulging in indiscipline.
Hall was livid, and all but talked himself into a booking - indeed, the referee was reaching for his book once again when United’s captain, Jamieson, intervened to placate the situation, and talked the official out of taking any action, something which didn’t overly impress watching NZ Soccer refereeing guru, Ken Wallace, amongst others.
The visitors had been right in the match up until this point, but their indiscipline was to prove costly, for five minutes later, Jack Ballagh was caught in possession by Campbell, who squared the ball across for Titus to double Metro’s advantage, a goal which left Three Kings with a mountain to climb.
It should have been 3-0 a minute later, as Campbell and Titus carved Three Kings open down the visitors’ right-hand side. The latter slipped the ball inside to Curteis, who had Osborne arriving on his right with the goal at his mercy, and goalkeeper Ovens out of position. Cue Gray, who appeared from nowhere to block the speedster’s close-range effort.
Turner chanced his arm from distance in the 76th minute, and while his twenty-five yarder wasn’t far away, it was too far away for Three Kings’ purposes - they needed a goal, and fast, if they harboured any hopes of beginning a Houdini-like escape act from within the relegation zone.
Back came Metro, Steven Le Roux pulling a shot wide of the mark before Osborne wrong-footed Ovens, only for the goalkeeper to block his effort from close range eleven minutes from time.
Six minutes from time, the well-performed Titus made way for a debut-making substitute in the form of Marc Hird - if the surname seems familiar, spare a thought for his mum’s loyalties when Metro next play Bay Olympic!!
Within seconds, the game was up for the United. Singh sent Osborne scampering clear of the visitors’ spread-eagled defence, as they pressed forward in search of a late goal to revive their hopes of a point from this encounter. The speedster drew Ovens out of his goal before coolly slotting home to secure the points for Metro, their lead now 3-0.
Thomas sensed there were more goals to be had, and rampaged forward unhindered in the 87th minute, as much to his team-mates’ surprise as that of their opponents! For only Osborne saw the possibilities arising from Thomas’ surge, and he was the only Metro player in the penalty area when the defender’s cross careered across the face of goal, just too far ahead of the Fijian front-runner to allow him to capitalise on the co-coach’s innovative effort.
Osborne, however, was to have another chance to close to within two goals of Glenfield Rovers’ Layton O’Rourke and Eastern Suburbs’ Stewart Bola, the co-leaders in the Northern Premier League Golden Boot stakes after this round of action.
After Hall had gone agonisingly close to giving United what would have been a consolation goal, Osborne careered through from half-way, with Campbell up in support on his left. He rounded Ovens, but the goalkeeper had forced him wide, and the retreating Gray appeared to have done enough to cut off the cross.
Campbell’s calls were heard by Osborne, however, and he fired the ball in the youngster’s general direction. But Osborne sliced his cross ... and left himself in something of a quandary seconds later, as to whether he should sheepishly acknowledge his error to a team-mate whose efforts deserved a goal, or celebrate his second of the game, the ball having swerved into the net by the far post!!
4-0 to Metro, a result with which they were delighted, and understandably so against local rivals who had handed them a similar tonking earlier in the season. United, however, are, barring a miracle, staring the distinct prospect of relegation from the Northern Premier League square in the face, having narrowly avoided it in 2001.

Metro: Dupuis; Hendriks (Dundas, 17 (booked, 45)), Tubuna, Thomas (booked, 36); Singh, Curteis, Dempsey, Le Roux, Titus (M. Hird, 84); Osborne, Campbell

Three Kings: Ovens; O’Sullivan, Gray, Joyce (booked, 48) (Borrell, 56); Keene (booked, 36), Hall, Turner, Cooper (sent-off, 60), Ballagh; Jones (booked, 58), Jamieson

Referee: Nick Groot

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