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2013 Melville club-wide draws (as available at May 23) added HERE

C'mon Melville

Melville United are at home to Papatoetoe on Saturday (May 25, 2.45pm) needing a win to get their northern league promotion bid back on track. Papatoetoe scored their first win of the season last week to move off the bottom of the table. Melville will have striker Jordan MacCarter back in action after a 1 week suspension, but Gavin Douglas is still overseas.

Chatham Cup: away to Hibiscus Coast

Melville United have drawn fellow northern league division one club Hibiscus Coast away in the second round of the Chatham Cup to be played on Queen's Birthday Monday (June 1) at 2pm. It will be Melville's first encounter with Hibs since they were both in the northern league 3rd division in 1988. On that occasion Hibiscus Coast won the home match 2-1... so Melville will take nothing for granted. Wanderers are away to Albany and Ngaruawahia are at home to North Shore.

LINE CALL: Melville United had their chances to force a draw with North Shore, as with Connor Taylor and Ahmad Zammit, above, who got the ball towards inches ofthe line, but not over it. PHOTO: GRANT STANTIALL. MORE PHOTOS HERE.

MELVILLE LOSE

Melville United suffered their second loss of the season in the northern league first division, falling 2-1 away to North Shore United.

It leaves Melville fourth on the table (14 points), two points ahead of Shore but trailing Glenfield, Takapuna and Ngaruawahia.

But for a bit of rust, Allen Hill Stadium was pretty much unchanged from the glory days of 1997 and 1998 when Melville United clashed with Shore in the national league.

But there was not quite the glory result of 97-98, when Melville humbled a star-studded Shore team featuring Wynton Rufer 3-2. 

Melville played some good stuff for long periods, but Shore always looked more dangerous on attack and deserved their win, even though it took a softish penalty to get them started. Ellis Appleton was penalised in jumping for a defensive header. While he did make contact with an attacking player, it was one of those decisions that was so marginal that nobody actually appealed.

Nobody could begrudge Shore the goal however, given they had squandered three achingly easy chances in the previous 90 seconds. 

In reply Shaun Kipara hit the post after a fine Melville move, but Melville trailed until midway through the second half, when Scott Hilliar scored his maiden northern league goal. Hilliar smacked one a good 30m out, slightly to the left of goal, and it skimmed low and beat the keeper at the near post.

North Shore regained the initiative with a sweeping move that led to the winner, though Melville had two chances to level in the last three minutes with Mike Cosgrave and Jama Boss both very close to a decisive touch in front of goal.

Best for Melville were Hilliar and Boss in midfield who engineered some excellent combinations.
Melville missed the presence of top scorer Jordan "Tractorman" MacCarter (suspended) and Gavin Douglas, who is in Europe for three weeks. Club sources were uncertain if Douglas was trialing, or just visiting the Fountain of Youth.

Meanwhile Melville Reserves scored a very good 1-0 win over North Shore, with Dan Gardener expertly potting the decisive goal to lift Melville to eighth on the table.

Melville are at home to Papatoetoe on Saturday. 

Cup dream alive... just

11.5.2013: Melville United stumbled into the second round of the Chatham Cup with a less than convincing 2-1 win over a hard-running but slightly agricultural Ngongotaha team.

But the win has come at a cost to Melville's northern league campaign, with several injuries - in

cluding the knockout concussion to Tewi Te Pou who was later taken to Waikato Hospital by ambulance - and the late sending-off of leading goalscorer Jordan MacCarter for foul language.

Flashpoint came in the last couple of minutes, with Melville having already come from behind to lead.
Te Pou copped an ugly elbow to head, which totally floored him.

"I saw what you did, you dirty c...," MacCarter yelled at the Ngongotaha defender. While referee Stu Black did not punish the elbow beyond a free kick, he red-carded MacCarter for his outburst. Melville captain Gavin Douglas was then yellow carded for asking what MacCarter had been sent off for.

Te Pou was assisted from the field, but an ambulance was called after he started convulsing.

Ten minutes earlier MacCarter had finally put Melville ahead with a fine individual goal, running down the left flank, cutting in, and slamming the ball homeon the narrowest of angles.

Melville enjoyed about 80 per cent possession in the first half but did little with it. By contrast, Ngongotaha had just one shot on goal, but scored from it, through Dean Williamson in  the 35th minute.

Te Pou drew Melville level with a header following a corner in  the 55th minute. Seconds earler 

Ellis Appleton - playing at left back in a  reshuffled backline with Josh Billman injured - had hit the post when faced with heading into an open goal.

It looked like being the story of the day for Melville against dogged, committed opponents.
Melville assistant coach Kit Fagan spoke at the aftermatch.

"The Cup can be a blessing or a devil in disguise," he said. "Promotion is the main thing for us, so while we are happy to still be in the cup, it does bring its difficulties with injuries and suspensions and the like.

"We are struggling along and just winning by the skin of out teeth, but we will take that."

Player of the day for Melville was Scott Hilliar, who impressed in centre midfield, despite playing with a mask protecting a broken cheekbone.

Ngongotaha manager Eamon O'Donaghue said it had been a great game, and his team thought they had it after going ahead.

Melville are away to North Shore United next SUNDAY, 2.45pm. it will be a case of all hands on deck.

Meanwhile the Melville Reserves beat Onehnga Mangere 2-0, the Melville C team lost 0-6 to Claudelands Rovers, and the Melville D team beat Cambridge 2-1.

Super Gav gets Melville home amid the mayhem

4.5.2013: This was a madcap, roller-coaster, incident-packed home 3-2 win over a Metro team which started level on points at kick-off.

It was definitely the most entertaining and exciting effort of the season at Gower Park - and arguably the most stressful - as Melville displayed both a mercurial inventive streak and plenty of brittleness before summoning the character to come from behind to win after coughing up an early lead. It was as exciting as other home matches have been dull.

Evergreen fullback Gavin Douglas - 10 years on from when he led Melville to the Chatham Cup final - scored an early opening goal and then a second-half winner as he showed the way for a Melville team which is continuing to grow and take shape.

It was the first time an all-female trio of officials had controlled a Melville match - possibly even a northern league match - and it slowly spiralled downwards on the discipline front as too many fouls were not picked up and players took matters into their own hands. Indeed, nobody could have complained if Jordan "The Tractor" MacCarter and Tewi Te Pou had been sent off twice each.

However by the final whistle the only casualty was a fractured halfway flag, victim of a frustrated Metro coaching boot, though from the other coaching dugout Steve Williams received a rare reprimand from the assistant referee for being "rude". Perhaps a first also.

It must be said Williams really earned his corn on the bench, and he should have been exhausted as any player by the final whistle. There was a time when Williams said less than Marcel Marceau, but today he issued more instructions than you'd get on a debut skydive, as a handful of players mercilessly teased him throughout with dodgy option-taking.

Douglas put Melville ahead within three minutes with a header from a corner, but Metro bounced back with two quick goals from Kellen Ganiko and Sebastian Egana Vera within the first 15 minutes. Six minutes later MacCarter drew Melville level with a good finish in ploughing a straightened furrow through the middle. It was MacCarter's fifth in a season where he is aiming for 20.

Melville dominated possession in the second half and in the 62nd minute Douglas surged forward from left back to get on the end of a good cross from Scott Hilliar and apply a textbook header. Last season Melville didn't know what a header was - this year they have four goals from them already. 

Three minutes into stoppage time Metro looked to have snuck an equaliser in a goalmouth scramble from a free kick, in a rare foray forward. But referee Anna-Marie Keighley ruled keeper Ally Houston had been fouled. From the sideline it lookad at if Houston had simply mishandled and fumbled the ball over the line - but he later agreed he had been impeded.

While Douglas was an obvious man of the match - he looks set to take over from Jason Chewins as the Peter Pan of Melville - good shifts were also put in by Jama Boss and a returning Hilliar (after 4 weeks off), who played on the right flank. Boss is technically excellent, and like Hilliar, full of running and purpose.

It was the first time this season Melville had won when the opposition had scored.

Williams described the game as a "difficult" contest, in which "the lines got quite blurred". Rising young Metro coach Jacob Mathews said he was very disappointed in the result but acknowledged the game had been a thriller.

With most other matches abandoned through torrential rain in Auckland - the only other completed fixture was Takapuna 1 Ngaruawahia 0 - Melville moved into third place on the table.

Melville Reserves had a good 3-0 win, with Tom Wade putting them ahead in the first half. Jake Bayliss and Dan Gardener added further goals in the second spell, with all goalscorers being Knights players from last season.

Melville C beat Cambridge 3-1 and the Knights lost 1-4 to Claudelands Rovers.

Melville have a home Chatham Cup first round tie against Ngongotaha next Saturday, 2pm kick-off.

LIFTING THE BAR: Melville's clubrooms bar at Gower Park has had a further facelift with a repaint, installation of a new television and unveiling of a new mural beneath the bar, reproducing the photo Grant Stantiall took of Melville United's celebrations in winning the northern premier league in 2009. The craftmanship on the mural was the work of club sponsor Insign Out, while the renovations were overseen by life member Steve Williams. PHOTO: Grant Stantiall.

MIDFIELDERS: Tewi is no Pee-Wee, but he was dwarfed by Michael Mayne. PHOTO: Grant Stantiall. More photos HERE

Melville beaten

20.4.2013: Melville surrendured their unbeaten record in the northern league for 2013 with a 3-0 away loss to league leaders Glenfield Rovers.

The margin could have been even bigger but for some improbable saves from Melville keeper Ally Houston, and even more improbable misses from Glenfield striker Michael Gwyther. Too many Melville players are still coming to grips with what is required against the better teams at this level.

It didn't help that Melville coughed up a goal in the very first minute, with Glenfield running right through the middle - the territory where Jason Chewins had patrolled in previous fixtures.

Melville belatedly addressed the defensive problem by moving Josh Billman to partner Justin Harden 20 minutes from time, but by then the game was over.

Gavin Douglas had another strong game for Melville but the midfield was a disaster zone, with a combination of poor passing, slow reactions, and bad decisions. Glenfield's Michael Mayne never had to get out of first gear, and could easily have treated himself to a pie and a pint, while still controlling the midfield play.

The Melville frontline saw little ball and when they did, it never amounted to more than dribbling until the ball was lost, or a no-look pass. The Glenfield keeper did not have a save to make until late in the afternoon when a long-range shot from Billman was tipped over.

Glenfield were good. But not that good. It was a day to forget for Melville.

Melville are at home to North Force on Saturday. 

Williams seeks more passion

13.4.2013: Melville battled back to a late 1-1 home draw with Eastern Suburbs which was enough to keep them unbeaten and second on the northern league division 1 table (ahead of the Sunday game anyway).

But Melville coach Steve Williams was less than impressed, describing it as a "passionless" performance.

"It was a disapointing game," he said. "The pitch wasn't up to it and for the most part the players weren't either."

He did however exempt a handful of players from criticism, lauding Gavin Douglas, Jason Chewins and his man of the match, centre back Justin Harden, while also acknowledging Stuart Campbell had his first northern league match in goal, with injured Ally Houston talking him through it from behind the net.

Suburbs coach Kevin  Fallon said a draw was a fair result, and the Melville goal was "only a matter of time" in the second half. 

Melville fell behind after 10 minutes when a Connor Stoton shot took a wicked defelction and gave Campbell no chance.

Nothing happened for the rest of the half as both teams cancelled each other out in a stalemate. But Melville upped the pace in the second spell and finally gained reward five minutes from time. Import Ellis Appleton - who had played most of the second half with a crocked leg  - popped up on the right wing and curled in a low cross with his left foot which allowed Jama Boss the simplest of touched for his second goal in two matches.

Boss celebrated by ripping his shirt off and copping a $25 caution. 

There were few chances at either end over 90 minutes. Substitute Nikali Finlay did find the net with a cracking long range shot, but the whistle had already gone because a Suburbs player was injured. 

Melville paid tribute to Jason Chewins after his final game for Melville ahead of returning to the UK to live. Chairman Bruce Holloway said Chewins had become part of the fabric in the game in the Waikato in the autumn of his career and would be rememebred as fondly as he is in Aldershot, where he holds the record of 489 appearances for the Shots and will be a guest of honour at the Rec Ground next Saturday. Chewins was presented with a Melville beanie and scarf to help him remember the long hot summers of the Waikato.

There was a nice touch in the clubrooms as young Boss asked Chewins to autograph his programme (which featured Chewins on the cover). Perhaps he will be flogging it off on ebay to cover the cost of his shirt-removing caution, but Chewins said it would only be a couple of years before people were seeking Boss' autograph instead.

Meanwhile Melville Reserves lost 3-1, while the Melville Feds went down 5-2 to AFC Fury. 

Melville are away to league leaders Glenfield next week. Glenfield won 1-0 away to North Force, beaten 6-0 a week earlier by Suburbs.