New teen signing Ry McLeod, pictured above, made an impression as Melville beat Cambridge 3-0 in their first pre-season match of 2023, played on Gower Park 6.

The 18-year-old mop top, previously with Tauranga City, showed good movement and set up the first goal on a plate for Ethan Richards with a low cross in the fourth minute and then potted the second himself in the 27th minute in finishing off a John Oakman cross from the right.

In a match played in three thirds, another new signing, Jack Connor – previously with Ngaruawahia - made it 3-0. Melville made eight subs at the conclusion of the first third and continued to ring the changes to give everybody a run in an enlarged squad.

Jerson came on in the second third and did a lot of Lagos things in lively style, but ultimately failed to score. His misses included having a penalty saved after Dylan Williams was brought down in the final third.

Feature of the class of 2023 is the return of Flynn O’Brien, a fullback some may recall from earlier times. O’Brien made 70 appearances for Melville, mainly at right back, from mid-2016 to 2019, having played for Melville reserves prior to that.

FLYNN O’BRIEN: has returned to Gower in search of an overdue goal.

Club statistician Ron Anorak said O’Brien has made the most number of appearances at right back by anyone who has never scored a first team goal for Melville. By contrast, when he turned out for Miramar Rangers, O’Brien even managed to score in a Chatham Cup final, so in a sense he has unfinished business at Gower Park.

Coach Jarrod Young played O’Brien at left back to test his distributive ability with his left foot.

Young was pleased with what he saw in his first match at the helm for Melville.

“For the first 30 minutes we were just trying to play to patterns and get familiar with a new style of play,” Young said. “For the final two spells it was just a case of getting minutes into the players. Overall I was very happy.”

On Saturday Melville face West Coast Rangers at Fred Taylor Park at 11am.