Richards clinches important win for Melville

Melville head to Kiwitea St for a daunting clash with northern premier league leaders and defending champions Auckland City on Saturday (April 22) buoyed by a critical 1-0 home win over Manukau United.Ethan Richards secured the win - and retention of the Joma Cup - with an expert 32nd minute far post header from a Liam Hayes free kick, and in the final analysis was unlucky not to have a second when a first-time shot was later ruled out for offside. It was the 19-year-old midfielder's first northern league goal (though he did also score on first team debut, as a sub in the Chatham Cup in 2021 against Waitemata).It was often a scrappy contest, but Melville could have won with a margin of comfort. Richards was awarded a penalty late in the piece but that decision was reversed with the assistant then flagged for offside - though later views suggested the flag should not have been raised. Another teen, Ry McLeod, had a glorious chance to make the game safe for Melville late on when he  got in behind the Manukau defence, but in chopping back allowed the defenders to recover and his shot was blocked.George Brown, 18, also gave a good account of himself in taking over the left back role from the injured Campbell Brown, in what was his first start.And Matt d'Hotman made his northern league debut a couple of months after assisting New Zealand to the U-17 World cup finals.Erik Panzer dropped into the backline with Sean Liddicoat, and Braedan Quilter-Phipps while John Oakman came on late in the second half. Aaron Scott was still overseas with the New Zealand Secondary Schoolboys team.Melville's next home game is on April 29, hopefully back on Gower No 1.

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# Melville Premier women made a storming start to their W-League campaign with an 11-0 home win over Otumoetai. Shion Hwang led the way, netting six times, while Stevie-Lee Tiller, Victoria Gorter, Laura Bennett, and Zaineh Abdelrazeo all got on the scoresheet. Melville next play Waikato Unicol away on April 30 at 1pm.In Waikato men's division 1 Melville Nobs secured a 5-1 away win over Northern United Humblebees, while Mighty As edged Waikato Unicol 5-4 in a thriller.

Article added: Tuesday 18 April 2023