Issuu

MELVILLE MAGIC 2022 | 09

18 JUNE 2022

19 JUNE 2022

Chairman's Welcome This weekend we welcome East Coast Bays for our first home Chatham Cup tie since we beat Bay Olympic 2-1 on July 10 last year. And on Sunday Otumoetai FC make the trip over the Kaimais in the W-League. The women's first team has made great strides after the halfway mark of the season and after getting sharing a point and narrowly losing to Otumoetai United last weekend, will be looking for a home win.

We had a decent Chatham Cup run last year, bowing out in the quarterfinals away to Western Suburbs, but if anything, we are looking a stronger proposition this year. Today also starts a home run of three matches – possibly four if we win today and get another home draw. Bays won the Chatham Cup in 2008 and have twice since won the northern premier league, so they have a great history and should not be underestimated. However this is now their third season out of premier ranks, they are mid-table in division one and last week were beaten 2-1 by Mt Albert Ponsonby. The last time we met in the cup it was a roller-coaster affair with Melville winning 8-2 away in 2019, after it was 2-2 at half time. Our round two cup win against another lower-ranked club, Franklin United, showed how difficult these assignments can sometimes be. We finally got home 2-1 thanks to a penalty in each half, on a rather alien pitch in Tuakau. However the fact we have a home draw today on a quality surface should make a significant difference. On the administration front, the club’s strategic advisory group is currently considering a draft 173-page study which has professionally assessed the need for, and feasibility of, the long-term development of facilities at Gower Park, including changing rooms, clubrooms, seating, floodlighting and media box. This has highlighted a huge number of considerations that need to be addressed, right down to governance models and strategic regional objectives. It has also raised a range of questions that we don’t yet have answers for. But what we do know is there is a clear need for improvement on all fronts, and that will be taxing our minds over the next month, as we examine a path forward with our Gower Park facilities. Batesy

Sam Says Welcome back to Gower Park where we return after an excellent away win last weekend at Bay Olympic. It was a strange game, we definitely weren’t at our best in the first half and the game produced chances at each end of the pitch. Two clinical finishes gave us a nice cushion at half time but it felt like the game was far from over.

Our second half performance was very good and I believe our fitness and conditioning enabled us to come away with a 5-0 win against a good side. Our attention now turns to the cup. We’ve had some good Cup runs over the last few years and it's a competition that always captures the player’s imagination. In our first match of the cup in round two we scrapped past a battling Franklin side at Tuakau. Tuakau was a really interesting little place...safe to say I won’t be booking any summer holidays there anytime soon! Watching the All Whites fall agonisingly short during the week against Costa Rica was a reminder of the fine margins that can decide football games. We’ve largely been on the right side of those margins recently but things can change very quickly. Hard work and team spirit will hopefully continue to give our lads the edge in tight moments.

Welcome to todays guests, East Coast Bays. Joe is doing a great job this season and they seem to be a young vibrant team on a good run of form. Enjoy the game and hopefully we can get the job done! Sam

1. Max TOMMY (GK) 2. Braeden QUILTER-PHIPPS 3. Aaron SCOTT (c) 4. Luke SEARLE 5. Campbell BROWN 6. Logan WISNEWSKI 7. Leslie KIVOLYN 8. Liam HAYES 9. Ryen LAWRENCE 10. Jerson LAGOS 11. Quinton KIPARA 12. Oliver COLLOTY 13. Kieran RICHARDS 14. Sean LIDDICOAT 15. Stafford DOWLING 16. Aston HURD 17. Josh GALLETLY 18. John OAKMAN 19. Raheem HUNTER 20. Conor JAMIESON (GK) 21. Sean LEADLEY 22. Lemuel LE HANE 23. Dylan WILLIAMS 24. Harry CHRISTENSEN-ROSE 25. Ethan RICHARDS

1. Samuel CARPENTER (GK) 2. Bailey STEVENSON 3. James EDGELER 4. Julyan COLLETT 5. Keegan KELLY 6. Callum SIMMONDS 7. Oscar GARCIA 8. Declan SWEENEY 9. Judd BAKER 10. Nikolai BERRY 11. Jason MCKEOWN 12. Samuel COYLE 13. Nicholas GAZE 14. Michael KOLSTON 15. Matthew BEATON 16. Daewook KIM 17. 18. Todd GIBBS 19. Liam ANDERSON 20. Samuel WILSON 21. Codey PHOENIX 22. 23. Logan ARCHER 24. Zane OLLA 25. Freddie MARTIN (GK)

Coach: Sam WILKINSON Assistant Coach: Harry TRETHOWAN Operations: Seamus MARTEN Physio: James YOUNG Manager: Steve BETTIS Assistant Manager: Danny MILNER

Coach: Joe HALL Assistant Coach: Nathan CRANNEY Physio: Logan ARCHER Manager: Duane SOMMERVILLE Analyst: Alan GISBY

Referee: Andreas CASTRO | AR1: Ben NORMAN | AR2: Andy HOLDSWORTH

Hat trick hero fires Melville to big win Melville extended their impressive run of away form with in the northern premier league with a 5-0 trouncing of a respected Bay Olympic team, as Kieran Richards bagged the Unicorns' first hat trick of the season. It was the first Melville hat trick in the northern premier league since Jama Boss netted four against Manukau United on March 20, 2021. Melville has now won five away league matches on the trot, and done so with some style, scoring 20 goals and conceding two. And this was arguably the best of them considering the relative pedigree of the opposition. It was a huge turn-around from April 2, when Bay had won 3-2 at Gower Park. But gaffer Sam Wilkinson had words of caution. “The scoreline makes it look more straightforward than it was,” he said. “In the first half we were not great by our recent standards. We took two chances, they missed theirs, and once you go 2-0 up the match has a different dynamic. “We had some hairy patches, but got three good goals in the second half.” Wilkinson was full of praise for Richards, who first made his Melville debut back in April 2019, and has shown sparkling form since returning from East Tennessee University (but is due to go back there in August). “It was a super hat trick. When Kieran is motivated and firing he is comfortably one of the best strikers in the league and has had a huge impact on our season.” Wilkinson did however note that Richards should have had four goals but opted to pass to Oli Colloty and drew an offside flag. Melville’s other goals came from Stafford Dowling (his fourth of the season) and Jerson Lagos (second of the season). In the second half Wilkinson had the luxury of bringing players of the calibre of Sean Liddicoat, Raheem Hunter, Logan Wisnewski, Harry Rose and the returning Moh Reynolds off the bench. Indeed, for the next few weeks Wilkinson will have a selection headache before the ranks start to thin again with a number of players planning overseas trips. Wilkinson said the whole squad performed well. “Everyone dug in and was hard-working. What is refreshing is that we have become very free-scoring. “Young players such as (U20s) Jerson and Josh Galletly have gone from being inconsistent to being very good players in this league largely because they are a year older.”

2022 Men's First Team Squad

Player sponsorships still available Contact: info@melvilleunited.co.nz

2022 Men's First Team Squad

Player sponsorships still available Contact: info@melvilleunited.co.nz

U-23s draw at Bay O Melville United U23s drew 2-2 with Bay Olympic. They were 2-0 up at halftime but conceded a second goal in stoppage time. Zeya Hussaini's side are now third on the table.

Academy round up Weather affected the NRFL youth fixtures with all matches against Fencibles United postponed. The U12 Red team also had the weekend off with the U12 Green losing at Cambridge and the U13s winning against Lakes FC Rotiti. Waikato Regional 12th Grade | Round 05 Cambridge U12 Milan 3-1 Melville United U12 Green Melville United U12 Red v Cambridge U12 Inter - postponed WaiBOP Y-League | Round 06 Melville United U13 5-1 Lakes FC Rotoiti LOTTO NRFL U14 Mixed | Round 09 Melville United U14 v Fencibles United U14 - postponed LOTTO NRFL U15 Mixed | Round 09 Melville United U15 v Fencibles United U15 - postponed LOTTO NRFL U17 Mixed | Round 09 Melville United U17 v Fencibles United U17 - postponed

Waikato wrap Waikato Men's Division 1 | Round 07 Melville United Corinthians 4-5 Melville United Nobs Te Awamutu Reserves v Melville United Mighty A's - postponed Waikato Men's Division 2 | Round 07 Melville United B 2-1 Claudelands Rovers Galaticos Waikato Men's Over 35s | Round 07 Claudelands Rovers Over 35s 3-1 Melville Old Boys WaiBOP Premiership | Round 10 West Hamilton United 2-1 Melville United Federation

Weekend fixtures Fixtures | Saturday, 18 June Waikato Men's Division 1 | Round 08 Te Awamutu Reserves v Melville United Nobs The Stadium | Te Awamutu| 12.30pm West Hamilton Reserves v Melville United Mighty As Weka Street | 12.30pm Melville United Corinthians v Claudelands Rovers Squatters Gower Park | 2.45pm Waikato Men's Over 35s | Round 08 Melville Old Boys v Claudelands Rovers UnAthletico Gower Park | 12.30pm Waikato Men's Division 2 | Round 08 Otorohanga FC v Melville United B Otorohanga Domain | 2.45pm WaiBOP Premiership | Round 10 Melville United Federation v Hamilton Wanderers Korikori Park | 2.45pm

Women's wrap Academy Fixtures | Saturday, 11 June WaiBOP U13 Girls Y-League | Round 05 Tauranga City U13 Girls v Melville United U13 Girls Lotto NRFL U14 Girls | Round 09 Birkenhead United U14 Girls 2-0 Melville United U14 Girls LOTTO NRFL U16 Girls | Round 09 Northland FC U16 Girls 2-6 Melville United U16 Girls Senior Fixtures | Sunday, 12 June Waikato Women's Division 1 | Round 06 Melville United Reserves v Claudelands Rovers Ladies - postponed Waikato Women's Division 2 | Round 07 Waikato Unicol Women's B v Melville United Epics - postponed

Weekend fixtures Academy Fixtures | Saturday, 18 June WaiBOP U13 Girls Y-League | Round 06 Melville United U13 Girls v Lakes FC U13 Girls Rotoma Gower Park | 10.00am Lotto NRFL U14 Girls | Round 10 Melville United U14 Girls v Auckland United U14 Girls Gower Park | 11.00am LOTTO NRFL U16 Girls | Round 10 Auckland United U16 Girls Black v Melville United U16 Girls Keith Hay Park | Auckland | 12.00pm Senior Fixtures | Sunday, 19 June Waikato Women's Division 1 | Round 08 Matamata Swifts Ladies v Melville United Reserves Matamata Domain | 11.00am Waikato Women's Division 2 | Round 08 Melville United Epics v Northern Rovers Gower Park | 11.00am WaiBOP W-League | Round 08 Melville United v Otumoetai FC Gower Park | 1.00pm

Funding Partners

Club Partners

Academy Partners