Miles PALMER

Melville made light of trying circumstances to notch their first win of the 2022 national league campaign with a stirring 5-2 away victory over southern league champions Christchurch United.

The recipe for success was an unexpected one, with Melville travelling south without Luke Searle, Sean Liddicoat and Campbell Brown, with flight issues then causing a delayed kick-off on an unfamiliar artificial turn in hot weather. (And for the record, they also travelled south without assistant to the manager, Danny Milner.) Between deep breaths and sighs, Melville coach Sam Wilkinson said the logistics (facilitated by NZ Football) for a long-distance away trip were once again completely nightmarish, with flights running 75 minutes late and no wriggle room left at the other end for a late start.

“I said on the way down, we would either be expecting the worst or be pleasantly surprised, ” Wilkinson said. “It was a very rushed preparation before kick-off which just presented more evidence that pre-match team talks are a complete waste of time. The win was arguably more impressive than Melville’s emphatic 4-0 Chatham Cup quarterfinal triumph over Christchurch United in 2019, the previous time the club’s met. The result lifted Melville to eighth on the table ahead of today's home game against Birkenhead United – 5-3 winners over Cashmere.

While Melville came under early pressure, Ryen Lawrence quickly gave the Unicorns a margin of comfort with two cultured goals. For the first, the 19-year-old striker collected a through ball down the left, cut inside and steered the ball into the corner after seven minutes. Then in the 30th minute he did even better. Quilter-Phipps, playing in the less familiar role of left back, made a great run forward and slipped the ball inside to Lawrence who drilled it home with a right-footer from outside the area. It was Lawrence’s ninth goal of the season, an impressive return when you consider that for 13 of his first 15 appearances for Melville this year he started on the bench. Wilkinson was delighted with this start. “Ryen’s goals were outstanding. We are now seeing him not just working hard, but his input having a major effect on match outcomes. This was the first time in the national league that we have been in the lead, and not chasing the game is huge.