Palmerston North Marist left to rue missed opportunity against Massey stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Palmerston North Marist will be pleased to have Josh Cremen and Luke Palfreyman back from injury, although they will be missing dangerous winger Jordan Joblin-Hall, out with a work-related issue. But coach Juliano Schmeling says he will still have 16 players from whom to pick his run-on side for a game he is predicting will be a tough encounter. He said it was disappointing to concede a goal at Napier from a corner. “That’s something we need to fix. We have to be prepared to win those 50-50 balls.” Schmeling said the team that made the fewest mistakes would win the game, so they needed to be ready for loose possession in the goalmouth area and anticipate “the moment”.
Schmeling said the whole squad got some game time, including striker Jono Steele, recovering from injury. Gill, a left back signed from last season’s Horizons Premiership title winners Wanganui City, was man of the match, he added. “He worked hard,” said Schmeling. Massey University also got their league season off to an emphatic start when they took federation titleholders Rangers to the cleaners at New Plymouth to the tune of 3-0. The students’ victory was an echo of what happened at the start of last season when Rangers lost the only home game of their campaign to another Manawatū side, going down against Palmerston North Marist.