Debut just a decade in making
No-one has waited longer than Mark Johnston to play for Tasman United.
Which is why, at the end of Tasman’s stunning 4-1 win over Hamilton Wanderers to kick off the new ISPS Handa Premiership, he thanked his team-mates for making his debut as enjoyable as he hoped it would be.
‘‘It’s definitely going to be a day I’ll never forget,’’ the 32-year-old said.
‘‘It’s obviously a great result but to do it with a great bunch of guys who I have played a lot with over the years as well was pretty special. It was a dream debut.’’
Johnston had been the victim of bad timing, unable to play for a Nelson-based national league team throughout the majority of his career, purely because there wasn’t one to play for.
‘‘Who knows, I could have played 100-plus games. But one game is brilliant and I’m sure if you offered that to most local players around town they’d snap that up.
‘‘I’m happy with what I’ve achieved and playing for my hometown is a big tick in that box.’’
Johnston was in line to make his debut for Tasman 12 months ago but that was put on hold when the centre-back suffered a seasonending ankle injury simply while jogging during preseason training.
‘‘It wasn’t easy but after the prognosis of surgery was made it made it a lot easier to sort of focus on that and this year being the goal.
‘‘Touch wood, I’ve managed to get myself fit and play some decent football again.’’
Johnston partnered Daniel Allan, a player who he coached during the 2014 National Youth League, at centre-back on Sunday. He said it was great to see young Nelson players given a chance to play on the national stage - something he could have only dreamed of when he was the same age.
‘‘That’s what we did it for. We know those guys are at that level and it’s going to be there for along time if they hang around. It’s given them good football pretty consistently now which is what Nelson needed so those guys can really push on.’’
The big win over Hamilton gave Tasman the perfect start, lifting them to the top of the table after the first round. But Johnston said they can’t get ahead of themselves, with much tougher tests, starting with Canterbury United at English Park tomorrow, on the horizon.
‘‘Being top of the league is great but the realisation set in pretty quickly that we’ve got Canterbury United, which is going to be a massive, massive ask,’’ he said.
‘‘They’ve got a lot to prove this year so it’s going to be a tough test and we can’t sugarcoat it because it’s going to be a real battle and we’ve got to prepare for that so we can keep improving.’’
The Mainland Challenge Trophy will be on the line in what will be Canterbury goalkeeper Coey Turipa’s first competitive hit-out against his former team.
Tasman coach Davor Tavich has indicated that he is unlikely to make changes to the starting 11, with Kieran Smith and Brian Kaltack still unavailable.