Hinton’s touch sees Thistle third
Thistle veteran Craig Hinton secured his side third place in the South Canterbury Football League with a neat finish against Boys’ High.
His first half goal saw them secure a 1-0 win over the schoolboys in their tightly fought encounter at Anzac Square.
The fixture was a dead rubber with just pride up for grabs as it had no bearing on the top two teams in the league.
A win cemented Thistle third place, while Timaru Boys’ remained fifth, a victory would have seen them move up a spot.
Thistle coach Mark Offen said it was a nice way to end the league.
‘‘It wasn’t a pretty game but it was tight and we managed to get the win.’’ Offen said the side would take their efforts from this League season. ‘‘If you had said at the start of the season that we’d finish third in the league and make the travelling stage of the Chatham Cup then we’d certainly take that.’’
Thistle were missing a number of players for the match, and had to call up a number of members from the B squad.
‘‘We have a big squad and Saturday’s depth certainly tested that.’’
Offen said the players who made the step up in Johnny Rush, Jono Clarke and Nigel Bowen, who had to play in goal were outstanding, while Stefan Offen and Andy Carter were strong.
Timaru Boys’ High School’s best players were the Pierce brothers Max and Harry and Jack Deeley was again sound at the back.
At one stage it looked as though Thistle would win the compe- tition, but a drop in form, some injuries and a lack of goals, saw them slide down the competition ladder.
Meadowbank won the league on 25 points, Northern Hearts were second on 23, Thistle third on 19, West End fourth with 18, Timaru Boys’ fifth with 15, Timaru City on 10 and Point took home the wooden spoon with 9.
Meanwhile, league winners Meadowbank United faced Dunedin premier side Northern and suffered a 3-1 loss, with the match a chance for new Southern United coach Paul O’Reilly to see how the talent went at a higher level.
All the men’s division one sides apart from Pleasant Point are now taking part in a series of friendlies, with the first two rounds to be played at Sir Basil Arthur Park, ahead of the South Canterbury Cup in a few weeks time.