Melville back in the top flight

An easy win means Hamilton will have two Northern Premier League teams again, writes Ian Anderson.

They did the last 90 minutes with ridiculous ease.

It was just the other 21 games that proved a massive hurdle for Melville United to overcome before they clinched promotion from the Northern League Division One football competition at Gower Park on Saturday.

Dispatching hapless, relegated Papatoetoe was a stroll in the park – it took 25 minutes before the hosts opened the scoring through Paul Clout.

But the 4-0 romp was just reward for a side that appeared destined for a third consecutive season in the second tier earlier in the campaign.

In the first week of May, a 3-1 away defeat to Mt Albert-Ponsonby left coach Steve Williams’ side in 10th place in the 12-team league and 11 points off the last of the three promotion spots available this year as the Premier competition expanded from 10 to 12 teams.

The arrival of Welsh import Leon Newell – another astute grab to add to a long list by Williams – brought goals, a surge in confidence and a rise up the table.

Even that looked likely to be too late to make the leap, but Ellerslie’s late staggers left the door open for Melville to charge through.

On Saturday, they could have capped their big day with a dozen goals – posts were hit, sitters were squandered, players first got too greedy and then too generous.

But Clout, Dan Goodwin, Andy Husband and Clout again found the net to allow the celebrations to start immediately after the final whistle.

Captain and outstanding centre back Aaron Scott said he was proud of the way his side responded from the pressure they placed on themselves with their tardy start.

‘‘With a pretty inexperienced squad the early days were tough, but throughout the season, that was the goal, promotion.’’

He said while results didn’t fall their way early, he felt there were signs that they would come right in time.

‘‘All the games we lost, most were just by the odd goal – we always knew we were almost there. We got Leon Newell after six or seven games and that helped us – someone with a bit of composure to score, to turn those half chances into goals – and everything felt rosy from there.’’

Still, there was a large dose of nerves over their final match, which saw them need just a draw to clinch third spot.

‘‘I was more nervous for this game than for any other game this season,’’ Scott admitted.

‘‘I don’t know what it was – when my wife dropped me off at about 12:30, I went to watch the reserves and I could feel my heart beating.

‘‘There’s always that ‘what if’ at the last moment – especially as a defender.

‘‘But the drive we have came through, and while we didn’t score, we created a lot of good chances. It was just a matter of time before we scored one and then two . . . and then in the end, four.’’

Scott said the pending retirement of three vastly experienced players – club legends Gavin Douglas and Josh Billman and defender Jason Chewins – would test the strength of talent in the top flight next year.

‘‘Obviously we’ve got three veterans that are retiring, which will be a big loss,’’ he said.

‘‘I think between them they’ve got about 1300 first team games around the world.

‘‘But with every door that closes, another door opens for a younger player to step in. A number of our younger players have started to step up, week in, week out, which is good.

‘‘They need to realise they need to do that, rather than the one-offs – that it’s important for them to keep doing it.’’

It was a fine finish to the season too in the top flight for Hamilton Wanderers, who have set the standard for Waikato clubs in recent years.

They clinched yet another top placing at the end of their Premier campaign by thumping Chatham Cup runners-up Central United 6-2 in Auckland.

Federico Marquez notched a hat-trick, while Wade Molony, Gurjeet Singh and Mark Jones (from the penalty spot) scored to give Mark Cossey’s side third spot in their best season yet.

It’ll now be up to Melville to try and match that standard next year as the vaunted Hamilton local derby clashes make a return at the highest level.

Melville’s Welsh import Leon Newell, left, fights off the challenge of Papatoetoe’s Mitchell Slecht at Gower Park

on Saturday.