By Glenn Williams
Invercargill The Queens Park juggernaut sailed into the unchartered waters of third position on the points table on Saturday with a comprehensive 6-1 drubbing of a hapless Waihopai unit.
Led by a superb display by marauding midfield dynamo and 4 goal hero, Gary”Greedy Scottish Bstrd”McMahon, Park were completely dominant in all facets of play.
McMahons shorts will be much sought after next week as they were the same pair Chris Pearson wore as he put 4 goals past Enwood last week, in fact they werent even washed as skipper Glenn”Rat”Williams forgot Pearson had given them to him for laundering.
Queens Park started the match with 5 changes from last weeks line up, but soon settled into its stride,mounting wave after wave of relentless attack before the Waihopai defence finally succumbed and McMahon was on hand to bury his first for the day.
The onslaught continued from the restart, with the pacey wide midfielders Shane”Yarpie”Spencer and Mat”Sheffield”Tongue wreaking havoc at every available oppurtunity, backed up by McMahon and his very able sidekick Pete Driver and it wasnt long before McMahon had bagged his 2nd goal of the game.
Mat”The Hazard”Hassed and Dom”Dominator”Yuen were working well together on the frontline and providing excellent targets for their hardworking midfielders.
The Queens Park back four of Simon”Jacko”Jackson, Ian”Big Un”Edwards, Stu”Iceman”Oldham and Glenn”Rat”Williams and keeper Jamie”Fletch”Fletcher really had little to do but sit back and admire the virtuoso performance that was unfolding in front of them, but on the rare occasions Waihopai threatened the sortes were repelled with ruthless efficiency.
The next scoring action came from a corner kick, as Edwards rose like the proverbial Phoenix from the ashes to nod home a well placed McMahon cross.
Not to be outdone, provider turned finisher for the fourth as McMahon completed a well taken hat trick to put Park out to 4 nil on the half hour mark.
This sparked wholesale changes on the Park bench with all 4 subs, Justin,Jay, Anil and the effervescent 60 year old Donald McQuillan entering the foray, with McQuillan clearly defying Father Time and showing touches of class and poise of a man half his age.
As so often happens though, the changes took a while to gel and Park headed to the halftime break without further addition to its score.
Due to the late withdrawal of Phil”Mr Reliable”McCarthy, the usual half time tipple was sorely missed as the wicked wind whipped straight from the Antarctic and chilled all and sundry to the bone.
The 2nd half began with more changes for Park as it sought to keep its large squad in the game and free from hypothermia.
The multi cultural element of this formidable Park unit was there for all to see as at one stage there were only 3 natural born Kiwis on the field.
Waihopai started the half much more strongly than the first, but again it was Park who opened the scoring and the roar could be heard from Tyneside as the impressive off season signing from Newcastle,Pete Driver, netted his 2nd goal for the club to make it 5 nil and all but seal the deal for Queens Park.
The game continued at a frenetic pace with both teams going close on several occasions before McMahon completed the scoring for Park with a well taken left foot strike that left the keeper with no chance.
Waihopai, to their credit, never stopped trying and with virtually the last kick of the game scored a well deserved consolation goal. Credit must also go to Waihopai for the excellent spirit in which the game was played in.
Player of the day for Park was the mercurial Scotsman, Mcmahon.
So its onwards and upwards for Park as it looks to the challenges and potential pitfalls that lay ahead in the coming weeks in its quest for an unprecedented top four finish.
Score: Waihopai 0 Queens Park AFC6
Player of the Day: Gary”Greedy Scottish Bstrd”McMahon:
Remember – for pix from this game, and many of the other QPAFC matches, go to this address: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=29124609720
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Tags: football, Glenn Williams, hypothermia, Invercargill, juggernaut, Kiwis, mighty and powerful, multi-cultural, Phoenix, qpafc, Queens Park AFC, soccer, Southland, Tyneside, Waihopai
