Another Thriller Served Up By Mounts by Jeremy Ruane Mt. Albert-Ponsonby and Mt. Wellington served up another thriller in the Winfield Superclub competition at Anderson Park on Sunday, with the visitors edging home 4-3 in a captivating contest. It's a pity these two teams don't clash every week - no doubt the respective coaches, Chris Turner (MAP) and Ron Armstrong (Mount), will disagree on this point. But there can be no denying the clubs' two encounters in Superclub action this season have provided the best entertainment in the competition to date from a spectator's viewpoint. MAP opened brightly, with Brett Roza going close early on. Their early dominance was confirmed in the eleventh minute, when Mark Slane's half-cleared corner fell to Nigel Wallace. From twenty-five yards out, he unleashed a ferocious volley into the net which left recalled Mount 'keeper, Darryl Petherick, clutching air. The game continued at a frenetic pace, with chances at both ends. Lee Green twice went close for Mount, while Petherick performed heroics to deny Rosa and Alex Metzger. Mount equalised on the half-hour, a well-worked effort instigated by Altan Ramadan. His cross to the far post was flicked down by Mark Atkinson for Craig Ashton, who lifted the ball over Rodney Deacon in MAP's goal. Seven minutes later, the visitors took the lead. Green's cross was met perfectly by Atkinson. Deacon saved superbly, but Ashton, unmarked, slid in on the near post to score. Right on half-time, MAP contrived to miss a golden opportunity, with both David Riley and Gary Moore failing to capitalise on a gaping Mount goal, with Petherick scrambling. Twenty-three seconds into the second half, it was 3-1, and a deserved strike for the hard-working Green. Ramadan's cross was latched onto by the former New Zealand Youth international, and Metzger's despairing lunge could only divert the spinning ball over Deacon's head. Mount then had a spell where they could have scored two or three, but failed to. Mark Harrison twice neglected to finish off fine approach work, while Green's thumping thirty-yarder was matched by the flying Deacon's save, with Ashton sliding the loose ball wide. MAP's response saw Steve Goddard's cracking drive produce a save of equal quality by Petherick, before the scoreline was altered again in the 64th minute. And how! Riley beat Petherick to a loose ball near the goal-line and, as the 'keeper beat a hasty retreat, the striker laid the ball back for Wallace to finish emphatically, thundering his effort into the roof of the net. 3-2 became 4-2 in the 78th minute, when substitute Steve Wilkinson, who had appeared six minutes earlier, capitalised on a Heath Dickenson slip to dispossess the defender, before running on to drive home beyond the hapless Deacon. One of the few players capable of landing a ball on a dime from thirty yards engineered MAP's eightieth minute strike. Player-coach Turner, who had come on as a substitute only four minutes earlier, picked out Roza with a pinpoint free-kick, and the hard-working midfielder headed into the unguarded goal, Petherick having committed himself unduly. MAP sought a late equaliser, with Turner desperately unlucky with a quickly-taken free-kick, while Mount also went close. The stranded Deacon left the ever-invigorative Ramadan holding his head, as he denied a certain goal with a reflex-action right-footed lunge, while Wilkinson, in stoppage time, raced through, only to slip his effort mere inches wide of the upright. But 4-3 to Mount it remained, and, as in the earlier clash at Bill McKinlay Park, a match which reflected great credit on both outfits, and their approach to the game. Ashton and Wallace earned the Player-of-the-Day plaudits, but the efforts of Green, Roza, Ramadan, Riley, Atkinson, Goddard and Kara Waetford should not go unmentioned, while referee Chris Tinkler was given an armchair ride as the football flowed. MAP:    Deacon; Gwin, Metzger, Dickenson, Moore; Knowles (Davidson), Roza, Goddard, Slane (Turner); Riley, Wallace Mount:  Petherick; Stokes (Viertal), Waetford, Byers, Douglas; Atkinson, Green, Rennell (Wilkinson), Ramadan; Harrison, Ashton Referee:  Chris Tinkler