Comag Matamata Swifts missed a great opportunity to stay in range of the top sides in the 2018 Loaded WaiBOP Premiership after they fell to a 2-1 defeat at lowly Tauranga Blue Rovers on Saturday.
Missing a number of players due to a variety of reasons, the Swifts still should have had enough to beat Rovers. Brayden Lissington, fresh off the plane from China after representing New Zealand in futsal, and Hardy Rosas were back in the side but plenty of other players were absent, for genuine reasons, in what is becoming a recurring challenge for coach, Scott Parsonage.
Indeed, things looked bright as Matamata opened the scoring early. Youngster, Hayden Turlington, hit his first goal for the club with a neat finish and things seemed to be going according to plan.
That was as good as it got, though, as Rovers hit back twice before the break. The Swifts will be hugely disappointed in the manner with which they conceded the goals, but they had more than enough time to take something from the game.
Unfortunately, it was not to be and they fell to a second defeat this season against a side they really should be beating quite handily.
Waharoa Transport Matamata Reserves lost 4-1 at home to Taupo reserves. A close first half saw the visitors leading by a single goal at the break, but they pulled away in the second half. Kieran Burgess scored Matamata’s consolation goal with what was his second strike of the season.
Results were much better on Sunday. Challenge Matamata Swifts Ladies put in a bright performance to win 5-3 at Hamilton Wanderers, snapping their recent poor run. Annemieke Verstraten was the goal scoring hero with a fine hat trick to double her tally for the season. Jess Greenfield and Kerrie Cox also scored as the Ladies’ attacking prowess proved more than enough to help them to an important result.
Chris Bedford hammered home a penalty for the Matamata men’s 3rd team as they won 1-0 over Voyle Park Rangers in what was their first home game in nearly two months. The three points helped the 3rds maintain their title run against tricky opposition.