Matamata Swifts 0-3 Tauranga City Utd

Recap

This match shaped up as a tough encounter for the Stanley Joinery Matamata Swifts as they faced Tauranga United who had taken 3 wins from 3 to start the season, and had beaten the Swifts twice in pre-season. While the Swifts had put in a better effort in going down 1-0 to Ngongotaha in the league last Saturday, their exit from the Chatham Cup to Federation 2 side Rotorua United on Easter Monday had put what progress had been made in doubt.

The opening portion of this game didn’t bode well for the Swifts. The home side were playing a slightly modified formation and, while this seemed not to be causing them too many issues with the game relatively even in general play, it wasn’t long before Tauranga found the early opening. A through ball was again the killer play with an excellent finish making it 1-0.

The Swifts were unlucky to concede a second soon after. The defence seemed to have the Tauranga attack well covered at the top of the box, but with the ball acting like a pinball the bounce seemed to favour the visitors and the Tauranga striker suddenly found himself clear on goal and he made no mistake. Matamata did manage to regoup and there was no further damage done before the break, though the Swifts failed to look likely to pull any back.

It was a different story in the second half. Finally playing with some extra energy and confidence, the Swifts pressed forward in search of their first league goal scored by a Swifts player. Chances began to appear and the Tauranga side were forced to defend deeper and deeper in their own half. However, as is so often the case with a team pressing forward to find their way back into the match, it was the counter-attack which led to the game-ending goal. Tauranga moved quickly from their own half and a couple of quick passes and another good finish gave them an unassailable 3-0 lead.

So an improved performance for the Swifts, but still nothing to show from their first 4 matches as they still search for that elusive first point. Man-of-the-match went to Peter McCoskrie for a fine showing in the middle of the park.

Swifts XI: Jono Crook; Will Judson, Bjorn Vossen (Callum Barr 45m), Paul Richardson, Gary Dobson; Brad West (Ignacio Trias 71m), Scott Parsonage, Jamie Baxter, Lawrence Clothier (Shaun Richardson 51m), Ben Watson; Peter McCoskrie.

Click here for the match day programme