Otumoetai 3-0 Swifts

Recap

Comag Matamata Swifts returned from their final trip across the Kaimais this season with a 3-0 defeat by Tauranga-based Otumoetai FC that has dented their hopes of a top six Loaded WaiBOP Premiership finish.

After a run of four straight wins, the Swifts would have entered this match full of confidence, but three goals from the hosts in the opening 45 minutes put paid to that record. Matamata had chances of their own, but just didn’t quite do enough at either end to earn anything more than a goalless second half.

Otumoetai’s Fergusson Park is a venue Matamata often struggles at, but the conditions were good this time round, so there can be no complaints about the result. The Swifts just failed to match the expected and predictable Otumoetai onslaught on an afternoon where not a lot came off for the team.

The Swifts sign off on their 2018 WaiBOP Premiership campaign this Saturday by playing a return fixture against Otumoetai, in a match that was rescheduled from earlier in the season. Kick-off is at the usual 2.45pm. Matamata is playing host to a Premiership double header on Saturday, with second placed Papamoa taking on rock-bottom Hamilton Wanderers in the curtain-raiser at 12.30pm. This means a decent afternoon of football is in store and it’s shaping up as a fine way for local fans to end 2018.