Otumoetai 4-0 Swifts

Recap

Otumoetai 4-0 Waikato Stud Matamata Swifts
Loaded WaiBOP Premiership

Waikato Stud Matamata Swifts have suffered a setback in their WaiBOP Premiership campaign, succumbing to a late onslaught of goals to lose 4-0 away at Otumoetai in what was their second defeat of the season.

Fergusson Park is something of a bogey ground for the Swifts and there was little in Saturday’s performance to suggest that was going to change this weekend. After having playmakers Jordane Lambert and Raphael Berthelot kicked all over the park during the first half, Matamata fell to bits late on and would have been relieved in the end to limit the damage to only four.

The theme for the day was set early when Berthelot was clattered and sent spinning by Otumoetai’s right back, but no yellow card was forthcoming. That continued, to the frustration of all in black and white.

Unfortunately, Matamata didn’t respond well to the battering. Instead of appreciating what was going on and responding by tightening things up, sitting deep and looking to attack Otumoetai on the counter after the break, the Swifts allowed themselves to become stretched all over the pitch, which gave their hosts the space they needed to play in.

Otumoetai opened the scoring six minutes after the break before the Swifts had two chances that could have altered the course of the match. Five minutes after the goal Sam Masterson shot over a half open goal from outside the box before Joe Tompsett had a shot saved from point blank range with just over 20 minutes left. Thirty seconds after that save Otumoetai had the ball in the net at the other end.

The hosts completed a perfect afternoon when they scored twice in the final ten minutes. They also hit the upright and saw Jordan Wise deny them with an excellent save.