Swifts 2-3 Ngaruawahia United

Recap

Matamata Swifts’ men’s 1st and reserve teams succumbed to the weather and other forces this week on what was a challenging Saturday afternoon for football.

Comag Matamata Swifts fell at the first hurdle of this year’s ISPS Handa Chatham Cup after seeing a 2-0 halftime lead against Ngaruawahia United turned into a 3-2 deficit by full time. Kody Nowell, fresh off the aeroplane, was in the action early with a debut competitive first team goal inside ten minutes.

Nowell scored a second seven minutes before the break to give Matamata a comfortable lead on the scoresheet after what had been anything but a comfortable half of football. Ngaruawahia had their chances and were unlucky not to have been awarded a penalty that could have levelled the scores.

The visitors were level within a quarter hour of the restart after the Swifts failed to clear a couple of set pieces in the slick conditions. Despite that set-back, the Swifts had multiple chances to go back in front, including a great penalty shout of their own.

Their profligacy came back to haunt them right on time, however, when Ngaruawahia was awarded a contentious spot kick, which they converted to win and progress to the next round.