Waikato Unicol 8-0 Swifts

Recap

Comag Matamata Swifts suffered a heavy defeat along with more injury misery on a difficult Saturday afternoon at Waikato Unicol. The Swifts lost captain, Bjorn Vossen, to an ankle ligament injury on the half hour and his presence in central defence was severely missed as Unicol went on to rattle up eight goals without reply against an overexposed visiting outfit.

Up until Vossen’s injury Matamata had been holding their own against one of the Premiership’s title favourites. Unicol, probably the best footballing team in the league, were comfortable in possession and moved the ball crisply but the Swifts, by and large, marshalled themselves well. Notwithstanding the concession of one early goal, Matamata seemed to be holding their own.

Unfortunately three goals in five minutes either side of half time ended the game as a contest. The tiring Swifts saw four more go in during the final 20 minutes to provide a humbling score line.

Unicol, for their part, were very good with the ball and clinical in front of goal, but the young Swifts defenders will believe they should have done a lot better in limiting their opponents’ openings.