Football: Te Puke leave it late to snatch draw

Otis Petersen was Te Puke’s man of the match in the 2-2 draw with Tauranga City.

A last-minute penalty secured a draw for Te Puke with top-of-the-table Tauranga City at the weekend.

Te Puke were lucky not to concede early, but went behind from a scramble following a free kick on the edge of the box.

The Black and Whites’ response was quick, with an Andrew Skerten cross finding Nick Johnson on the back post whose header made it 1-1.

Tauranga capitalised on early pressure to create a one on one that resulted in a goal. Although conceding fired Te Puke up, they couldn’t find the finishing touch until a penalty from a foul, put away by Daniel Courtis, gave them their second goal.

Man of the match was Otis Petersen. Te Puke host Whakatāne on Saturday, kick-off 2.30pm.

Daniel Courtis slotted a late penalty to give Te Puke a share of the points on Saturday.

Reserves

The Reserves played away against Waiariki, battling to a 2-1 win.

Waiariki came out strongly in the first half, but Te Puke held off the pressure and fought their way into the game when Cory Murray swung in a corner that Jaroslav Matulik headed past the keeper to score the only goal of the first half.

Despite Waiariki finding an equaliser, Te Puke didn’t give up, pressuring the home team’s defence and a nice finish, after a strong press from Luiz Junior alongside Matulik, gave Murray his first goal of the season.

Man of the match was Cory Murray. The reserves play Tauranga City New Blues at 12.30pm at Litt Park on Saturday.

Women

Te Puke’s women’s team hosted table-toppers Whakatāne on Sunday, winning a thrilling game 3-2.

Early dominance paid off when Maia Moko nicely finished off early in the half to give Te Puke the lead. Whakatāne worked themselves into the game, but some strong defence kept it 1-0 at halftime.

Whakatāne had the upper hand in the second half and scored quickly before winning a penalty that was saved twice, because it had to be retaken, by Haley Watts.

This gave Te Puke a boost that led to two quick goals to Chynna Davie. Whakatāne were awarded a third penalty, which was taken successfully.

Woman of the match was Toni Johnson. Te Puke play away at Ōtūmoetai on Sunday, kick-off 11am.