Te Puke's Andrew Skerten scored one of Te Puke's two goals in the win over Cambridge.
Te Puke's Andrew Skerten scored one of Te Puke's two goals in the win over Cambridge.
Te Puke Utd
Men’s league one
Te Puke first team played at home against Cambridge, winning 2-0.
A solid start saw some good teamwork early on with Te Puke taking the lead as Ben Day headed home an Andrew Skerten corner nine minutes in. With the backline holding strong, the team was able to pile on the pressure, creating more chances up front but were unable to find a second before the break.
The second half started well but Cambridge also stepped up, pressuring the backline and creating a few half chances. A solid backline kept them out.
A well-worked play had Jed Melton putting Andrew Skerten through on goal in the 56th minute and he slotted the ball into the net. As the game was coming to an end, Cambridge was awarded a penalty which Ethan Ramsay calmly saved by diving to his right.
Player of the day was Shaun Bell. The first team plays away to Hamilton Wanderers on Saturday, kick off at 3pm.
Te Puke reserves played Waiariki at home, drawing 2-2.
The reserves started well with some good back and forth football, some good creative plays with some hopeful opportunities just going wide. Waiariki hit first after finding a loose ball just outside the box. Te Puke nearly brought it even before the break, but couldn’t quite find the target.
A stronger-looking Te Puke came out with a bit of hunger after the break which paid off 57 minutes in as Kyle Eaton placed it past the keeper from just outside the box. The reserves kept going strong when up stepped Kyle again as he danced around the Waiariki defence, smashing it past the keeper for his brace. Unfortunately, Waiariki brought it back to 2-2 and both teams searched for a third goal but were unable to find it before the final whistle.
Player of the day: The reserves play away to Waipuna Rangers at 2.30pm on Saturday.
Te Puke's Chynna Davie (right) scored a hat-trick in Te Puke's win over Plains Rangers.
Women’s Team
Te Puke women faced off against Plains Rangers away, winning 8-0.
The ladies started strongly, with some great plays giving multiple chances in front of goal. Plains tried to play it around, but a strong defence gave the ladies time to play which finally paid off when Caroline Silveira made it 1-0. Te Puke stepped up their game upfront as Silveira made it 2-nil quickly followed by Chynna Davie making it 3, ending the half 3-nil.
Second half was much the same but as Plains Rangers started to tire, the black and whites started dominating, Sammi Parish found her first goal while Davie got her second. Some solid teamwork saw Silveira secure her hat-trick with Davie securing hers soon after and as the game was coming to an end Parish scored her second ending the game 8-0.
Player of the day: Caroline Silveira. The Women’s team plays at home against Te Puke’s Wahine Toa team at 12.30pm on Sunday.
Wāhine Toa
Wāhine Toa played at home against Pāpāmoa Legends, falling to an 11-0 loss.
An in-form Pāpāmoa team pressed hard early on, but a focused Wāhine Toa team worked hard giving them little opportunity in front of goal with Irene Taylor and the defence keeping strong and some amazing goal keeping from Alyssa Matthews. Pāpāmoa made their breakthrough 20 minutes in quickly followed by their second. The hosts kept strong until halftime.
The second half was a different story as Pāpāmoa found their grove and while the Te Puke team fought hard not giving up until the final whistle, experience overtook tired legs as they scored nine in the second half.
