Football: Force show heart in defeat

Here North Force's Cody 'Hollywood' Lacour battles for possession of the ball. PHOTO/JOHN STONE

It wasn't quite the fairytale ending to the season North Force fans were after, but there was still plenty of entertainment and skill shown as Forrest Hill won 5-1 in Kamo.

However, early on fans would have been forgiven for thinking an upset might be on the cards as North Force were 1-0 up after 25 minutes - proving they are a team to look out for next season.

Youngster Brett Plant put away the goal in what was their last match of the season after a cross from the right side, burying it in the roof of the net.

After Plant's goal on Saturday, he had North Force's coach Russell Baddeley thinking the same as the Northland supporters.

"After 20-25 we were 1-0 up and I thought 'hey there might be an upset on the cards', but eventually their class started to show," Baddeley said of the loss.

"Ultimately we had a lot of injuries and didn't have Steve Schimmel and Keegan Baddeley, with it being the last game of the season we let a lot of young fellas have a bit of a gallop."

Baddeley is right in describing Forrest Hill as a class act, with the Aucklanders being runners-up in the NRFL Division Two league.

Leading the way for Forrest Hill on Saturday was former All White David Mulligan, who played in the Football World Cup in South Africa not so long ago.

Baddeley said Mulligan led from the middle of the park and essentially taught the Northlanders a few lessons - not a bad thing looking forward.

"Mulligan just ran the show, even in the awful conditions. We were 4-1 down at halftime but the boys showed a lot of courage to hang in there in the second half.

"Forrest Hill are stronger now than when we played them earlier [losing 6-4 in a thriller]. There's a definite gap between us and Forrest Hill, no doubt about that, and it's quite a big gap, but we can see where we need to go.

"It was an awesome learning experience for our young ones. We've come a long way this year, we're obviously disappointed to not get promotion after such a good start but the signs are good."

At the start of the season, North Force set out to make themselves competitive again, develop young players, build their image, and lift the level of support for the team.

"On this front [home support] I might be a little biased but we have had great crowds and amazing home support," he said, adding that Northland had the best home crowds of the Division Two league.

For Baddeley and the North Force players, while Saturday's game was the last for the representative season the team would stay together during the off-season with an eye on gaining promotion and winning the league next season.

North Force: 1 (Brett Plant); Forrest Hill: 5. HT: 4-1.