Football: North Force narrowly lose

Kamo's Aaron Blundell (centre left) blocks a pass during his side's 2-1 loss against Kaitaia United in round one of the Northland Premier Division. Kamo made amends with a 3-0 win over Bream Bay United in the second round on Saturday.

North Force have suffered their first loss of the Lotto NRFL Division two, going down 1-0 to Papakura United.

Under contentious adjudication, and moody Auckland weather, the Northland side conceded a goal late inside the second half.

North Force coach Russell Baddeley says goalkeeper Leon Jarman-Taylor was "player of the match by a mile," after a relentless display of skill between the posts.

However, Baddeley says a free-kick awarded to Papakura caught the Northern side off guard and put a definite damper on the team's trip South.

"They scored a very controversial goal in the second half. They took a free kick behind the ref's back while he was issuing Craig Oldridge a yellow card."

A strong performance on debut for North Force's premier side came from Mitchell Hanmore, who "really grew as the game went on".

In the face of defeat, Baddeley says the Papakura United team "were the better side on the day, we were probably lucky to be nil all at halftime."

"They're [Papakura] going to be right there in the mix come the end of the season. It's just that sort of league - everything's so tight."