Football: North stay cool to force a winner

North Force's Josh Hacker controls the ball, while Onehunga Mangere s Scott Cameron (left) and Nathanul Lucas pressure him during what was a close affair on Saturday in Kamo, which North Force won 3-2.

A sigh of relief could be heard around the Kamo Sports Park as North Force's Keegan Baddeley expertly lobbed a shot over the keeper in the 75th minute, giving them the win 3-2.

North Force fans were made to sweat though, with the side letting a relatively comfortable 2-1 lead slip away as the visitors showed their spirit.

Onehunga Mangere never gave up as they kept pressing right up to fulltime, with the home crowd credited for the win rather than Keegan's boot.

Northland's coach Russell Baddeley admitted it was not their best game of the season, and when the crowd came alive so did his side.

"When they got back to 2-2 we were all at sea and the home support in the last 15 helped to get us over the line," he said. "They deserve some credit for helping us get home.

"Let's be honest, before we got here today we were hoping to turn on some quality football and style and show that home support how far they've come and how good they're getting - but we didn't actually show them that [on Saturday].

"We'll look back in three months' time and have a laugh about how ugly it was but those three points were crucial."

Russell said when Keegan made the break before scoring the match winner he was confident he would put it away. But someone forgot to tell the crowd.

Sounds of anguish were heard from players and supporters as Keegan's lob looked to be heading over the crossbar, only for it to drop at the last minute and slide into the back of the net.

Earlier in the match fellow striker Steve Schimmel scored two goals from penalty shots as the Onehunga Mangere defence employed a rugby team's technique inside the box - something Russell will seek to fix in the next week.

"I think they put us under a lot of pressure on the ball and physically and we struggled with that a little bit but I guess at the end of the day there's going to be some games where you're just going to have to pull the sleeves up and battle, and that is what has happened here.

"I think it was a good lesson for us because Onehunga Mangere were really physical and put pressure on the ball. We need to go away and think about that because we're going to have to travel to Tauranga and Waiuku and face that, we can learn a lot of lessons from [Saturday]."

Russell conceded it was hard to find a player of the day as the side struggled to pull everything together, but he said Ben Porter was the pick of the bunch.

"I don't think anyone in the side had their best game of the season or anywhere near where the level they need to be. We didn't come anywhere near we needed to be and as a result we found ourselves in a titanic struggle, desperate for those three point to keep us in touch with the leaders," he said.

"It's one of those days where you've got to take the three points, that's what you need, but the performance wasn't there today."

North Force now shift their focus to an away game to bottom-placed Warkworth - also known as a physical bunch.

North Force 3 (Steve Schimmel 2, Keegan Baddeley); Onehunga Mangere 2.