North Force's Josh Hacker leaves the Papakura midfield behind in their 3-2 win, their first win in 20 months. Hacker was also named the player of the day. Photo/Ron Burgin
North Force's Josh Hacker leaves the Papakura midfield behind in their 3-2 win, their first win in 20 months. Hacker was also named the player of the day. Photo/Ron Burgin
Smiles and cheers greeted North Force players at full time in Kamo as the Northland side claimed its first win in 24 games.
A 3-2 win is what the scoreboard showed, but to football fans in the region it signalled the return of the representative team.
With a new coach,new players, and a new attitude, North Force absorbed nearly 40 minutes of attacking pressure from Papakura during Saturday's second half, much to the delight of coach Russell Baddeley.
With Papakura having won 8-1 last weekend, Baddeley knew his side would need to man up if they were to keep the visitors from spoiling the party - especially after being reduced to 10 men when Cody Lacour was red-carded.
"I looked at their front two and the quality and pace and I thought 'I could see how they got eight' [against Lynn Avon]. I was trying to reorganize our defence so we tighten down and closed their space," Baddeley commented after the game.
"They've got the fight and determination, in this league in almost every game there'll be spells where we're going to be under the pump so we'll have to learn how to deal with those and come out the other side."
Baddeley, who has coached various teams to 49 trophies, agreed it was good to get the monkey off their back, with their last win coming against Lynn Avon in the final round of the 2012 season 20 months ago.
"We're telling the boys we've got what it takes to be competitive in this league and so to get the first win under their belt give them so much confidence.
"I've got some talent in the team, a good mix of youth and experience. They're very committed and work hard for each other so we've got all the elements of a good team.
"What can I say? It's looking good. There are still things defensively we'll want to tighten up but you can see we're a good attacking team, if we can get our defensive game nice and tight we could go on and get some good results."
Player of the day for North Force was youngster Josh Hacker, who worked his socks off in Baddeley's eyes.
Steel and Joe Luiten in midfield helped North Force win some aerial ball they wouldn't have otherwise.
Having broken the nearly two year drought, Baddeley said it was simple what the next step was for them.
"We'll be back at it Tuesday night working on things to give Tauranga a go next weekend. We won our first game, it's a start but we're not going to get carried away. We've got 20 more of these to come."
