FC Whangārei's Brett Plant (centre) chases the ball down in his team's fixture against Kerikeri on Saturday at Morningside Park. Photo / Tania Whyte
FC Whangārei's Brett Plant (centre) chases the ball down in his team's fixture against Kerikeri on Saturday at Morningside Park. Photo / Tania Whyte
As FC Whangārei clinched their first win in 2019 on Saturday, Kaeo-Inter claimed their eleventh win and secured the Northland premier men's league title three games early.
Kaeo-Inter, who played in Northland's second division last year, have been the dominant side in the region's premier competition, only losing once to northern rivals Kerikeri in May.
The Italian-influenced side played at home at Whangaroa College against Onerahi where they won 2-1 to secure the league title with three weeks left to play.
"It's amazing, I'll never forget the first game at Kerikeri when we had a couple of hundred people up there," Kaeo-Inter coach Stefano Virgili said.
"To attract players from all over the north in a rugby town to play in a different way, bringing something fresh to the premier competition, is incredibly satisfying."
While Kaeo-Inter have barely stumbled this season, Virgili said each game brought its own unique challenges. A more comprehensive write-up on Kaeo-Inter's league win will feature in the Northern Advocate this week.
At the other end of the spectrum, FC Whangārei were celebrating their first three points of the competition with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Kerikeri at Morningside Park on Saturday.
Just as an even first half was about to close, FC Whangārei were awarded a penalty after the ball struck a Kerikeri player on the arm inside the box. Despite an extraordinary effort from Kerikeri goalkeeper Henk Bertlink, who tipped the ball on to the post, penalty-taker Martin Brooks followed up and netted the game's first goal.
Kerikeri goal-keeper Henk Bertlink was beaten in the first half by the follow-up after making a great save from the penalty spot. Photo / Tania Whyte
Coming out to a one-goal deficit in the second half, Kerikeri started to dominate play with wave after wave of attack at the FC Whangārei defence. Mid-way through the second half, the visitors levelled the score and the game looked destined for a draw.
With about five minutes to go in the game, FC Whangārei secured their win as Dilshaan Mohanrag scored from the back post after a cross into the area evaded Kerikeri's defenders and the score remained 2-1.
FC Whangārei co-coach Andy Forbes said his side did well to resist Kerikeri's advances in the second half and he felt the introduction of three substitutes with 10 minutes to go gave his team the required push to get over the line.
"Kerikeri were playing some good football as we expected, but the boys handled it brilliantly and those three boys who came on for the last 10 minutes gave us another kick of life," Forbes said.
"Aaron Adamson at centre-back was just outstanding for us, he made so many last-ditch challenges, he won headers, he kept talking, he couldn't put a foot wrong really."
FC Whangārei's Dilshaan Mohanrag (right) scored the winning goal to secure his team's first victory of 2019. Photo / Tania Whyte
While some results haven't gone their way or didn't tell the full story of their season, Forbes said there was plenty of belief in his team to finish the season well.
"The results this season have been so close and haven't told how well we've played, but boys were determined this week and we definitely felt we could beat [Kerikeri]."
In the round's other game, Madhatters narrowly won 4-3 over Tikipunga at William Fraser Park on Saturday.
