Force unlucky not to get all three points

In a game reminiscent of the All Whites in the recent World Cup, North Force came away with a moral victory from their 2-2 draw with Takapuna at Kamo on Saturday.
A fortunate second-half penalty that seemed to have been earned from a dive in the box by a Takapuna player cost them three points but the result - against one of the better sides they have played in the Northern League 1A league - was a turnaround from their disappointing loss last week.
Coach Bruce Plunkett made wholesale changes to the side that lost to Matamata last Saturday and they did well to match a classy Takapuna side for much of the game. The visitors, featuring players like former All Whites striker Jeff Campbell, had the majority of scoring opportunities in the match but struggled to break down a committed North Force defence.
North Force skipper Scott Burgess got the home side off to a promising start, beating the defence to a Daniel Lavalle through ball and travelling with the ball before blasting it past the Takapuna goalkeeper.
The goal, in the ninth minute, galvanised the visitors and they peppered the home side's goal - striking the crossbar once - but the new central defensive pairing of Mark Ruddle and Dominic Fromont responded well to the pressure and the home side went into the break with their lead intact.
All the scoring action in the second spell was sandwiched into a five-minute spell 10 minutes after the restart.
A rare defensive misunderstanding saw a Takapuna player brought down on the edge of the area. The ball was stroked into the top right corner of the net from the free-kick by Campbell's brother Scott, to level the scores.
A minute later North Force were ahead again after Burgess beat the offside trap and drew the cover before crossing a perfectly weighted ball for Keegan Baddeley. The right-side midfielder struck the ball well enough and although the keeper got a hand to it, the ball hit the back of the net.
A few seconds later the ball was back in the North Force penalty area and fullback Chris Peck was scrambling to clear. He lunged at the ball which just eluded him and Takapuna's Demas Da Silva went down in a heap next to him.
The referee blew the whistle and pulled out the yellow card causing confusion on the field and among the supporters, who thought that he was booking Demas for diving - instead the card went to Peck. Scott Campbell scored his second from the spot giving Leon Taylor no chance.
The game continued but there were no more goals. Although Taylor was called on to make more saves than the Takapuna keeper, North Force also had their chances.
Plunkett was disappointed at missing out on three points but pleased with the way the players had performed well in the new formation.
"Last week was poor and to be fair we've been pretty poor over the last month so we had to change something, and today we got stuck in and closed them down quicker than we have been," he said.
He said in the first part of the season they could afford to cruise and win games off the back of good spells in the game but more consistency was needed against the better teams they were playing in the new league.
Aaron Taylor showed his versatility in the match, playing in defence, attack and the midfield and played them all with his usual commitment and skill. Burgess was dynamic while Peck and Rudsdale were the pick of the defenders.
A spate of yellow cards, particularly in the first spell, proved costly to both sides with Takapuna's Barry Donaghy sent from the field a minute or two from the end for his second yellow. North Force's Tom Taylor and Peck both received their fifth yellow card of the season in the match and will miss next week's game.
In the Women's US1 Championship, North Force have moved into first place on the table, after East Coast Bays defaulted.