Hat trick seals Kamo's 9th knockout title

A hat-trick by Daniel Lavalle gave Kamo a 5-3 victory over old rivals FC Whangarei in this year's Stafford-Choat knockout final.
Lavalle's third goal, a header in the 85th minute, settled the result of the match, giving Kamo an unassailable 5-2 lead and their fifth successive title. Although Adam Cates had the final say for FC Whangarei with a goal he'll be dining out on in the week to come - a 55m free-kick that drifted into the top right hand corner of Kamo's goal - it was Kamo, and Lavalle in particular, that made the most of their chances in the lively match.
Both teams manufactured plenty of scoring opportunities with good play through the midfield, with FC Whangarei particularly impressive chasing the game in the second spell, but it was Kamo who had the finishing touch to win their ninth knockout title since the contest began in 1975.
The defenders had the best of the game in the first spell until Keegan Baddeley opened the scoring in the 33rd minute with a goal that came from a defensive error.
A minute later the scores were level when Mike Crowley beat defender Chris Peck to a good cross, whipped in from the right by Alex Seymour, to nod home the equaliser.
A couple of minutes later Lavelle scored his first to retake the lead for Kamo. A good first touch gave him the opportunity to go around defender Trent Keogh and squeeze off a left foot shot that beat keeper Darren Green.
The keeper was beaten again shortly afterward, but this time there was little he could have done about it. Former Kerikeri midfielder Jeremy Rintoul's free-kick from just outside the area, deflected into the net off the wall, leaving the keeper wrong-footed.
Green got his revenge from a fifth goal, which he scored in injury time from the penalty spot after Dominic Fromont was penalised for a shove in the back on Matt Andrews, making it 3-2 at the break.
Lavelle only had to wait a minute after the start of the second spell before stretching the lead back to two. His second goal was remarkably similar to his first except it was scored off the right foot.
FC Whangarei responded to the goal by pushing forward, but the Kamo defence coped with the pressure and maintained the two-goal buffer. There was a moment of controversy midway through the spell, when Paul Cross appeared to have handled the ball on his own goal-line, but the referee waved away the appeal.
The visitors to Kamo Park played some great football, but there was a lack of understanding in attack which saw too many final balls into the penalty area not met by their strikers.
Lavelle didn't have the same problem for Kamo. "I found a little bit of space up front and some days they go in and other days they don't, so I suppose it was a good day for me," he said.
The North Force striker complimented his defenders for protecting their goal when the side was under pressure in the the match.
"It was really tough in the first half but we went a few goals up and when they came back at us our defence stood strong, so it was a good team effort from our boys," he said.
In the Premier Reserve knockout final Kamo were denied a clean sweep by an experienced Madhatters side, who beat the young Kamo Reserve team 1-0 thanks to a goal midway through the second spell. Denis Wishart scored after both sides had had their fair share of chances in an evenly matched game.