JUNIOR SOCCER - Boys place second

NORTH Force teams were to the fore at the national club age-group tournament they hosted at Tikipunga Park last week but in the end they couldn't do enough to stop the trophies going south.
The under-14 boys can blame a slow start to the tournament for losing a hold on their trophy.
The boys started with a 0-1 loss to Manurewa but remained unbeaten in the rest of their matches to eventually claim second place in the contest.
The boys drew with eventual champions Onehunga 1-all in their second game before defeating ROSA (a combined Rodney Otamatea team) 4-1, North Shore 13-0, and Kerikeri 7-0, in the round robin competition.
Kerikeri finished fourth in the six-team competition.
The under-14 girls finished third in their round robin contest.
They also lost their opener against Hibiscus Coast 1-4 _ the team that went on to win the competition unbeaten _ before drawing their next two matches against Fencibles (2-2) and Bucklands Beach (2-2). They started their final day with a 7-1 trouncing of North Shore but the competition ended on something of a sour note.
They needed to beat their final opponent Eastern Suburbs, in their final match to finish second. Instead they were beaten 2-0 and had to settle for third place.
The under-13 boys also finished third by beating Western Suburbs into fourth place on goal difference after they both ended up with seven points after five games. North Force drew their opener against Western 0-0 before losing to Oratia 0-1 and beating the Far North 1-0. They then earned a win for a default by Bream Bay, before going down 1-0 in a close final match against Eastern Suburbs, who won the competition.
The tournament's Golden Boot winners were: Onehunga's Nathan Rogers with nine goals in the under-14 boys competition, Hibiscus Coast's Natalie Cyra with 11 goals in the under-14 girls competition and Eastern Suburbs Alex Witteveen with three goals in the under-13 competition.
The fair play award went to North Shore United for their good humour in the face of some big defeats, while the player of the tournament award went to Eastern Suburbs Brandon James.
North Force's Murray Wooten and Daniel Ridgely were considered for the award along with Hibiscus Coast's Tessa Berger but the gifted James was generally regarded as the stand out player at the tournament.