Kamo to the fore in semi

Kamo remain on course to retain their Stafford Choat knockout title after  beating rivals FC Whangarei 4-0 in a wacky semifinal on Saturday.
The final score didn't really reflect the true nature of the game. Both sides were capable of winning the cup-tie and the visitors to Morningside Park didn't have the game all their way.
FC played an attractive passing game but they weren't able to penetrate Kamo's well marshalled defence and in the end it was the visitors' through balls to their speedy forwards that eventually paid dividends.
The sides were locked together 0-0 at half-time. Arguably Kamo had looked the most likely to break the deadlock in the first spell with more chances but FC had come the closest to scoring, with only the post keeping Kyle Mack from claiming the first goal of the game.
The second half continued in a similar vein but unlike the first half, Kamo began to make the most of their chances.
David Healey, following up after a parried Steve Schimmel shot, opened the scoring in the 55th minute, while Keegan Baddeley headed the second home from a pinpoint Joseph Luiten cross, five minutes later.
The two goals busted the game wide open and both sides had good chances to add to the score but under pressure, the ball refused to drop for the home team.
Eventually pressure from Kamo paid off again, with hardworking Whangarei captain Eddie Roberts mis-timing a tackle on Nathan Steel and giving away a penalty. Schimmel knocked the spot-kick  past promising young keeper Jason Swanepoel, before Steel added another a few minutes before time.
The game was then soured when second half substitute Issac Jereez was sent off for a dangerous tackle. One of the Kamo players made an untimely comment and Jereez reacted and the threat of a brawl was only averted when he was escorted from the field by his captain and Adam Sharp. Referee Michael Badham then had to send off another misbehaving FC player, Malcolm Green, for trying to get involved, even though he never made it on to the field
as a substitute.
The final flurry of events, although slightly comical, took the sheen off what had been generally been a pretty entertaining game with good periods of control by both sides.
"If we had scored in the first half the result might have been different but in the end I think Kamo may have wanted it a bit more than us, although I was pleased with the way we kept trying once we went behind," Sharp said.
In the other match, Onerahi halted surprise semifinalists Bream Bay's cup run in its tracks with a 5-1 defeat.
Bream Bay got the best of starts, going ahead 1-0 with an own goal after 30 seconds but they couldn't match it with their premier division opponents for long. Scott Burgess scored a double to get them in front before goals by Hayden Bain and Connor Brown put them 4-1 up at the break. Onerahi had several chances to add to their total in the second spell but only veteran Gary Langley managed to score.
In the women's knockout competition FC Whangarei had better luck, beating Kerikeri 2-1 with goals to Sheryl James and Alicia Henzler, cancelling out the goal of the day by Kerikeri's Chelsea Downey - a strike of more than 35m.
In the other semifinal, Kamo beat Kerikeri High School 6-2, and will meet FC Whangarei on Saturday in the final.