SOCCER - Battle ends in third win for Kamo

Kamo claimed their third major trophy of the 2008 season by winning the Northland League Cup on Saturday - but their opponents Onerahi didn't surrender the title easily.
The two sides were locked together 3-3 at the end of 90 minutes. Extra time couldn't separate them and it took a dreaded penalty shoot-out to find a winner from the two exhausted teams.
Onerahi's Scott Burgess stunned the favourites with two quick goals in the opening three minutes of the match but Kamo reacted with their customary composure and edged their way back into the game with goals to Keegan Baddeley and Paul Cross, which saw them level again by half-time at 2-2.
The second half saw both sides more cautious with the ball and the task became even harder for Kamo when Baddeley was sent off after picking up a second yellow card. Burgess again broke the deadlock with a little more than 10 minutes remaining in the spell to complete his hat-trick and put his side ahead 3-2.
The goal set off the panic button in the Kamo side and they swarmed forward looking for the equaliser. The game moved into the final minute before the Kamo fans prayers were answered and Daniel Lavelle - who scored the winner against Forrest Hill-Milford in the Federation Cup victory last week - levelled the scores again.
Into the first period of extra time it was Burgess who netted first again, this time from a penalty, after Kamo's Colin Myers had brought him down in the penalty area.
Again Kamo left the equaliser until late and once again it was Lavelle who was the goalscorer, with Cross the provider.
There was controversy during the penalty shootout when the referee Neil Haines allowed Gavin Allan to retake a penalty he had missed after ruling the keeper had moved too early. The decision did not rest well with the Onerahi supporters, especially when Allan netted his second attempt.
With Kamo ahead 5-4 in the shootout, it fell to one of Onerahi's more experienced players, Gary Trigg, to keep them in the match but the pressure proved too much and his penalty was saved by Shane Stanners, giving the trophy to Kamo.
Kamo face Tikipunga FC in the semifinal of the Stafford-Choat knockout cup this weekend. Kamo received a bye into the semifinal along with Bream Bay United, while Tikipunga outlasted FC Whangarei Force 1-0 in the quarterfinal on Saturday.
Madhatters added to FC Whangarei's bad day by beating FC's development side 3-0 to earn the final semifinal place against Bream Bay this weekend.