Soccer: Coach bags late winner

Tikipunga's Daniel Dunbar showed his troops how to do it as the player-coach sent home the winning goal in the final minute of play against Central Brown.

In what was truly a game of two halves, Central Brown let a 2-nil halftime lead slip as Tikipunga came back after a Dunbar rev-up at the break to win 3-2.

Dunbar noted his halftime talk during Saturday's premier football clash was the first time this season he has had to put the hard word on his side.

"I said to them at halftime about intensity," Dunbar said. "And, the team we're playing are based around hard work and being physical on defence, our goal for first half was to come out and match that, but we didn't. So, I told them to have a look at themselves.

"Fair credit to them [Tikipunga], they went out there and did that [the original plan] in the second. It's the first rocket I've had to give them all year, and that's all you can ask as a coach is for them to respond.

"[With halftime rev-ups], you hope sometimes it goes the right way but sometimes it'll go the other, but thankfully they came around and put in a strong performance."

Dunbar was expecting to be given a hard time by his teammates after he subbed himself on up front to counter Central Brown's taller defenders.

"The boys will give me heaps but I realised we needed to change something, so I made a change and put myself up front as a change to give a bit more height and power."

Dunbar's goal was a result of consistent pressure on Central Brown, who struggled to make it out of their half in the final 20 minutes.

He said the win is timely after his side has lost their previous two matches to Kamo and Kerikeri, with Tikipunga's focus shifting to defending the two trophies they won last year.

"That's what [Saturday] was about, eclipsing the two losses, but the first half didn't help."

Central Brown captain Jake Mabbett admitted his side struggled to keep on top of Tikipunga in the second half, noting that injuries had left his side with limited substitutes to bring them home.

"It was a bit gutting because we got ourselves in quite a good position," Mabbett said. "The guys at the start of game decided to stick to the game plan, which we always try to, and shut opposition teams down. "We always work on closing them down, frustrating them, and working on the counter attack and that worked for the first half-hour but then guys started to get a bit tired and Tikipunga were allowed to play their game."

Mabbett added that Saturday's match was one that could have gone either way.

Players of the day for Tikipunga were 15-year-old Blake Hilton and stand-in goalkeeper, Josh Morunga, while Central Brown's goalscorers Jordan Rudman and Bruce Plunkett were the front runners.

In other premier football clashes, Kerikeri beat Madhatters 10-3 while Kamo won 4-2.

Tikipunga 3 (Daniel Dunbar, Steve Crowley, Chris Bai); Central Brown 2 (Jordan Rudman, Bruce Plunkett).