SOCCER - North Force discover revenge is Oso sweet

North Force captainRevenge was sweet for North Force as they comfortably beat Hibiscus Coast 3-1 at Kamo on Saturday, reversing a 1-4 Chatham Cup defeat by the same team only five days earlier.
More importantly, the win ended a tough month for the team, North Force skipper Bruce Plunkett said.
"We've had a bad month, a terrible month really, we lost four on the bounce but today we were third in the league and they were fourth, so we're more than happy with how we played," he said.
The win puts them four points clear of Hibiscus Coast and maintains their third place in the US1 Premier League, steadying momentum in their campaign, which on Monday looked in a perilous state.
"We went through three games where our confidence was a bit low and there were signs it was getting better last week but we weren't quite there. Today we've taken it back to where I think we were, maybe three or four games into the season," he said.
After a fairly even opening 20 minutes, North Force took over the game and dominated their visitors on Saturday. A run of attacking chances in the following five minutes could have seen them ahead 3 or 4-nil, instead they had a 1-0 lead at the break thanks to Sammy Oso's quick reactions as a long ball caused confusion the Hibiscus Coast defence.
Oso would have been happier with the second goal, 10 minutes after the break, a rare score with his head as he met Adam Sharp's pinpoint corner at the near post.
The goal killed the game off as a spectacle, with North Force locking down at the back and only loosening up again in the final minutes.
Substitute striker Murray Wootten nodded in North Force's final goal in the last minute of regulation time after some snappy inter-passing down the left flank by Mark Ruddell and Aaron Taylor set up the goal. Geof Gray scored a consolation goal to ruin the home side's clean sheet in the fourth minute of injury time but that didn't dispel the side's joy at their well-deserved win.
Calvin Erick's return to the side helped inject some urgency into the midfield and, in combination with Kyle Mack, the pair dominated the centre of the park. Erick also was behind most of Oso's chances in the first spell and might have scored a couple himself on a better day.
The best feature of the game for North Force was how their defence played after conceding 14 goals in their last three matches. Without a great deal of game time in the side this season, Alex Luiten filled in faultlessly for the suspended Scott Burgess in the centre of the defence. Likewise, Adam Sharp and Jamie Burgess were dogged defenders, with Sharp also sparking good attacking moves along the right flank.
The win takes some pressure off North Force and gives them confidence as they head toward the business end of the season.
It was a weekend of close competition in the Northland Premier league, with three games all won by a single goal.
Leaders Kamo were pushed all the way by Kerikeri at Baysports Park but finally came away with a 3-2 win. Onerahi scraped home 2-1 against Tikipunga while Kaikohe beat FC Whangarei 1-0 in a nailbiter. Madhatters had the biggest victory of the weekend with a 2-0 away win over Central Brown.