SOCCER - The force needed for North

It wasn't pretty, but North Force captain Bruce Plunkett conceded a 4-2 win over Western Oratia on Saturday was just the kind of victory they needed with a challenging three weeks ahead of them.
Plunkett said his team is looking dangerous and it's hard to disagree with him when the second placed side in the US1 league delivered an under-par performance against Oratia but still scored four goals to win.
"We didn't play as well as we can do, but sometimes you have to battle out a result and we did that today," he said.
The captain was once again a solid performer in the match, defensively dominating in the air and scoring North Force's second goal but ahead of three important fixtures for the side there were some rough edges that still need to be sorted out.
North Force play third-placed Waitakere City next week, ahead of their first ever appearance in a Chatham Cup tie a week later and before the long awaited pivotal match against unbeaten league leaders East Coast Bays the following week.
Certainly in none of those games are they likely to get as many chances to score as they did on Saturday.
After dominating the opening half hour of the game, the home side went 1-0 down in the 35th minute after a half-cleared ball was tucked away sweetly by Oratia stand-out Sasha Lafeki.
Two minutes later North Force were on level terms after Scott Burgess scored with a penalty, awarded after Sammy Oso was taken down in the area.
On the 45-minute mark Plunkett headed home from amid a melee of players to take the lead, but before the referee could blow the whistle for half-time, Lafeki equalised with a diving header, following a flowing length of the field Oratia passing move.
The fantastic goal would have damaged the morale of a weaker side, but North Force returned from the break even stronger.
"This side's got character this year, more so than in the past I think, so I wasn't overly concerned (about the equaliser) and we went on and dominated the second half," Plunkett said.
In the first spell, North Force had trouble countering the impressive passing movement along the flanks that was Oratia's main attacking weapon.
Several times fullbacks Adam Sharp and Mark Ruddell were outnumbered and left marking thin air, but the defence was better organised or at least more alert in the second spell.
Ruddell was particularly impressive in the match and single-handedly shut down a number of good scoring opportunities for Oratia with well-timed, precise tackles.
``Rudds has been superb this season and along with Adam Sharp and Scotty B, have made the backline a lot stronger,' the captain said.
Burgess had the chance of a second goal just two minutes into the spell, but another spot-kick was saved by the Oratia keeper Matt Johnstone.
Sammy Oso scored a trademark goal 15 minutes later to put them 3-2 ahead. He latched on to a through ball and using his speed to round Johnstone and score.
Less than 10 minutes later Oso produced a great pass to set up Jeremy Rintoul, who made a tough chance look easy with a left-foot drive from the edge of the area to establish a two-goal buffer.
Oratia pushed forward but the North Force defence was better organised and apart from one fine Leon Taylor save, the home side's goal was rarely threatened.
The Reserve side had a day to forget when they were beaten 2-6 by a Oratia side that finished the game with two player sent off.
Yesterday, the North Force women's team drew 2-2 with Hibiscus Coast in their US1 Premiership match at Tikipunga Park. Hannah Wilkinson twice put the home side ahead but the visitors equalised by capitalising on a defensive lapse in the final moments of the game.