United skipper is out for season

Bream Bay United suffered a huge blow when they lost skipper Dave Adams to a season-ending injury during their premier men's match against Dempster and Hill Electrical Maungakaramea.

Adams broke his arm falling to the turf.

With playoffs fast approaching, losing the fullback concerned coach Vicki Gribble.

"He's the brains of the team. It is a huge loss for us, we can't afford to be without his experience at this stage of the season," Gribble said.

After drawing their last round robin encounter, Maungakaramea fought back in the second half of Saturday's game to win 2-1, leaving the two teams tied on top of the table.

Next weekend is the last round before playoffs, and both Bream Bay and Maungakaramea will be looking for wins over fourth-placed Springfield and third-placed Mangapai respectively to claim the minor premiership.

"They are must win games for both teams and neither Springfield nor Mangapai are easybeats - particularly in this half of the season," Gribble said.

It was a fairly even match, with both sides "trying each other", Gribble said.

However, Bream Bay gained an early lead, thanks to Josh Rapana but the game was all tied up again at half time, with Sam Webb slotting the ball from a penalty corner drag flick.

Then in the closing minutes of the match, another successful penalty corner saw Maungakaramea come up trumps.

In the other men's match, Mangapai were too strong for Currie Electrical Springfield, winning their match, 3-1.

It proved to be an interesting round in the premier women's competition, with Hikurangi beating Maungakaramea 1-0, scoring the upset win of the weekend.

Whangarei Girls High School put in a solid effort to draw with Gilmore Brown Springfield 2-2, while Old Girls had a double figured win over Kamo High School. WGHS and Kamo High also played a catch up game yesterday, which Girls High won 1-0.

The weekend's results leave Old Girls and Springfield tied for first place on the table, with Old Girls ahead on goal differential. Maungakaramea are in third place, trailed by WGHS, Hikurangi and Kamo.