Wairarapa boys soccer team produces pleasing results

Their seventh placing did not reflect the competitiveness of the Wairarapa under-13 boys soccer team at their regional tournament in Petone.
Under the coaching of John Antcliff they showed marked improvement on their efforts of the previous season and were contenders for a top two placing in their pool
Wairarapa started their campaign impressively with a 3-2 win over Hawke's Bay.
Jamie McMasters gave them a 1-0 time lead after good lead-up work from Jacob Buchan and the two sides were level pegging at 1-1 at the break. McMasters scored again early in the second half and Mark Hemi sealed the win from the penalty spot.
A controversial goal awarded against them at the end of the first half could have cost Wairarapa dearly in their second match against Western Zone, who eventually topped the pool.
Gusty winds made accurate play difficult in what was a close contest. Western Zone won 3-1 with the goal that probably wasn't being scored near the end of the first half and changing the tone of the game.
Wairarapa then went on a goal scoring spree against Wanganui, winning 13-0 with 11 of the goals being scored in the second half.
Jacob Buchan scored four of the goals and Jamie McMaster three.
That victory left Wairarapa needing to beat Manawatu to make the top two in their pool and the score stood at 1-1 until the last quarter of the first half when Manawatu struck a purple patch and scored four more goals.
To Wairarapa's credit they came back to "win" the second half 2-1 but Manawatu still held a 6-3 advantage in the end.
This three goal defeat was Wairarapa's biggest loss of the tourney and simply reflected a 10-minute lapse in concentration.
What was to be their final game because of gale force winds and rain causing the cancellation of the one match scheduled to follow saw Wairarapa lose a closely-contested match with Horowhenua-Kapiti 2-1.
Jamie McMasters with six goals was runner-up for the tourney's golden boot award while both Jacob Buchan and Mark Hemi scored five goals.