Football: Ngongotaha fall to Claudelands comeback

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Ngongotaha have made a habit of playing well in patches so far this season and their 2-1 loss against Claudelands Rovers was no different.

Ngongotaha coach Ron Cane said his side started well, Harlem Simiona gave them the lead after five minutes as he cut inside from the left and blasted a shot past the keeper.

However, goals to Claudelands' Jonathan Viviani and Owen Comber in the 25th and 53rd minutes respectively snatched victory from the home side.

"It's beginning to be a habit that we play very well in patches but we can't convert the chances we make. It's all about the scoring of goals and I thought yesterday, for 20 minutes, we were doing all of the pushing.

"Unfortunately a goalkeeping error let them back in at 1-1, but I thought we still had the better of the game. Then for some reason, I have no idea why, the wheels fell off our attacking mode. We just stopped doing it.

"Claudelands' winning goal came from a goalmouth scramble. We couldn't clear the ball and one of their guys managed to toe-poke it into the goal for the 2-1 lead. As much as we tried and played some good football in patches, we'll become known as the patchiest team," Cane said.

He said the loss was a disappointing outcome and did not reflect the effort the players put in.

"To be honest I haven't got a goal scorer, a guy who can score goals on a regular basis. Now with some injuries we're really struggling for players. There's no real competition for places which mean complacency could creep in.

"In saying that, the boys played well and they don't give up. As long as the effort is there, hopefully the results will start to come. There are a few teams in the same situation as us, towards the bottom of the table, so we need to make sure we do well against them."

It is a short turnaround for Ngongotaha this week as they travel to Papakura on Wednesday for an Anzac Day fixture.

NRFL Division Two results
Saturday, April 21

Cambridge FC 1-3 Metro FC (HT: 1-1)
CAM: Jamie Woodlock 14′
MET: Stuart Roberts 34′, Yusuke Takai 62′, Josh Dayal 84′

Bucklands Beach AFC 3-0 Northland FC (HT: 2-0)
BUC: Daniel Culpin 26′ 44′, Josh Smith 61′
NOR:

Takapuna 3-0 Papakura City FC (HT: 2-0)
TAK: Tommy Miller 12′ 20′, Ross Lewis 80′
PAP:

Ngongotaha AFC 1-2 Claudelands Rovers (HT 1-1)
NGO: Harlem Simiona 5′
CLA: Jonathan Viviani 25′, Owen Comber 53′

Te Atatu AFC 2-0 Onehunga Mangere United (HT: 0-0)
TEA: Rhys Caples 50′, Colin Bourke 93′
OMU:

Franklin United 5-1 Albany United (HT: 3-1)
FRA: Kartik Kumar 11′ 30′, Cody Rickard 23′, Charlie Heather 63′ 93′
ALB: Lee Robinson 35′