Football: Rotorua United delight in derby wins

Ngongotaha FC women (orange) took on Rotorua United's Women's Bay 1 team on Sunday.

Rotorua United gained early season bragging rights in the two local derby games held at the weekend.

The men's Bay 2 team beat Ngongotaha 5-2 and the women's Bay 1 side beat the same opposition 9-0.

The men's Bay 2 game, in which both teams fielded a mixture of young players and the more experienced, started with a bang - three goals in the first three minutes, the first two to United with hardly a Ngongotaha foot touching the ball, before Alex Hardy pulled one back.

The game then settled down with United the more assertive team, winning the 50:50 challenges and keeping Ngongotaha on the defensive for most of the rest of the first half. Pressure told with United adding a third before the break.

Ngongotaha came out with fresh resolve for the second half, started to control the ball much better and the game was more evenly contested for a period before two disputed goals. A ball was retrieved on the byline by Ngongotaha and with defenders claiming the ball was out Chris D'Aprile was able to turn in a low cross to make it 3-2.

Shortly afterwards, the momentum swung back to United with a penalty award which was taken coolly to restore a two-goal lead.

The win was sealed with a goal created by some crisp passing by United and finished with a forceful run and accurate shot into the bottom corner of the net.

The women's Bay 1 game was dominated by the well organised United team which kept up steady pressure on the visitors goal throughout the match.

The Ngongotaha defence fought hard, with some good performances across the back four, but attempts to break forward were generally smothered by the United midfield and the ball lost.

United were able to keep control of the game by their ability to pass and retain the ball more successfully than their opponents, who were restricted to only two reasonable opportunities to score.

Continuous pressure from United resulted in numerous shots and corners and brought plenty of goals in each half for their first win of the season.