Football: Te Awamutu AFC strong against visiting Ngongotahā Lakes

The Te Awamutu AFC Andrew Townsend Real Estate squads both faced Ngongotahā Lakes at home on Saturday. Photo / Bernard Westerbaan

Saturday saw the Te Awamutu AFC Andrew Townsend Real Estate Under-23 squad draw 1-1 with Ngongotahā Lakes in the last home game of the season.

Te Awamutu started the brighter of the two teams, creating a number of chances but couldn’t turn those into goals.

Lakes did manage to take the lead in the 30th minute after young keeper Ollie Giles pulled off a great first save and somehow the rebound landed straight at the striker’s feet who made no mistake the second time around.

Te Awamutu thought they had equalised through Braedyn Webber but he was ruled offside.

The teams went into the sheds with the travelling side up 1-0.

A rousing halftime team talk and a few personnel changes saw Te Awamutu come out firing on all cylinders and drew back level through Cam Gordon.

Gordon made no mistake with a low-driven attempt from outside the box.

Te Awamutu threw everything forward for the majority of the second half but could not find the killer blow.

The final score stayed at 1-1.

Young Logan Whale playing in the number 10 role, caused the travelling side issues with his silky skill and was awarded man of the match.

This week, the squad travel to Claudelands Rovers.

First Team

The Te Awamutu AFC Andrew Townsend Real Estate First Team also took on Ngongotahā Lakes, coming away with a 2-1 win.

In a must win situation, as things get tighter in the second part of the league, it was a game that started with one-way traffic.

Some would argue that the one-way traffic started earlier when Lorenz Magaard-Romano traveled up from Wellington.

Some work straight off the training paddock saw Joel Roil and Lale Stapleford involved in some opportunities to take the lead - but it took till the 37th minute for Haydn Roil to get one in the back of the net.

Te Awamutu took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

Aware of the dangers of that scoreline not reflecting the work they had done the messaging was clear - get out and score first.

Nic King-McRae took that task and put the team two up and as usual a fine celebration to top it.

Mel Cropp put a bit of pressure on Te Awamutu with 30 minutes to go bringing it to 2-1.

But Te Awamutu claimed the three competition points and now focus on the last two games away, heading to Claudelands this Saturday and then Pāpāmoa the following week.

Four other teams are currently battling it out for fourth place in the league with Te Awamutu.

Over 35s

This weekend the Storyteller Eatery & Bar Over 35 team are back in action,

They continue their run in the WaiBOP Cup plate run taking on Unicol Red Boyz from 12.30pm at the Stadium in Te Awamutu.

Juniors

The Te Awamutu AFC Juniors wrapped up their seasons on Saturday ending a massive season for the club.

There has been lots of support in the junior space with individual sponsors jumping in. Hoodies have been popular thanks to Brandit.kiwi.

3 Stone Vets continue to provide tournaments for the juniors in the off-season and Craigs Investment Partners have invested in the future of the kids by helping upskill the coaches.