Waiuku destroy North Shore in second half

North Shore who are based in Devenport and have a long history in New Zealand football played the better football in the first half. They scrapped for possession and closed down the Waiuku players when they had the ball. North Shore took the lead on the twenty minute mark when Ben Wall took a corner kick which he floated into the six yard box. Phil van den Broek mistimed his approach and could only palm the ball into the far corner. Waiuku went close on a couple of occasion mainly down the left side with Jamie Pegg and Cody Ralph getting crosses in which narrowly evaded Waiuku attackers.

Down at halftime and Waiuku had it all to do. The team switched to a new formation which the North Shore team didnt pick up. Simon Millynn put a ball into Derek Sinclair's feet and he was pushed in the back for a penalty. Ralph made no mistake to equalise the scores. Waiuku applied more pressure and were rewarded with a corner due to some good work from Robert Hatton and Godden on the right. Ralph floated the ball into the far corner and Sinclair dived and headed the ball into the roof of the net. Another corner saw Ralph score direct from the flag as he curled the ball inside the near post. North Shore started to fight back and were rewarded for a good spell of pressure when a corner was knocked out to Robbie Coshan who slammed the ball into the top corner from 25 yards out.

Waiuku put the game beyond doubt when Godden scored a debut goal. Ralph was taken out just outside the area and Godden curled the ball through the wall and into the bottom right corner. The crowd saw an excellent celebration when Godden performed a double somersault while kissing the Waiuku badge. Waiuku were not finished. With less than five minutes to go, Robbie Leonard put Sinclair through who squared the ball to Ralph who tapped into the goal to claim a hatrick. In a near duplication of the goal, Ralph scored his fourth goal when Phil Donovan sent Sinclair clear who squared again into Ralph's path.

6-2 was the final scoreline and coach Jim Evans was happy the side was back on track "North Shore didnt deserve to get a hiding but we never stop playing and we got our rewards. It is a vital win which will build some much needed confidence back into the team. Shane Godden was deserved man of the match but Sinclair and Ralph were also outstanding."