Waiuku and Papakura share the spoils

Waiuku hosted Papakura at Massey Park on Saturday in near perfect football playing conditions in a derby game which was both entertaining and intense. Both teams are hovering precariously close to the second bottom placed relegation spot so both teams were looking for the points. Waiuku do however have games in hand which could see them climb a very close and congested league table.

Waiuku were missing key players from the starting line up such as Grant Muckle, Wayne Trout, Jamie Pegg, Danny Baldwin and Derek Sinclair while Vaughan Banfield has been ruled out for the rest of the season. Therefore the game plan for Waiuku was to sit deep and counter attack. Papakura started strongly but couldnt find the target in their early opportunities. Shane Godden got free from the Waiuku defence, where Robert Thornton was playing his first game of the season, but narrowly shot wide when one on one with goalkeeper Justin Baldwin. Waiuku went ahead against the run of play when Sam van Pomeron beat his marker in the midfield and played an exquisite ball through to captain Cody Ralph. Ralph made no mistake firing underneath Russell Dixon in the Papakura goal. Again Papakura pushed forward for the equaliser but the Waiuku defence stood strong.

The nature of the game was the same in the second half with Papakura having more possession and playing better football. Up stepped Baldwin in goal to save the day. Firstly Papakura was awarded a penalty when Jeremy Hubbard fell in the box and the ball struck his hand. Brazilian Pablo Fuhr took the resulting spot kick but Baldwin got down and palmed the ball away to his right. Godden got free again on the left and his cross shot smacked on to the cross bar and bounced to safety. Another Godden cross was met by another Brazilian Carlos Ferreira whose header was tipped over the bar by Baldwin and he also reacted smartly to save to his right when it seemed Ferreira was destined to score. Waiuku did create some half chances in the second half but they were few and far between even after the introduction of Sinclair and Baldwin on to the pitch.

Just like it seemed Waiuku were going to game all three points, Papakura finally scored. With thirty seconds left on the clock, a Godden corner was met at the far post by Ferreira who made no mistake from close range. The final score 1-1.

Coach Jim Evans thought a point was a fair result ". It is a little hard to take because we came so close to the win but Papakura outplayed us today and they deserved something from the game. However Waiuku showed that even without some key players, they are prepared to stand and battle. The positive of not having all your players is that the fringe players are gaining valuable experience and the end result is we will come out of this stronger. Justin Baldwin was the best player on the pitch and was outstanding in defence while Hubbard had a good game as well. I thought Godden was the best Papakura player on display and he never seemed to stop running."

Team: Justin Baldwin, Davie Johnson, Jerry Hubbard (vc), Robert Thornton, Ken Nicoll, Sam van Pomeron (Scott Petersen), Joe Rayson (Derek Sinclair 70), Dale Oliver, Cody Ralph (c), Charlie Heather, Jesse Smyth Kirk (Danny Baldwin)

Subs not used: Brett Zinzan, Jason Heather