Matamata Swifts completed a comfortable enough victory at Morrinsville on Saturday in their first Waikato Premier League (WPL) match in five weeks.

In recent times the Swifts have been involved in Chatham Cup action and have also been frustrated with a postponement and, most recently, a bye in their WPL schedule so it was with pleasure the side took to the field for some bread-and-butter league action.

Morrinsville didn't hold any real surprises for the Swifts. Matamata expected a torrid opening few minutes with the hosts entering this game full of the confidence brought about by two consecutive wins. The Swifts weren't disappointed and took about twenty minutes to break down the enthusiasm of their hosts and get over their own rustiness.

During this opening stanza the Swifts weren't short of half chances, but it took a disasterous miss by their opponents to really settle things down. Morrinsville should have taken the lead from their only chance of the first half but their striker popped the ball over the top from inside the six yard box.

After that, normal service was resumed. The passes started sticking and the pressure began to build on a Morrinsville side that was pushed further and further back towards their own goal.

Scott Parsonage, playing on the left of the Swifts front three, opened the scoring on the twenty five mark with a cool finish from inside the box. He was soon joined on the score sheet by captain, Andy Birchenough, who waltzed through the Morrinsville defence with all the skill of Fred Astaire, before crisply tucking the ball home. All his recent practice is finally paying off...

Matamata stretched the lead to three before the break. Adam Graham broke through onto the end of a defence-splitting John Massey pass and completed the job with the Morrinsville keeper stranded.

The second half began in much the same way as the first. A good old fashioned half time bollocking from their coach had the Morrinsville players eager to get out and limit the damage, and it took the Swifts fifteen minutes or so to find their next goal, the first of John Massey's quick-fire double. They were both neat finishes, as always (but I'm sorry Mass, I can't remember anything else about them).

Five goals to the good, the Swifts made their first substitution and it was a move that didn't give the Morrinsville defence any respite. Within five minutes of his introduction Jason Collins had grabbed himself a couple of goals. He tucked his first in from ten yards then hammered his second home from close range.

The only slightly sour note for the Swifts was the conceeding of their first WPL goal of the season. It came within minutes of the end and gave the hosts some small reward for their tireless efforts.