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Matamata Swifts have survived the icy weekend blast and a hostile on-field reception to record a comfortable victory over lowly Melville United. In a complete turn-up for the books, for Matamata at least, most of the goal scoring action was in the first half. Maybe this was because that was when conditions were at their best.
 The Swifts were quicker than Usain Bolt out of the blocks. They scored twice in the opening three minutes and had added a third before ten minutes had passed. Leading scorer, Andre Freitas, calmly slipped the ball into the net to open the scoring, then Daniel Frischknecht drove the ball home from a tight angle to double the lead. By the time Leo Pardini had been played in and chipped the keeper for the third goal the match was over as a contest.
The game did become a little more even in the middle of the park, but every time the Swifts attacked with pace they looked like scoring. Daniel Frischknect notched his second of the match with a fine left footed drive, before Melville showed some signs of life, scoring from the spot after the Swifts had given away a needless penalty.
Scott Parsonage, at fault for the penalty, soon balanced things on his personal scorecard by venturing forward, getting on the end of another incisive Swifts move and blasting the ball in from eight yards.
So it was 5-1 at the break with the promise of more goals, particularly if the Swifts could sort out their general performance. Despite the goals and the good attacking play, the general level of performance was lethargic at best.
Unfortunately, the weather and some rough house tactics from the home side conspired to turn the second half into a mess. Melville figured the only way to stop Redoubt man of the match, Daniel Frischknect, was to kick and shoulder charge him into the ground. It worked, but only because the officials had lost control of proceedings.
As the sky turned inky and the rain turned to sleet any semblance of a football match disappeared. Leo Pardini pushed the Swifts further ahead after his cross was deflected into the net but, in truth, neither side created much.
A late burst of excitement was provided by the awarding of another penalty to the home side. While the penalty may have been justified, the subsequent red card shown to Ged Parkinson was not. What made matters worse was that the officials did nothing about the two Melville players who waded into the fray with fists, admittedly weakly, flying.
The spot kick was put away, the Swifts played out the match comfortably enough and then everyone retired for a warm shower and a hot drink. The Swifts were warmed up very quickly when word filtered through that Taupo had been held to their second consecutive draw.
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