Matamata Swifts have returned to winning ways with a scratchy victory over Ngaruawahia at the Domain. Quality football was at a premium as the plucky visitors scrapped for everything and turned what should have been a comfortable victory into a close run thing.

An average first half from both sides saw little incident and even less invention. Swifts keeper, Gary Darkes, had to be sharp to make one decent save with his feet, but apart from that neither side threatened much at all.

The bumpy Domain surface made it difficult for both sides to string more than a few passes together and, while the Swifts had the bulk of the possession, it was mainly in the middle of the field. Matamata only had a couple of shots on target but didn't stretch the visiting goalie.

After half time it was largely one way traffic and by the end of the match the Swifts had upped their shot count to 24, half of which were on target. Andre Freitas became more of a menace and was unlucky not to have had a hat trick before he was replaced. He even hit the bar from close range.

The Swifts finally opened the scoring only moments after Ngaruawahia had a player sent off for dissent. Duncan Lowry stooped to nudge a header home then was joined on the score sheet soon after by Daniel Frischknecht with his third goal in three games.

To their credit the visitors were well organised and arrived at the Domain with a plan. If anything they looked more dangerous with ten players on the field. By their own admission they were determined to hound and frustrate Matamata and they did this perfectly by grabbing a goal on the break. A visibly more relaxed Swifts outfit was caught out and Ngaruawahia slammed home the second of their day's two shots on target. This was enough to keep the Swifts honest and remind them they have to keep playing for the entire 90 minutes.

Redoubt man of the match, Daniel Frischknecht, was lively down the right for Matamata, while both full backs, Scott Parsonage and Andrew Taylor, put in good performances. Carlos Rodriguez was solid in the middle and Leo Pardini provided a creative spark in his new role up front.

The match passed without any real dramatic incident, from a Matamata perspective, which was somewhat comforting after last weekend. We'll happily take three points, no injuries and no red cards every week if that's what's on offer.