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Matamata Swifts got their yearly struggle in Otorohanga out of the way nice and early, coming away with one goal, three points and their sense of humour intact. Neil Slater slammed home the rebound after a late penalty from Tim Miller was well saved to give the match the correct result and keep the Swifts near the top of the Waikato Bay of Plenty Federation League table.
The Swifts were slow getting into this match, huffing and puffing their way through the first half, while creating little going forward. It was the sort of rusty effort the coaching staff feared after so few recent matches. Mark Knell had a close range effort deflected wide and, just before the break, Mark Habbs struck a sweet drive straight at the keeper.
 Otorohanga were, well, Otorohanga. They were commitment, passion, arms, legs and elbows (yes, we did see it Shaun...) personified. They matched Matamata in most areas during the first half, rewarding their superb fans with the type of performance that would have sent them home happy.
After the break the match changed its personality completely. The first fifteen minutes of the second half saw Matamata camped in their opponent's half, with efforts from Mike Spencer, Mark Knell, Andy Birchenough and Neil Slater either well saved or sent just wide. Slater then hit the crossbar.
This frantic period was capped off quite brilliantly when Matamata had two of their support staff sent from the field after tending to an injured player. The reason - well, we can only gather it was for having a sense of humour. The 'incident' reports promise to make good bedtime reading.
A two year old child was then threatened with removal from the field for having the temerity to touch the corner flag. (No, it wasn't one of our players... it was an actual two year old child.) This amused the home fans no end as they were willing the young lad to rip the flag from the clutches of the Otorohanga dirt and make a clean getaway.
The last half hour of the match fell into a familiar pattern. The Swifts lurched forward, while the hosts sucked up the pressure and looked for the opportunity to counter with their speedy strikers. Swifts keeper, Tom Pamment, had one of the quieter days at the office he'll have this season, but got his positioning spot on on the couple of occasions Otorohanga looked dangerous.
Grant Cooper was his brilliant self in the heart of the Swifts defence and Jack McKenna, the Merhaba man of the match, put in a polished performance at right back. Mike Spencer got through a tonne of work out wide and Mark Abbs did the sort of job in midfield that impresses the socks of any coach who knows the game.
The timing of the Swifts goal, only a couple of minutes from the end, was tough on the home side, particularly so given it came from the penalty spot. The decision looked harsh from some angles and correct from others, but there was no denying that Slater had been knocked off the ball in the box.
The goal was the nice little sting in the tail to a match that will probably be remembered for reasons other than the football. Both sides had a good old time whinging and moaning, as footballers around the world do every week, but it was the team that did it with foreign accents that suffered the most on this particular day. Thankfully that was the team that walked, rather happily it must be said, away with the victory.
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