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Peter Vossen Builders have blown a two goal lead to end up losing on the road again, this time in Tauranga. Away defeats are becoming a recurring nightmare for Matamata, although this one probably had more elements of interest than most of their recent matches, if that could be possible.
In a match that was always going to be keenly contested it was Matamata that started the strongest, looked to be cruising, then fell over in a big way against a Tauranga side that was sharper  and more committed on the day.
The Swifts were two goals ahead almost within the blink of an eye. Stu Watene’s first minute corner took a couple of nicks on the way in, before Mike Beard chested down and volleyed home a superb Andrew Clothier cross on ten minutes.
From there Matamata relinquished almost complete control of the game to their opponents as their play became as stodgy as the Links Ave surface.
Tauranga got a goal back on twenty minutes with an almost identical strike to Beard’s, before Pete Shannon was Grella’d on the clubrooms touchline, only to see the referee award a free kick against him. That decision embodied in a split second the frustration both teams were to have with the decision making coming from the man in the middle throughout.
Tom Pamment made a superb close range save to preserve Matamata’s half time lead. Little were the Swifts to know of the horrors awaiting them after the break.
Tauranga’s deserved equaliser came early in the second half. An excellent long range drive took just enough of a flick off an unlucky Pete Shannon to push the ball out of Pamment’s reach, but just inside the upright. The home side went ahead on the hour when a speculative turn and shot from all of 35 metres flew over a stranded Pamment.
The last half hour drifted by as both sides sank deeper and deeper into the mush. Things livened up near the end when Matamata’s Grant Cooper found himself sent off for a tackle similar to several that had gone before. The hand bags were out for a few seconds before the pointlessness of the decision making dawned on the players from both sides and they calmed themselves down and played the match out.
This defeat drags the Swifts back to the pack chasing the all important top six positions and it makes next Saturday’s home game against Waiuku even more important than it already was.
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