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Matamata Swifts 3 v Te Awamutu 3
Saturday June 8, 2002
Waikato 1st Division

Matamata Swifts inability to hold onto a two goal lead almost came back to haunt them at the weekend as Te Awamutu came from behind twice to snatch a 3-3 draw. In the end the Swifts, who were forced, once again, to reshuffle their line-up, came out of the match with a point and some credibility against a team who were second in the league before kick-off.

The Swifts were also to lose talented 16 year old, Corey Clements, for the remainder of the season after he was cut down by a murderous challenge early in the second half. Clements suffered a broken collarbone while his assailant, surprisingly, only received a booking and lived to play for the remainder of the match.

For the second week in a row Matamata had the best of the first 45-minutes. After the usual early match thrust and parry, the Swifts built themselves a two goal lead. Bevan Shelley got the first, powering home a header from inside the box, and David Hyslop the second, and his fourth of the season, soon after.

Te Awamutu hauled themselves back into the match midway through the first half when Matamata let in yet another avoidable goal, but all this did was urge the Swifts forward once again. Within a minute Matamata had restored their two-goal lead when Jamie Cox capitalised on some good work down the right by Bevan Shelley to roll home the Swifts' third goal of the game.

What looked like a comfortable lead turned out to be anything but that. Just before the break the visitors grabbed their second, and most telling, goal of the game. Unfortunately it followed yet another Swifts defensive mix-up.

The second half was played out in stark contrast to the first. A long injury delay was unavoidable following the injury to Clements and then, within minutes of the restart, Te Awamutu got their equaliser.

That was the end of the scoring, although the Swifts almost managed a late winner. From a corner, substitute, Ian Moody, powered a header goalwards, but had to look on in agony as it was nudged away to safety by a defender on the line.

In the end, though, a draw was probably a fair reflection of the flow of the match and gives the Swifts something positive to build on for the remainder of the season.

The Matamata Hotel player of the day was left-back Cameron Pearson who put in his best performance of the season.

Other Results:
Cambridge 2 v West Ham 1, Claudelands 0 v Melville 1,
Ngaruawahia 0 v Wanderers 2, Tokoroa 1 v Unicol 1.

Full Table (as at June 8):