Cambridge 1-2 Swifts

Recap

Cambridge 1-2 Waikato Stud Matamata Swifts
Loaded WaiBOP Premiership

Waikato Stud Matamata Swifts have beaten 2015 Loaded WaiBOP Premiership champions, Cambridge, 2-1 in a tight contest at John Kerkhof Park to maintain third spot in the Waikato Bay of Plenty’s top football league.

The Swifts’ victory was built on a strong defensive showing against one of the league’s top scoring teams, with only a controversial free kick right on half time blotting the team’s copy book. Before that, however, Matamata had looked good going forward, albeit in a match of few true scoring chances.

Chris Walker, in his first start for the Swifts, opened the scoring just inside 20 minutes when he capitalised on a defensive blunder to roll the ball into an empty net. With Matamata missing a number of regular starters Walker, and several others, were thrust into this derby contest and responded well.

Jordane Lambert drew his usual number of fouls during the first half as he and Walker prodded and probed the Cambridge defence, off the back of a strong showing from Matamata’s midfield. The equaliser was a blow, coming as it did so close to the break, but the team responded well during the second half.

Matamata had to deal with a barrage of long balls during the early and mid-stages of the second half as Cambridge forced a number set-pieces. But the newly put together back four, along with keeper Jordan Wise, didn’t buckle. The team’s defensive heroics were rewarded with less than ten minutes to go when, following a corner, the Cambridge goalie threw the ball into his own net under pressure from Dwayne Signal.

This was Matamata’s first win in Cambridge since 2010 and moved the team to within three points of the top of the table.