Football: Blues dictate terms
The sizeable crowd at Links Ave on Sunday for the Tauranga City United v North Shore United clash could be forgiven for wondering who the pacesetters were in the Northern League's second division.
Going into the game the visitors were atop the table, six points clear of the Blues. However, a committed Tauranga dominated the match, only allowing the opposition the occasional sniff.
In the opening minute only a diving save from City 'keeper Dale Schischka kept his team from going one behind.
His worries dissipated as Tauranga took the game by the scruff of the neck, dictating play and shutting the visitors down quickly, not allowing them to get into any sort of rhythm.
Their efforts were rewarded in the 10th minute when, from a City corner, centre back Graham Craven put away the cross.
City's midfield, led by terriers Josh Nelson and Isaac Bright, worked hard to create scoring chances. Coaching director Ian Stringfellow was unlucky to have a goal disallowed for offside.
Nelson was booked in the 24th minute, one of five yellow cards handed out by referee Paul Snape, the rest going to the opposition. At halftime coach Merv Montgomery was pleased with City's effort but mindful of the danger of letting North Shore back in.
City started where they left off, with Stringfellow shooting wide early, but were nearly subject to a Minties Moment soon after when Schischka, well out of his goal area, seemed to impede an advancing North Shore player, although the ref waved play on, much to the local supporters' relief.
Goal scorer Craven was forced to leave the field with a knee injury after a late tackle but the re-arranged defence, led by the Van Der Salm brothers, Mark and Ben,and Steve Smith continued to snuff out any attacks.
Craven's replacement Jindrich Hahn put City 2-0 ahead in the 79th minute, making a darting run into the goal area and inviting the North Shore defender to take him down, which he did. Hahn slotted the resulting spot kick.
Apart from a brief late flourish the visitors knew they were second best on the day, dropping to third in the standings. Tauranga leapt past Waikuku and Matamata into sixth.
Montgomery was full of praise for his side's performance, particularly the fact they had put away most of their clear chances, something that had been lacking. In previous games they have dominated teams but failed to capitalise. Perhaps they have turned a corner.
Tauranga play tomorrow, away to lowly Manukau City, and are back home again on Sunday at 2.30pm when they host fourth-placed Warkworth.
Second division
Tauranga City Utd 2 (Graham Caven, Jindrich Hahn) North Shore United 0. HT: 1-0.
Mangere United 2 (James Hoyt, own goal) Fencibles 0. HT: 2-0.
Onehunga Mangere 1 (Robert Winfield) Warkworth 1 (Rob Carty). HT: 1-0.
Matamata Swifts 0 Hibiscus Coast 2 (Trent Mayes, Dan Cyra). HT: 0-1.
Manukau City 2 (William McClure, Rhys Ruka) Western Springs 3 (Luke Petrie, Dean Brereton, Matthew Wildman). HT: 1-1.
Waiuku v Papakura City, match abandoned (player injury).
Boxing: Jackson adds title
Fresh from winning the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association super middleweight title in a 10-round decision, Tauranga's Gunnar Jackson added the vacant PABA light heavyweight title to his haul in Perth.
Jackson, with a 13-2-2 record going into the fight at the Western Australia Italian Club, was too good for Aussie David 'Iceman' Letizia, scoring a TKO victory.
Jackson came out strong and had Letizia in trouble a few times in the first round by landing big shots and trapping Letizia against the ropes, and had the Italian-Aussie in trouble in the fourth and fifth rounds with some big shots.
Letizia fought back to win the sixth round but Jackson got on the front foot again in the seventh. Midway through round eight he caught his oppponent with a big shot and then trapped him against the ropes and scored several unanswered punches. Letizia fell to the canvas and his corner threw in the towel.
The pair battled to a majority draw in Perth two years ago, although Jackson's coach Chris Walker said his fighter was 10 times the boxer he was back then.
"Gunnar was just starting out but he's improved a lot. I think they were quite shocked because they were expecting the same opponent."
The win means Jackson is now ranked by the WBA in the top 15 in the world, which will open doors overseas, mainly across the Tasman.
"Promoters are already lining up to put in bids to get Gunnar to fight but we'll take it slowly and plan our approach to which fights Gunnar takes and when."
Surfing: Surfers do well
Mt Maunganui pair Jordan Griffin and Mackenzie Christie have finished 33rd and 20th respectively at the world junior surfing championships in Panama.
The New Zealand campaign ended over the weekend, with Whangamata's Ella Williams finished as the highest-placed Kiwi in ninth.
Griffin was third in his under-16 boys' repechage round six heat to Italian Leonardo Fioravanti and Brazilian Lucas Silveira to finished 33rd overall.
Christie surfed his under-18 repechage round five heat, finishing fourth behind surfers from Australia and the US. Christie finished the event 20th.
"In my heat I felt like I could have got the scores if I lucked into a running wave, but I never really got one so was only able to do two turns which didn't compare to the long rides the Aussies and American got," Christie said.
"Overall I thought I did quite well considering its my first year in under-18s and first worlds event, but a heat or two more would have been nice."
Athletics: Hunter-Galvan back
Disgraced runner Liza Hunter-Galvan has been confirmed for this weekend's Lion Foundation Rotorua Marathon.
With 2010-11 champion Johanna Ottosson out because of injury, Hunter-Galvan's presence will bring some class. The 42-year-old New Zealander, who lives in Texas, represented New Zealand in the marathon at two Olympic games, 2004 in Athens and four years later in Beijing.
She won last year's Christchurch marathon after serving a two-year ban when she tested positive for the blood-booster erythropoietin in 2009. She has a career-best time of 2hr 29min 37sec.
Hockey: Win hard-won
Striker Brad Mckenzie doubled his goal tally for the season with two goals as Mt Maunganui downed Hamilton Old Boys-Suburbs 3-1 at the Tauranga Hockey Centre on Saturday to stay unbeaten, two games into the men's Intercity season.
Mt Maunganui had to work hard for their win in the feature match, with Mckenzie's first goal coming when he dribbled around the Old Boys' goalie to score. Partway through the second half after Old Boys had equalised, McKenzie put the Mount back in front with a skilful goal. Old Boys had muffed a penalty stroke opportunity just prior to this, but the Mount had its turn at a penalty stroke in the dying minutes, with Lincoln Churchill converting.
Otumoetai and Onewhero drew 5-5, with Otumoetai looking likely to lose before fighting back in the last quarter to salvage a draw.
Onewhero took the lead in the 5th minute after a loose Otumoetai pass in defence turned over the ball and Paul Rae calmly goaled. A recovery followed from Otumoetai with their penalty corners paying dividends and they turned at the interval 3-2 ahead.
Onewhero rallied to lead 5-3 after a trio of goals, including a stunning backhand shot from Naresh Kana. Otumoetai closed the gap to draw level, and would have taken the game but for a fine 'keeping display by young Onewhero goalie George Flynn. The entertaining match had a moment of controversy late in the piece, when the umpire signalled a goal to Onewhero after the ball rocketed over the Otumoetai goalkeeper's head, but after an appeal the umpire consulted with his colleague and the officials decided that the ball had hit the crossbar and had not crossed the line.
In the women's Intercity, reigning champions Otumoetai suffered the indignity of conceding the first goal before taking charge, scoring at regular intervals to thrash Taupo 9-1, with Dani Maunder's incisiveness on attack netting her three goals.
Mt Maunganui women dominated Onewhero for long periods but finished poorly, with a 3-1 lead going into the last quarter transformed into a 3-4 loss.
Premier Men: Mt Maunganui 3 (Brad McKenzie 2, Lincoln Churchill) Hamilton OB - Suburbs 1 (Daniel Scanlan), HT 1-0; Otumoetai 5 (Jono Simmonds, Aaron McNabb 3, Brad Berry) Onewhero 5 (Paul Rae 3, Zayne Anderson, Naresh Kana), HT 3-2; Waikato University 5 Rotorua Aces 2; Pukekohe Indians 9 Rotorua Indians 1; Fraser Tech 3 Kohekohe 2, HT 1-0; Thames Valley 4 Varsity Reserves 0, HT 2-0; Waiau Pa 6 Te Awamutu 5, HT 3-1.
Premier Women: Otumoetai 9 (Dani Maunder 3Tambra McGarvey 2, Katrina Carson, Monique Eades, Anita Robinson, Raelene Miller) Taupo 1 (Megan Hammond), HT 4-1; Onewhero 4 Mt Maunganui 3 (Sue Furmage, Megan Bartlett, Rebecca Millar), HT 0-2; Rotorua Aces 4 Te Awamutu 2, HT 3-1; Hamilton Old Girls 2 Waikato University 2, HT 1-0; Fraser Tech 9 Franklin 2.
Golf: Youngsters triumph
Bay of Plenty Golf's emerging talent have won a quadrangular tournament in Taupo, trumping Hawke's Bay, North Harbour and Waikato in the matchplay format event over two days.
No 6 Charlie Hiller (Te Puke) and No 2 Bailey Smith (Mt Maunganui) were the unbeaten players in the Bay lineup, with wins over Waikato and North Harbour and a five matches all deadlock against Hawkes Bay.
Bay of Plenty 13 Waikato 7: Andrew Jackson lost to Callun Scott 2 and 1, Tyler King lost to Herewini Hohepa 5 and 3, Henry Spring bt Thomas Coles 2 and 1, Jon Stewart and Sam Vincent all square, Charlie Hillier bt Mitchell Kirkbride 1up, Harry Middleton bt Matthew Adams 3 and 2, Mark Rigter bt Shaun Steiner 1up, Tawera Williams lost to Regan Kidd 2 down, Baily Smith bt Jordan Holmes 4 and 3, Jordan Golding bt Hamish Kerr 2 and 1.
Hawkes Bay 11 North Harbour 9.
Bay of Plenty 11 North Harbour 9: Jackson b Louis Pablo 4 and 3, King lost to Sam Reese 1 down, Spring and Haki Heke all square, Stewart lost to Kit Bittle 5 and 4, Hillier b Michael Li 4 and 3, Middleton b Brad O'Brien 7 and 5, Rigter b Sam Davimes 2 up, Williams lost to Mark Hutson 6 and 5, Smith b Jake Meenhorst 1up, Golding lost to Tadhg Campbell 3 and 2.
Hawkes Bay 10 Waikato 10.
Bay of Plenty 10 Hawkes Bay 10: Jackson b Blake Graham 4 and 3, King b Stephen Wilding 4 and 3, Spring lost to Blake Burton 3 and 2, Stewart lost to Dallas Williams 3 and 2, Hillier b Kerry Mountcastles 2 and 1, Middleton lost to Josh Dasent 1 down, Rigter lost to Liam Stops 5 and 4, Williams b Tyson Tawera 1up, Smith b Kayden Stops 2 and 1, Golding lost to Madison Noakes 1down.
Waikato 11 North Harbour 9.
Final points: Bay of Plenty 34, Hawke's Bay 31, Waikato 28, North Harbour 27.
Football: Favourites emerge
It's only four games into a 22-game competition but already Taupo have emerged as favourites for the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Federation 1 title.
Against Rotorua United on Saturday, Taupo dominated possession and territory and the 3-0 score did not reflect their control.
It took just four minutes for Taupo to open the scoring when an Alan Lamb free kick was headed back across the goal for Jesse Smith to net from close range. Fifteen minutes later Rotorua mounted their first attack, but it was the only one of the half and if it hadn't been for the pass backs, Taupo keeper Nick Van Heerdan could have put his track suit on and joined his mates in the dugout. It was no surprise when Chris Roberts made it 2-0.
Rotorua need credit for the way they took the game to Taupo after the break, and with an ounce of luck they could have been back on level terms. But Taupo woke from their halftime slumber and normal transmission was resumed, with Lamb given a foot of space in the box to coolly pick his spot to complete the scoring.
At Rex Morpeth Park, Whakatane Town found themselves 1-0 down against Otorohanga at the break, but after an early second half goal the floodgates opened and they ran out convincing 6-1 winners. Brendan Mitchell netted a hat trick with Sean Henderson, Wayde Maloney and Scott Marrow also scoring.
Otumoetai were ahead 3-0 against Ngongotaha at halftime but the Villagers played with more purpose after the break. After scoring twice they were unlucky not to at least get a share of the points. Keeper Graeme Blisset, the woodwork and a refereeing decision that ruled out what looked to be a legitimate goal conspired to give Otumoetai a 3-2 win. Matt Collins (2) and Andrew Gibbs scored for Otumoetai.
Old Blues were left lamenting two missed penalties when they were beaten 3-2 by AFC Fury. The referee awarded four penalties in total, with Fury taking the lead when they scored from the spot in the first half.
An Andy Carter penalty and a goal from Tim Clark had Old Blues ahead with 15 minutes to play but the inexperienced side couldn't close the game out. "Fury played well but the game was there for the taking," Old Blues coach Andy Legget lamented.
Tauranga Boys' College, with goals from Ahamed Zammit and Jack Chaney, had a good 2-1 win over Melville United at Gower Park while a 1-0 win against an understrength Waikato Unicol kept Claudelands in second.
Federation 1 points: Taupo 12, Claudelands 9, Whakatane 9, AFC Fury 7, Ngongotaha 6, Otumoetai 6, Waikato Unicol 5, Melville 4, Old Blues 3, Otorohanga 3, Rotorua United 0.
Federation 2 scores: Matamata 1 Katikati 5, Tauranga City 8 Tokoroa 0, Clube Algeria 0 Cambridge 2, Te Awamutu 2 Rotorua United 3.
Tauranga Boys College Fed 1; Points: Tauranga City 9, Katikati 9, Cambridge 9, Clube Alegria 7, Rotorua United 4, West Hamilton 3, Matamata 3, Te Awamutu 1, Tokoroa AFC 1.
Club rugby: Flyer scores 7
Two individual scoring performances took centre stage in Seeka KI Western Bay of Plenty club rugby on Saturday.
Matakana Island flyer Mate Samuels took control of the clash against Eastern Districts on the island when he ran in a stunning seven tries in his side's 97-7 rout.
Samuels wasn't the only Matakana player to score multiple touchdowns, with Kereama Ngatai grabbing four tries.
Katikati backline speedster Richie Earl was in outstanding form, scoring all of his side's points as the visitors squeezed past Mount Maunganui 32-28 at Blake Park. Earl's points came from four tries, three conversions and two penalties goals as his team stayed unbeaten this season.
Arataki Black took home the Hardy Rosebowl Western Bay challenge trophy from their visit to Maharaia Winiata Park when they thumped Judea 40-14. The six tries-to-two victory was built on a uncompromising performance from a side is also unbeaten.
Papamoa moved into a share of third when they defeated Rangiuru 44-8, Tauranga Sports posted a solid 46-6 win over Greerton Marist, Te Puke Sports grabbed their first victory of the season 31-22 over Rangataua 31-22 and Arataki Red survived a close contest against Te Puna 36-29.
Seeka KI Western Bay scores: Arataki Red 36 Te Puna 29, Papamoa 44 Rangiuru 8, Katikati 32 Mount Maunganui 28, Matakana Island 97 Eastern Districts 7; Te Puke Sports 31 Rangataua 22, Arataki Black 40 Judea 14, Tauranga Sports 46 Greerton Marist 6.