Ngongotaha AFC have beaten Te Atatu AFC 4-2 to extend the gap between themselves and the bottom four teams in the Northern Region Football League second division.

Manager Stephen Towers said it was good to get a win yesterday despite the team missing several players due to illness.

"We were expecting to be injury-free for this game but we had lads coming down with the flu and struggled for numbers in the end.

"We played a couple of young kids, Cormac Waller at centre half and Sean Kim on the wing, and they did a good job for us.

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"Those few injuries and players missing would've crippled us last year, but this year we seem to have a bit more depth," Towers said.

Ngongotaha were up 4-0 at halftime thanks to two goals from Josh O'Sullivan and one each from Kim and Mitch Miller.

"Josh was ill but still played and managed to bag a couple of goals.

"We scored three very similar goals in the fact that we broke down the wings, hit the byline and got the ball into the box for three tap ins.

"Mitch scored a goal off a corner, the ball kind of bounced around in the box and Mitch just knocked it in."

"He's out top goal-scorer Mitch, he's a special talent, he's lightning quick.

"The lads tired a bit in the second half, I'm not sure if the travelling takes a toll, but we let them into it slightly in the second half."

This weekend Ngongotaha take on Auckland premier side Three Kings United in the third round of the Chatham Cup in Auckland.

"Hopefully we'll get the lads back for that one."

In the WaiBOP Premiership, Rotorua Utd lost 1-0 to West Hamilton United and sit ninth on the table.