Te Puke Utd to host Tauranga City in top-of-the-table clash

Te Puke's Otis Petersen (left) battles for the ball with Ōtūmoetai's Adam Thomson. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

Te Puke football fans can look forward to a home top-of-the-table clash on Saturday as the black-and-whites host Tauranga City.

The Bay 1 division is now split into top-four and bottom-four competitions, with points carried over. Te Puke remain unbeaten with eight wins and three draws, equal at the top of the Bay 1A division with Tauranga City.

Te Puke’s latest win was a 3-0 victory over Ōtūmoetai at Fergusson Park.

The visitors were solid from the kick-off, holding possession and playing the ball around, looking for an opening.

The deadlock was finally broken with a confident finish from Jindrich Hahn. Despite creating several more chances, Te Puke couldn’t add to the score before the break.

After more good play and some chances were created, the second goal came after a nice passage of play finished when Nick Johnson laid the ball off to Shaun Bell to bury it in the bottom corner. Any doubts about the results were extinguished when Daniel Courtis made it three with a cheeky chip off the keeper.

The player of the day was Russell Dickson. Saturday’s crucial game again Tauranga City at Litt Park kicks off at 12.30pm.

Reserves

Te Puke Reserves hosted Pāpāmoa United in Bay 2, slumping to a 7-0 defeat.

A scrappy game from the start meant Te Puke conceded an own goal early on and struggled to chase the game from there. By halftime, the score was 4-0 to Pāpāmoa. Te Puke had more opportunities in the second half, with a beautifully placed shot on goal from Simon leading to an increased intensity, but a second own goal from a penalty dampened any hope.

The player of the day was Caleb Pepperell. The reserves play away against Ōtūmoetai FC on Saturday. Kick-off is at 12.30pm.

Women

Te Puke’s women won 5-0 at home on Sunday against Plains Rangers.

Another strong start for Te Puke saw many early chances being created. Maia Moko was first to hit home, with a long shot going into the bottom corner. More dominant play secured a corner that Sarah Earle swung in to find the head of Sammi Parish, who made it 2-0.

Plains Rangers created a couple of chances, but a solid defence kept the away team out. As the first half came to an end, Chynna Davie crossed a ball in for Ellie Hansen to finish and make the halftime score 3-0.

Te Puke continued to play attractive football, attacking well, with Parish getting her second after another Davie cross.

While continuing to keep Plain Rangers out of the final third, Te Puke lost their finishing touch, being unable to add to their total until Davie got one of her own.

The player of the day was Ellie Hansen. The women’s side will travel to Links Ave on Sunday to play Tauranga City. Kick-off is at 11am.