Football: Kamo fire five past Madhatters

Tiaan Hudson's Kamo had a strong performance as they beat Madhatters 5-2. Photo/Michael Cunningha

Kamo leant on a clinical first half to grab a 5-2 win over Madhatters in the Northland Premier Division.

Both sides had scoring opportunities early but it was Madhatters who made the early breakthrough with forward Greg Tetlaw scoring a great solo goal, taking on two defenders before slotting the strike.

Kamo didn't have to wait long before nabbing their reply. Midfielder Jamie Blowers put on an accurate through ball for Adam Cheeseman to equal the scores.

Madhatters continued to push Kamo's defence but they held out and turned the pressure into their own offence, with Cheeseman once again the benefactor.

He gave his side a lead they never surrendered.

Kamo had taken the momentum and when forward Sam Walker got in on the act, it made Madhatters' task far more difficult.

Walker scored his first after being taken down in the box, leading to a penalty which he calmly converted.

Then on another attacking raid he fired in a beautiful strike from just outside the box to beat the keeper and hand Kamo a 4-1 halftime lead.

The second half was more of a struggle for both teams as neither could capitalise on attacking raids.

Kamo broke the second spell deadlock late in the piece with a superb strike from Paul Cross.

Tetlaw was rewarded for an industrious performance with a second goal close to the full time whistle, but Kamo ended with the 5-2 result.

In the other matches Kerikeri Bay Builders shut out Central Brown 5-0, Bream Bay held strong in a 3-1 victory against FC Whangarei and Onerahi Cowleys Hire had a clinical 3-1 win over Tikipunga.

The Northland men's team were on the wrong end of a 5-1 result yesterday against a strong Mangere Utd side at Tikipunga on Saturday. The result sees them drop to fourth place in the Lotto NRFL Division 2 with a game in hand.

Mangere opened the scoring on 39 minutes through Sandip Raj Singh, capitalising on a defensive error and while Northland had the better of the chances in the opening half, they could not restore parity before halftime.

A penalty early in the second half left Northland with a mountain to climb, but Steve Schimmel offered a glimmer of hope with a fine looping header to halve the deficit on the hour.

It was not to be though, and Rinal Prasad broke Northland's resolve with 10 minutes left to spark a late flurry of goals.

Head coach Dan Johnston said they missed a trick in the match.

"I thought we matched Mangere all over the park, but we didn't take the opportunities we created in the first half that would have given us the upper hand," he said.

"At this level you have to take your chances or you get punished, and that is what happened."

Northland now have a free week due to the Chatham Cup, and will travel away to Papakura on May 20 when the competition resumes.