Football: Northland FC moving up the ladder

Northland FC's Mark Ruddell grabbed a brace. Photo/John Stone

The Northland senior men moved back up to third place in the Lotto NRFL Division Two yesterday, beating Ngongotaha 2-1 thanks to two second-half goals.

Both teams cancelled each other out in the opening exchanges with the game being played in the middle of the park and not many chances at either end.

The deadlock was broken after half an hour when winger Alex Pinto hit a speculative effort from 25m which took a wicked bounce and deceived goalkeeper Shane Stanners.

Northland dug deep and came out firing in the second half, with Mark Ruddell capitalising on a goalkeeper error at the far post.

They got themselves on top from then on, pressing high and creating chances but it seemed like the honours would be split until Mark Ruddell headed home a Lewis Miller free-kick 14 minutes from time to seal three valuable points.

Head coach Dan Johnston was stoked with the effort of his charges.

"We showed real character today to come from behind against a good side," he said.

"Finn Diamond was outstanding in making sure that their danger man got nothing from the game, Rudds [Mark Ruddell] was superb in front of him too."

"I also want to thank Aaron Hooper for all the work he has done for us this season so far, with the weather like it was the last few days, people like him and Graham Hall are unsung heroes for us and he basically made sure we were able to host the games today - he is a massive part of our squad."

Northland FC 2 (Mark Ruddell 49′, 76′ )
Ngongotaha AFC 1 (Alex Pinto 31')
HT: 0-1