While the final score wasn't flattering, an under-strength Kamo fought hard to stay in contention during their Federation Cup soccer match against Hibiscus Coast.
Sunday's match teetered in the balance for three-quarters of the game at Kamo, until the visitors scored to puncture the Kamo women's resistance.
"At 2-1 down with 20
minutes to go, we were thinking we may be able to just nick something and, if we had had a full-strength squad, we might have gone close but it just got away from us in the last 20," Kamo coach Russell Baddeley said.
The goal made it 3-1 and then the visitors, who are in second place in the US1 premier division, rattled in a couple more to make the final score 5-1.
"These guys [Hibiscus Coast] were a good team, they drew with [US1 premier league leaders] North Force a couple of weeks ago," the coach said.
The Kamo team, which leads the Northland women's premier division, just didn't have the depth to match their opponents from the higher division.
Four injuries kept the Kamo side from fielding their regular starting line-up.
After a poor start which saw them 0-2 down midway through the first spell, a goal by Kayleigh Knight pulled them back into the game.
Meanwhile, North Force cruised through to the next round of the cup knockout competition by beating Forrest Hill-Milford 5-0 at Becroft Park in Auckland.
Chelsea Webster scored a hat-trick while Hannah Wilkinson grabbed a double to see them take their place in the next round. No such luck for Tikipunga, however, who crashed out of the competition 0-7 against a strong Birkenhead side at Shepherds Park.
In Northland women's premier league action, Kerikeri moved level with Kamo on points at the top of the table with a hard fought 3-1 winover FC Whangarei at Morningside.
The upset of the weekend was caused by second-bottom placed Northern Wairoa, who took a point off third-placed Kerikeri High School with a 1-1 draw.
With players on holiday, the high school side were understrength, but the result will stand as a good one for the Dargaville team.
In the other match played in a weekend, Hora Hora outclassed FC Whangarei Red 11-1.
