Soccer: Ngongotaha in three way battle after win

Ngongotaha are in a three-way battle to make the top four in the Waibop Federation league.

The villagers cemented their position after an impressive 4-2 win over Old Blues at Waipuna Park at the weekend.

Sitting equal fourth on 21 points with Whakatane and AFC Fury, the three teams are 19 points behind competition leaders Taupo 40, with Claudelands in second on 39 points and Melville on 24.

Ngongotaha have registered their third successive win, with a hat-trick from Neil Slater and a goal to Dayne Willemson. Old Blues coach Andy Legget was not impressed with his team's performance.

"We were not good today, especially defensively, but take nothing away from Ngongotaha they have some good young players and deserved their win."

Rotorua United have made a late push away from the bottom of the table with their second win of the season, beating Waikato Unicol 2-0.

There were smiles and handshakes all round after Rotorua United beat Waikato Unicol, with Shadley Petersen scoring both goals for United.

"The boys played well today and, for once, we got the result we deserved." United coach Neil Rush said after the game.

"We are a better side than our position on the table shows and we are now looking for a strong finish to the season."

Taupo successfully retained the Challenge Shield, with a convincing 5-0 win over bottom of the table Otorohanga and second-placed Claudelands Rovers kept the pressure on the leaders with their 3-1 win over Tauranga Boys' College.

As expected, Taupo dominated their game against Otorohanga at Crown Park and with goals from Alan Lamb and Mark Thessman were 2-0 up at the break. In the dressing room, coach Paul Drake stressed the need not only to take three points but the importance of improving their goal difference. Alan Lamb, who scored twice to register yet another hat-trick, and Dave Stewart stretched the lead to five while the defence coped with the odd Otorohanga attack to keep a clean sheet.

Whakatane Town, with a 36th-minute goal from Scott Marrow, had a 1-0 at the break against AFC Fury. They were held scoreless in the second half until coach Mike Ward brought himself on and doubled their lead in the 87th minute. It was a game that Whakatane were always in control of and Fury were flattered by the scoreline.

With Melville losing 2-1 to Otumoetai, Whakatane Town overcoming AFC Fury 2-0 and Ngongotaha registering their win, there is a log-jam in mid-table with six points separating six teams.

In Division two, Tauranga City carried on their winning way with a 6-1 win over bottom of the table Matamata, Clube Alegria thrashed Rotorua United 9-2 and with Cambridge beaten 1-0 by Te Awamutu Alegria are now favoured to join Tauranga in division one next season.

In the other game West Hamilton and Katikati battled out a scoreless draw.