On Friday night the Brian Darth Funeral Service Stratford Men's A team finally got to play their first home game of the season, against Hāwera.
It was always going to be a tough workout with a few key players unavailable. Once again thanks to the Broadway guys for filling in and stepping up to the challenge.
Hāwera scored in the second quarter to go 1-0 up. Stratford found it hard to settle into rhythm. The second half saw the men gain good ground with some great plays all the way up the pitch.
Ethan Lehmann proved his worth in defence, keeping Hāwera on their toes. Unfortunately, Stratford could not convert anything into a goal. Final score 1-nil to Hāwera.
Stratford Broadway have continued their solid start to the season to get full points off the Northern Wolves with a 3-0 win.
It was a solid effort from the lads across the park, led by captain and man of the match Scott Weren with his skill, work ethic and composure in the midfield.
Broadway held possession for the majority of the game with solid structure and effective passing. The next work on for the team will be decision making coming into and when in the attacking circle as with the amount of possession they had the score should have been a lot higher.
Northern were very rarely able to put pressure on the Broadway circle with the likes of Shaun Nagar, Chris Kempson and Brooke Wyllie continuing their good form on defence.
The team are now looking forward to taking on the Northern Masters for the Championship Men's Challenge Cup next week.
This week the CMK Stratford A Women came up against Masters Women. Not a team to take lightly, with their grit and experience.
Masters were the first to score in the first quarter, with Stratford's Lara Williams equalising soon after off a Penalty Corner. Masters got away another to make it 2-1 at halftime.
Taranaki's heavy rain warning then lived up to the hype, flooding patches of the turf to make matters worse. The soggy third quarter went Masters way, bringing the score to 4-1, which Stratford managed to hold until fulltime.
Games this week:
Friday in New Plymouth: 6.30pm Stratford A Women v Northern Wildcats.
Saturday in Stratford: 2pm Stratford Avon v Northern Wolves, 3.30pm Stratford B Women v Apex, 5pm Stratford A Men v Northern Raptors
Saturday in New Plymouth: 2pm Northern Masters v Stratford Broadway