Spirited city go down to Taranaki

LOOKING AROUND:On a tough day at Wembley Park, City's Latham Berry takes the ball, watched by Team Taranaki's Leigh Rumbold. PHOTOS/BEVAN CONLEY 180415WCBRCSOC03

IT WAS not a good day on the scoresheet for Wanganui's premier teams, with all four sides recording losses. Evolution Painting & Decorating Wanganui City went down to Team Taranaki 2-0 in the Lotto Federation league on Saturday, in what proved to be a spirited battle as predicted.

City were unlucky to concede an early penalty, allowing the visitors to go ahead 1-0.

But City proved they had the fortitude to push Taranaki as they managed to hold them to that score from past halftime and deep into the second half.

A momentary lapse saw Taranaki swoop and put a second goal into the back of the net with only minutes to go, to take the final score to 2-0.

While the defeat will be sore, City coach Kelvin Francis will have been pleased with his team's performance in restricting Taranaki for the majority of the match.

The Wanganui City Reserves also suffered from last-minute jitters in their Western Premiership fixture against the Red Sox Manawatu Rovers at Wembley Park.

With the game locked at 1-1 for the majority of the match, neither team able to effectively break down the other, the Rovers stunned the home team by banging away two goals in quick succession in the final five minutes to stretch the scoreline to 3-1.

City will be ruing their squandered early opportunities in the first half, as at least three chances on goal that should have been easily put away were sent wide of the post, preventing the Reserves from putting the match out of the reach of the visitors.

The day didn't get much better for the two teams travelling on Saturday in the Western Premiership either, with the Wanganui City Renovators also going down 3-1 to Levin AFC 1sts after they were not able to capitalise on possession and find the back of the net.

The Renovator's solitary goal came from Neihana Kahl, while Levin's Nelesone Musika bagged a brace and Ben Owen contributed to their 3-goal haul.

Skoglund Park proved to be happy hunting ground for the hosts as Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic fell to a heavy 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Red Sox Manawatu A's.

The first half proved to be a costly one for Athletic, with Red Sox notching up four goals in the 45-minute stanza, Athletic only being able to find a solitary response before the half-time whistle blew.

The second half saw a much-improved performance from the Reds, ending at one goal each, but the damage had already been done and Red Sox pocketed the three competition points and sent the Reds home with their tails between their legs.

With just a week to remedy the failings of the weekend's performances, every one of the premier teams will be thinking and working hard to find the answers, as Anzac weekend football beckons.