IT WAS a bridge too far for the Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic 1sts as they tumbled to an uninspiring 8-0 defeat to Team Taranaki at Yarrow Stadium on Sunday in the Lotto Federation league.
Meanwhile the Athletic Reserves kept the club's pants from being dropped in an impressive effort against Levin on the road to capture their first competition point for the season in a 1-1 draw.
For many in the Athletic 1sts, just the experience of playing at Yarrow Stadium in front of a crowd of around 250 vocal spectators would have been worth the 90 minutes of football alone.
But unfortunately for the Reds, that was the only highlight they were able to take away from their match against last season's champions.
While the entire match was fairly one-sided, as was predicted, the Reds did show some heart and glimpses of strong defensive structure, albeit negative and sometimes bordering on 'parking the bus', as they kept Team Taranaki frustrated for long periods of play, only conceding two goals in the first half.
The Whanganui contingent in Team Taranaki, both Josh Smith and Nick Hayward, had their own impact on the match, with Hayward collecting a stray boot to the head from one of the few forays into the opposition half by Athletic, leading to a lengthy injury time break while he received treatment.
Smith terrorised the Athletic defenders with his bursts of speed, and mazing runs to the byline, creating plenty of opportunities for the northern neighbours.
After the halftime break, it was apparent Taranaki had come out with a point to prove and lesson to teach.
Two goals within the first three minutes of play smashed the resolve of the Athletic side, with Taranaki signalling their intent for the second half.
While Athletic backed the team bus up in front of the goal, in a manner which would make Jose Mourinho proud, it was clear by the 15th minute that the body language of the majority of players in red was signalling defeat. A beautiful shot from about 25 yards outside the box being blasted into the bottom left corner sent the game into freefall.
With goals being added quicker than those watching could update their Twitter accounts, a clumsy challenge inside the box by an Athletic defender gifted the home team their eighth score of the match.
Yet Team Taranaki appeared to take their foot off the throat of Athletic, with Athletic's forwards able to get touches on the ball in the opposition half, where they launched a couple of ultimately futile attacks upon Taranaki's goalmouth.
The loss will be hard for Athletic mentally, having now conceded 20 goals in their opening two games, but the signs of life were there early in the game and do show some promise for the remainder of the coming round.
A trip to Palmerston North this weekend to face the Marist Reserves will be the focus now, and with club imports arriving in a week, the Reds will be looking for a chance at opening their account at Skoglund Park.
It was down to the Athletic Reserves to save the club's blushes from another weekend of embarrassing scorelines as they travelled to Donnelly Park to face the Levin 1sts in their Western Premiership match.
After conceding 10 goals in their opening round match, many were wondering whether this young side would have the steel to stand up to a notoriously physical Levin team.
However, a solid display from the Reserves keeper, coupled with a good dose of self-belief and teamwork, allowed the visitors to grab one point from the game, and left themselves two spots clear of the foot of the table.
Reserves coach Cliff Hughes will be pleased with the result, and can now set the squad's minds on getting their footing in the competition, as they prepare this week to host Massey Celtic, who sit just one spot below them, at home on Wembley main ground this weekend.
The men's local league opening rounds have shown the emerging strength of the home competition since it was decided to split the groups into a two divisions.
In the Men's Division 1, Marist Celtic sit atop the table after the second round after claiming a narrow 3-2 victory over third placed City Hammers, with only a superior goal difference separating them from St Anthony's Castlecliff, who themselves recorded a solid 6-3 victory over Athletic Development. The City Wanderers claimed a 4-1 victory over the Marist Bhoys to close out the fixtures for Division 1 this weekend.
Both the Athletic Weekenders and the Rivercity Braves sit atop the Division 2 table after they claimed victories over Castlecliff United and the Marist Casuals respectively.
A draw between the Athletic Cosmos and the City Thirsties made little difference to the points table, while the fixture between the Marist Shamrocks and the Rivercity Chiefs on Wembley's main ground was an intensely fought match - Chiefs holding a marginal 2-1 lead in the final minutes, only to have the Shamrocks charge back and claim two goals in the dying moments to snatch victory at the final whistle.
The local women's competition is always a highly spirited competition, and this weekend was no different.
The City Women and Rivercity Scrappers lead the table with City ahead on goal difference after a solid win over the CBB Marist Ladies, while the Scrappers claimed a win over the Athletic Women's team.
In other results, WHS Girls 2nds fell to Girls College, WHS Development defeated the Castlecliff Saints, and WHS Girls 1sts beat the Collegiate 1sts.