Awakeri Soccer Club... the Greatest Junior Soccer Club in New Zealand

2 September 2000

The highlight of the Awakeri Soccer Club’s games on Saturday was the performance of their 11th grade B division team Adamson’s Amcal Pharmacy Awakeri Athletic.

Athletic played in the quarterfinal for their grade against Kawerau and produced their best effort of the season. Ben McPherson scored a hat-trick to secure a 3 - 2 win, with two of the goals standing out for the power they were struck with. Richmond Brown was named player-of-the-match, after a top game on the left wing. He put over some lovely crosses for the strikers. Both goalkeepers were kept busy as the play ranged back and forth. Athletic’s keeper Mark Ernest made many good stops, and also nearly saved a penalty. The Athletic midfield of Sytse Tacoma, Kelly Stanton and Christine Scott were the backbone of the team, running and tackling hard throughout. Next week Athletic play in the semi-final away to Opotiki at 10 a.m.

Not to be outdone, Gould Contracting Awakeri Hotshots did very well in their 11th grade A division fixture with Whakatane. An outstanding performance from Raniera Mason, where he set up two goals and scored a third saw him named player-of-the-match. Lance Robison was on hand to put away the rebound of one Mason shot, while Ian Sisam put away a couple towards the end to make the game safe for Hotshots. Hotshots won the game 4 - 1. In the midfield, Neil Sax was in his best form, and Rink Tacoma made a good contribution, continuing her excellent development over the season.

Awakeri Store Strikers wound up their soccer season with a competitive 13th grade game against Kawerau. Strikers looked fairly lethargic for the first ten minutes, but gradually warmed to their task. Kawerau scored midway through the first half, prompting Strikers to pull out the stops. A typical run down the right by Carrington Brown and a good cross gave Sonya Pettinger a chance in front of goal, and she slid it in. By half time both teams were playing good football. In the second half, Kawerau grabbed two further goals after some slick passing, but the play ranged up and down the field with both sides putting pressure on the other. The final score was Kawerau 3 Awakeri Strikers 1. Rebecca Geddes won the player-of-the-match award for her determined tackling throughout the game. Others to do well included Mitchell James, Simon Turner and goalkeeper Cody Hancox.

The Awakeri 6th grade teams were determined not to let last week’s weather spoil their end of season, so they arranged a friendly between themselves. In an evenly matched game, it was locked at 1 - 1 at half time, with Awakeri Draintech Diggers getting a late winner to defeat Awakeri Hurricanes 2 - 1. Diggers all played well, with Riki Roia and Logan Munro in top form. For Hurricanes, Jemma Shaw earned player-of-the-match with an excellent first half on the field and then a busy effort in goal. Rhys Cram showed good sportsmanship in playing for the Diggers team to even up the numbers. Joel Ingle had a good half game in goal and Jayden Haddock put away a well-taken goal for Hurricanes.

The Awakeri Club break-up will be held at the school on Saturday 23rd September. The day begins at 10a.m. with games between the children and parents, then presentations follow at 11.30 a.m.