Reserves roll comes to and end

With a few forced changes and only 1 sub leading into the match Puke still fancied their chances against a team who beat us due to our own mistakes in the first round.

The first 5 minutes were all Puke, and some beautiful passing football to boot. Unfortunately all the positive build up play didn't lead to an opening goal.

After quarter of an hour our backline was prised apart too easily, and the Central striker finished with power and accuracy.

The second goal was conceeded not long after, when a corner which was misjudged by Trent in goal was bundled in at the back post.

At 2-0 down we were a bit shellshocked, as this team was no better than us man for man, and we were just making too many mistakes.

We managed to pull one back before half time, when Jack slammed his 9th of the season in off the volley from a tidy corner from Colin Case.

The second half started well, with a number of Puke attacks leading to a goal for Cameron Hale, playing further up the field than normal. A quick corner passed to Colin, was then passed onto Wiz who with a fairly badly mishit shot found Cam unmarked at the far post. A calm tap in took us to 2-2.

It looked destined to end in a draw as our continued attacks couldn't find the net. After a spell of pressure from Central a free kick was awarded just outside the box. The direct shot bobbled out of Trent's hands and was tapped in by the following in players.

Hard luck for Trent, who had probably made 15 of the best saves I've seen in a long time earlier in the match to keep us in it. Still a great game mate!

So 3-2 it ended. Frustratingly for coaches and players alike.

Onto next week then, away against bottom of the table Eastern Suburbs and home to Otahuhu Div 6 in the knockout cup. Should be an interesting weekend.

A special thanks to our secret sub who can't be named for fear of being divorced before marriage! Great 45 mins mate.