Victory caps off top season for Cobras
Te Aroha Cobras junior 12th grade football team hosted Claudelands Rovers, at home, at Boyd Park on Saturday.
The game was the last of the season and both teams were keen to finish on a high.
And from kick off it looked like Claudelands was going to spoil the party for the home side.
The visitors piled on the pressure for the first 10 minutes, dominating the midfield.
Claudelands was unlucky not to score and this pressure lead to a corner which was very well taken leading to a defensive error.
The ball finally hit the back of the net off off a Cobras’ player.
This led to Cobras coach Stephen Workman rejigging the team and pushing Franco Catucci further up the field.
The added pressure from Franco lead to Cobras’ first decent attack.
Claudelands couldn’t clear the ball as Oliver Shotton pounced on the loose ball and slotted past the keeper for his third goal of the season.
This brought the first half to an end.
The second half started strong again for Claudelands with some neat passing down their left wing to Samantha Crawford.
Crawford constantly troubled the defensive trio of Georgie Workman, Lucas Garcia and Kane Keoghen.
But they were just too solid and Cobras’ keeper Sam Hodgson was rarely worried.
Nathanial Davila Rodaina came on as a sub in the second half to steady Cobras midfield and this resulted in Cobras finally pushing forward.
Amelia Wilkinson, still looking for her first goal, was a constant menace to Claudelands defensive players. The constant pressure finally led to a corner which was expertly taken by Nathanial.
Claudelands could only clear it to the edge of the box where Caleb Patton was waiting, and smashed it into the back of the net to get his first goal of the season.
With just a few minutes left, Claudelands had no answer and the final whistle blew, 2-1 to Cobras, ending an amazing season for the Te Aroha side. The team won 10 games, drew three and only loss one. Nine players out of the 13 managed to score during the season.
Players of the day against Claudelands were Georgie, Nathanial and Mekayla Knight.
Cobras would also like to thank major new kit sponsors, Property Brokers, Ryan law, Ben Collins electrical and Diprose Miller.