It was a challenging weekend on the pitch for the Mercury Bay Junior Boys, who hosted their toughest match of the season last Saturday against a formidable and well-drilled Te Aroha JB squad, ending in a 1-7 loss.
The match, refereed by Hugo Fairweather and assisted by linesmen Mike Cornwall and Adrian Havard, was always going to be an uphill battle. Mercury Bay went into the clash carrying several injuries, which forced a major tactical shake-up early on. Regular starting goalkeeper Alfie was forced out of the net due to injury but bravely substituted back onto the field to play outfield and support his teammates.
Mercury Bay Junior Boys played Te Aroha
“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” says Coach Taddy. “The boys showed great heart, but Te Aroha exposed some weaknesses that we need to iron out on the training pitch immediately.”
The clock is ticking for Coach Taddy and his squad. They face a quick turnaround with a massive away game in Hamilton next weekend, and the countdown is already on for a shot at redemption when they travel to face Te Aroha on their home turf in two months’ time.
A huge thank you goes out to the Te Aroha Junior Boys for a fantastic, cleanly contested game and for travelling the huge distance.
