Kerikeri FC wins the cup!

Kerikeri hosted FC Whangarei in the final of the Northland Premier Cup, playing in their first ever final on home soil. The Kerikeri boys were pumped up to make history, and from the first whistle Kerikeri dominated proceedings with some sublime one touch free flowing football, which the huge crowd of home supporters appreciated with their vocal presence. The vocal support was the driving force in the Kerikeri dominance, and when a Danny Spake shot crashed off the under side of the cross bar, Sam Green reacted superbly to fire a shot into the roof of the net which sent the crowd into raptures.

With Keeper Chris West, Mark Roberts, Kieran Nagel, Zdenek Rosa and Aiden O’Connor controlling the backline with ease, the ever present midfield trio of Damon Lucas, James Daley and Sam Green put in a tenacious performance which left Whangarei on the back foot.  Dwain Beasley linked up with Danny Spake to beat his marker and played in a pin point cross to Isaac Laurie Williams, who latched onto the ball and executed a low drive for his first goal for the club. The goals kept coming, as Damon Lucas got on to the score sheet with a neat over head flick which sailed into the top corner of the goal, with Kerikeri playing at a frenetic pace Zdenek Rosa pushed forward and found himself clear on goal, then beat the keeper with ease to add to his tally for the season. Half time saw the score at 4 - nil to Kerikeri.

In the 2nd spell Kerikeri played the ball with finesse, and soon added to their lead when Dwain Beasley drove down the left flank and rifled in a feirce shot, which connected with a defender and flew into the back of the net. With time running out there was one last moment to savour for the huge support and coach Jim Brooks, when skipper Kieran Nagel pushed forward to side foot his first goal of the campaign. The full time score was 6 – nil to Kerikeri.

Player of the was day James Daley. The game was the last of the season for the Kerikeri team, finishing runners up in the northland league and winning the northland premier cup. Thanks for the support and let’s bring the noise next season.

Kerikeri Bay Builders FC V Bream Bay FC 27/08/11

Kerikeri hosted Bream Bay FC in their penultimate league game of the season. Coach Jim Brooks had a full strength squad to choose from and started with an attacking formation which had the opposition on the back foot from the onset. Kerikeri opened the scoring when Isaac Laurie Williams played a neat one two with Zdenek Rosa, which found Rosa clean through on goal and he duly applied an excellent finish to put his team 1 nil up at the break.

Kerikeri started the 2nd half with poise and purpose, and dominated their opposition with some excellent 2 touch football. It wasn’t long before they had their 2nd goal, when Aiden O’Connor put in an excellent through pass to Danny Spake, who lofted the ball superbly over the advancing keepers head and into the back of the net. Bream bay hit back with a goal but this didn’t halt kerikeris push for more goals. Several changes were made with Nathan Dodds, Dwain Beasley and Mark Coleman coming on. Coleman soon found his feet with a fantastic solo run into the box to smash the ball across the keeper to make it 3 - 1. Virtually straight after the restart Mark Roberts played a ball to Coleman who beat his marker and fired across the keeper for his 2nd of the game to make it 4 - 1. With minutes left on the clock Damon Lucas won the ball in midfield and played the ball into Tomas Trombik , who rounded the keeper to make the final result  5-1.

Player of the day was James Daley. Kerikeri have been drawn at home in their Northland Premier Cup final, the first ever home final to be played at Waipapa, with the date yet to be confirmed watch this space...

Kerikeri Bay Builders FC V Onerahi FC 20/08/11

Kerikeri FC hosted defending champions Onerahi FC on Saturday. The visiting side had a point to prove after heavy defeats in the last 2 encounters against the Kerikeri team. Kerikeri began the game with a real positive approach, playing the ball around at the back with the ever present Kieran Nagel and Zdenek Rosa playing in a defensive role for his team. Onerahi tried to play high balls into the box but they where easily nullified by the strong Kerikeri defence.

Kerikeri started to knock the ball around with ease and began to take full control of the game with Mark Coleman terrorising his marker which resulted in him being brought down in the penalty area to gain his team a penalty. Zdenek Rosa stepped up to coolly slot the penalty away to take a 1 nil half time lead.

In the 2nd half the Onerahi team looked deflated as the Kerikeri players were playing some excellent possession football. The trio of Damon Lucas, Sam Green and James Daley were dictating the midfield, feeding Dwain Beesley down the flank. Dwain was putting in an excellent performance with some fine runs into the box, but he just couldn’t find the 2nd goal to finish the game off. Coach Jim Brooks made several change with Danny Spake and Aiden O’Connor making a welcome return to the team. The change paid off straight away, as O’Connor linked up with Lucas to play an exquisite ball across the box to find spake 10 yards out, who blasted a shot across the keeper into the bottom corner of the goal to finish the game off. Full Time result 2 - 0 to Kerikeri.

The player of the day Zdenek Rosa. Kerikeris next game is at home against Bream Bay FC 2.45pm Harmony lane, Waipapa. All support will be greatly appreciated,” bring the noise Kerikeri…!! “