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The Warkworth AFC men’s team claimed its first win for the season earlier in the month in in a tight game against the Glen Eden Rangers in the 2019 AFF/NFF Conference.
Club president Cameron Gray says it was partly down to one of the best saves he’s ever seen from goal keeper, Simon Borich.
“It was five minutes to go and we were one-nil, and Simon pulled a ball right off the top corner – in fact, he pulled three. Some said it was the first time they had ever seen him get off the ground,” Gray says.
The only goal of the game was scored against the run of play, 20 minutes in by Warkworth’s Kyal Wells.
“We strung three passes together when the opposition was stringing more like 30. It gave the team a belief in what we could do, but we were under the pump from then on.”
Gray says he is working on the team’s strength in playing offensively.
“Our mentality has previously been to focus on defending and preventing goals, and then try to punch out a victory at the end, but I would rather lose by 10 than not score.”
Warkworth’s goal for the AFF/NFF Conference is simply to stay in the competition by not dropping off the bottom of the standings tables.
“We will look to keep above Glen Eden, while the South Auckland Rangers and Lynn-Avon will be the teams to do our best to beat.”
Last year, both Warkworth AFC and South Auckland rangers were relegated and were set to play off for a single spot in the conference. However, when Waiuku AFC pulled out at the last moment both teams automatically qualified.
Gray says over the next five years Warkworth’s aim is to build the social activity of the club in order to draw in more experienced players from the surrounding areas. The other strategy has been to encourage college players to the club.
