Kurtis Paine, with ball, scored the Magpies first goal. PHOTO/FILE
FOOTBALL
CHRIS COGDALE
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Douglas Villa Magpies 4
Upper Hutt City 1
Douglas Villa Magpies remained on track for promotion to Capital Division Two with a hard-fought win over Upper Hutt City at Park Sports Ground on Saturday.
Kurtis Paine and Seule Soromon gave the home side a 2-0 lead in a dominant first half.
Magpies coach Malcolm Cox said they weren’t in much trouble until about 10 minutes into the second half when there was mix up between goalkeeper Cory Burling and the defenders, and Upper Hutt scored from a free kick.
“The next 20 minutes or so were pretty dicey, but we made a couple of changes and that settled things down, and we scored two good goals to finish,” he said.
Cayden Cameron and Lockie Burling, with his first goal for the side, scored the decisive goals.
The win keeps Magpies in second place in Capital Division Three. Their chances of winning promotion could well be decided this Saturday with an away game against Victoria University Accies, who are one point behind Magpies.
“It’s getting down to the business end of the season and we need a win over Victoria or a draw to keep the pressure on the other teams,” Cox said.
Kapiti Coast United 2
Greytown 6
Hat-tricks to strikers Jarrod MacDonald and Daniel Frischknecht had Greytown Fresh Choice come from behind to overcome a spirited Kapiti Coast United at Weka Park, Raumati on Saturday.
After giving up an early lead, the visitors missed a host of chances before MacDonald hit the target. He completed his third treble of the season just after halftime to put Greytown 3-1 up.
Frischknecht then got into the action after the hosts had closed the lead to 3-2, completing his hat-trick in a frenetic 20 minutes.
Given the circumstances, it was a huge win for Greytown, who only had the bare 11 to play while man of the match Bill Reynolds played through the 90 minutes with a troublesome knee injury, showing no signs of pain while playing in the unaccustomed position in centre midfield.
With a couple of other results going their way, Greytown sit only three points behind second-placed Wainuiomata in Capital Division Four.
Greytown can close the gap on the leaders at home on Saturday. They played Petone, who are a point ahead of fifth-placed Greytown.
