Tauranga City secure third spot with six goal win
Liam Molloy's hat-trick did the damage v Fencibles United.
Tauranga City AFC men’s first-team finished their season in style, outplaying Fencibles United AFC at Links Ave to finish third in the NRFL Division One 2022.
Liam Molloy scored a hat-trick as the home side ran rampant against the visitors, the only sour point of the day being the knowledge of how close City came to promotion.
The result, coupled with East Coat Bays’ 1-1 draw with Northern Rovers saw City climb into third, just three points behind second-placed Manurewa AFC, who will be playing Northern League football next year.
Molloy got the final day party started as Colby Brennan’s trickery down the right-hand side handed him the perfect opportunity to slot home. Captain Cameron Grieve then led by example just minutes later, placing a calm finish to double City’s advantage.
On the stroke of half-time, Fencibles goalkeeper Toby Lewis suffered a moment to forget, spilling Adam Davidson’s free-kick over the goal-line as City dominated the opening 45.
City continued to pile on the misery in the second half, Molloy scoring twice in quick succession to claim his treble before Braxton Fisher-Vanderveen continued his fine scoring run with a last-minute screamer to make it six.
Tauranga City will no doubt take the positives from what has been a first full season without interruption since 2019.
With more young talent coming through the system, as evidenced by the U-23s second-placed finish in the U-23 league, City will be looking for another promotion push in 2023.
Tauranga City’s women’s team suffered a final day defeat to champions Northern Rovers in the NRFL Women’s Premier League. A 3-0 defeat wrapped up a difficult but memorable debut season at this level for City’s women’s team, who also reached the quarter-finals of the Kate Sheppard Cup this term.
They finish bottom of the league on four points and will therefore play next season in the NRF Championship.
The action from the WaiBOP Federation came to an end last week but Bay football continues so keep your eyes peeled for a one-off round-up of the action from the more social side of Saturday football.