Papamoa left wondering what might have been

Papamoa captain Campbell Higgins.

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Papamoa captain Campbell Higgins has admitted there was an air of 'what might have been” after his side defeated newly-crowned WaiBop Premiership champions Taupo 2-1 on Saturday, to close out their season.

For weeks it looked like the fixture, which was postponed in somewhat farcical conditions earlier in the campaign, would have a huge bearing on the outcome of the 2018 title race.

As things stood before kick-off, however, the South Waikato side had already secured top spot thanks to a 7-1 win over Mercury Tokoroa seven days earlier and a torrent of off-field red tape surrounding the Bay of Plenty outfit.

'As the season wore on, and as we headed into the final five or six weeks, we had to deal with a number of things that went against us,” says Higgins, whose header levelled the scores at Gordon Spratt Reserve after Taupo had taken an early lead.

'We had hoped that our final game would have something much bigger riding on it, so I suppose there was a bit of ‘if only' about it.

'But we didn't let that affect us coming into the fixture, and even though we knew we would finish second no matter what happened, we still wanted to show up against Taupo regardless and get a result.

'We lost 3-0 at their place back in May, and we were caught off guard that day. We didn't know what to expect, but Taupo's results have been really consistent since then, so we knew what we were in for this weekend.

'It was only right that we congratulated them for winning the league, which of course we did, but equally it was nice to leave them with a bitter taste in their mouths.”

The Lakesiders took the lead against the run of play during the opening exchanges when a moment of hesitancy at the back allowed Joe O'Donoghue to loop his header beyond the reach of Papamoa stopper Ryan Foord.

But the home side drew level thanks to Higgins' close-range header, though there was a suggestion that it was helped over the line by a Taupo defender directly under the crossbar.

The home side stepped things up a notch after the break, and despite missing a number of chances to make the scoreline a lot more comfortable, their dominance was rewarded when Strauss Boom slid in to net what turned out to be the winner.

'We missed some very good chances in the opening minutes and in the second-half,” says Higgins, 'and you do start to wonder if it's going to be one of those days.

'We could have been two or three goals up very early on, but the game smoothed out a bit and we got what we deserved.

'We kept the ball brilliantly in the last ten minutes and we were very professional in the way we went about our jobs.”

The centre-back was also quick to praise the sense of togetherness that has been formed among the players this season, as well as the impact made by the coaching trio of Duncan Lowry, Andy Birchenough and Gary Darkes.

'We're a very close group of players,” he says, 'and there's a strong bond in the squad. Injuries have seen us struggle for depth at times during the season, and that can make it hard to keep things consistent, but they are a brilliant bunch of lads.

'Training has been really enjoyable every Tuesday and Thursday, and that's thanks to our coaching set-up. We train with real intensity and it's definitely been one of my most enjoyable seasons.”

Higgins was quick to praise the bond that has been forged amongst the Papamoa team.

Graphic: WaiBop Football Federation/Facebook.

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