The tourists, who also met O-League oufit Waitakere United and a New Zealand U-23 selection on their trip, raced out to a 3-0 halftime lead at Beachlands Domain on Saturday and the home side could not recover from that opening onslaught.
Beachlands, who play in the Auckland Football Federation’s Championship division, did improve as the match wore on though and scored twice to draw the second spell 2-2.
Player/coach Brian Preston, who also serves as the club’s president, says the occasion was enjoyed by all involved despite the loss.
“I’m delighted with our performance,” Preston says. “We started a bit slowly but in the end it could have been 5-3 or 5-4 really.”
“The guys really enjoyed it and so did the Lossi players. They came into our clubrooms afterwards and they were singing their songs and we were singing ours. It was a great day for our club.”
Beachlands captain Anthony Schomaker, who joined Ben Taylor as a goalscorer for the hosts, acknowledged the quality of the opposition but says the result may have been different if his charges had taken their chances.
“They had a better team but hats off to the boys for giving it a good shot,” Schomaker says.
“We made three mistakes and gave them an early lead. If it hadn’t been for those errors it could have been a lot closer. I should have scored two but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.”
The Beachlands Maraetai side now turn their attention to preparations for the coming season in the Championship, the fourth tier of men’s winter football in Auckland.
Story courtesy of Auckland Football Federation.
For more on Auckland football go to www.aucklandfootball.org.nz

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