It came down to a tale of two goalkeepers.
Tokoroa keeper Zak Cosgrove dives at the feet of Joe Roil.
Te Awamutu and Tokoroa battled out a goalless football draw at The Stadium in the Waikato men’s first division – and both sides had their number ones to thank.
Thomas Henry, constantly issuing instructions from the back, was quick off his line more than once while Tokoroa’s Zak Cosgrove pulled off a number of outstanding saves.
Coach Joe Gifford and Tokoroa’s Dean Tereu were complimentary in the after match speeches and agreed the result was fair, while Tereu told the home side they deserved a better playing surface than the bumpy ground which hosted the clash.
Joe Roil looks to send the ball down the line under pressure from Ryan Meerkeek.
For Te Awamutu it was a home point earned, for Tokoroa it was one grafted for in a no-quarter asked and none given clash which was notable for the good conduct of both sides.
Referee Virgil Robinson two brandished two yellow card to the visitors for tackles which owed more to poor timing than malice and handled a challenging fixture with club linemen well.
Te Awamutu’s neighbours Cambridge and Ōtorohanga played out a goalless draw at John Kerkhof Park – ensuring that at the end of the day only one team had two wins and only one had lost both.
Claudelands Rovers Wallys – who beat Te Awamutu on opening day – followed that up with a 4-0 win over Unicol. Rovers have three teams in this new look league – the Stallions’ loss by the odd goal for the second week in a row left them at the foot of it.
And social sounding names they may have, but the Wallys feature former All White Aaron Scott in their starting XI.
The league resumes after Easter and Chatham Cup breaks on May 3 when Te Awamutu travel to play the Stallions and Ōtorohanga hosts Wanderers.
A long awaited win for Gifford’s team could be 90 minutes away.
Te Awamutu skipper Dylan Brett shadows Tokoroa captain Connor Wood.
Thomas Edgar tries his luck from the edge of the box.
Bradley Egglestone gets past Tokoroa’s Isaac Wilson.
Aaron Mills climbs above Narinder Singh watched by Yan Lemonnier.
Thomas Henry had to be brave to thwart Narinder Singh
