Tauranga City AFC got back to winning ways following their heartwrenching 1-1 draw with rivals Manurewa a fortnight ago but were made to work for a 3-1 win by Metro FC in their NRFL Men's Division 1 match on Saturday.

Metro led 1-0 at half-time after Jaydyn Englefield's penalty but Barry Gardiner's half-time team talk must have had the desired impact as City fought back in an exciting 10-minute period of the second 45.

Adam Davidson got the ball rolling in the 67th minute, finding the net after a scramble in the box before Braxton Fisher-Vanderveen finished off a fine breakaway five minutes later to give City the lead. In the 77th minute, the victory was sealed, as Lewis Reid scored his first goal since returning to the club.

Next week's fixtures look potentially pivotal, as third-place Tauranga take on fourth-place East Coast Bays and the top two, leaders West Coast Rangers and second-place Manurewa face off at Jellicoe Park.

The standings in the NRFL Division 1.

It was less positive news for Tauranga City's Women. Coming off the back of the biggest game in their history last weekend in the Kate Sheppard Cup quarter-finals, they suffered a 5-0 loss to Northern Rovers in their NRFL Women's Premier League clash.

In the WaiBOP Premiership, two of our region's teams played out a seven-goal thriller at Fergusson Park.

Otūmoetai FC may have been without their two top goalscorers Miroslav Sindler and Jordi Langton for their home tie against Pāpāmoa FC but still had enough firepower to claim a 4-3 win.

A brace from Caelan Fraher had the home side cruising at half-time but Vincent Callister pulled one back for Pap. Santiago Gadea reestablished Oats' two-goal advantage only for Joshua Vialoux to narrow the margin yet again within a minute.

Callister then scored his second of the game from the penalty spot to level things at 3-3 but Jonny Hill's 83rd-minute finish proved to be the decider.

The result stretches the gap between Otūmoetai in third and Pāpāmoa in fourth to 12 points.

Elsewhere, a late goal from Nathan Monne proved just a consolation as Ngongotahā FC lost 4-1 at Melville United's Federation team.

In the WaiBOP Championship, Tauranga City's Championship side did their Otūmoetai counterparts a favour with a stunning last-minute winner against Waikato Unicol Reserves.

Logan Wright-Webb's 90th-minute goal secured a 2-1 win at Links Ave after a Zack Taylor own goal had previously cancelled out Krishaant Singh's early opener.

Otūmoetai's Championship team took full advantage, Dylan Monteiro and Chaz Picton scoring a brace apiece in a 5-3 win over Pāpāmoa U23s, for whom Morgan Wellsbury also bagged twice.

Those results take Oats' Championship side top of the table, but City remain fourth, just six points behind with two games in hand.

Te Puke United meanwhile have now gone three games without a win as Matamata Swifts moved within a point of them in the standings after a 1-0 defeat at Matamata Domain.

In the WaiBOP W-League, table-topping Otūmoetai United lost their first game of the season, going down 3-2 at Melville despite Bre Venimore scoring another two goals to extend her lead at the top of the goalscoring charts.

Otūmoetai FC lost 5-0 at Claudelands while Lakes FC picked up a crucial win over Waikato Unicol in the race for second.

In sad news, Waikato side Melville United AFC lost one of their most revered characters this week when first-team manager Steve Bettis passed away suddenly on Friday. A club legend who had been involved with the club since 1976, ‘Stevie B' was clearly loved by all associated with the side and teams from across New Zealand have been wishing the club and Steve's family all the best at this tough time.

Melville United's first-team did exactly as Steve would have wanted to honour his memory, beating Manukau United 4-0 in the Northern League.

-Article originally published by Mathew Nash/Match of the Bay.