18 July 2026

Jul 20
10 min read

Division 1: Sprig + Fern Tahuna 1st XI Division 2: Sprig + Fern Tahuna 2nd XI Sprig + Fern Tahuna 3rd XI Division 4:

Sprig + Fern Tahuna 4th XI

Women's Premiership: Sprig + Fern Tahuna Womens XI Masters Football: Sprig + Fern Tahuna Masters

1st XI 3 - 1

Location: Jubilee Park

Goals: Nat, Ethan, OG

Match MVP: Cunny

A good reply to a recent dip in form from the beach boys. After a nervy start which included gifting Richmond an early goal through a defensive error, the boys never looked back. Constant pressure on the Richmond defense ensured the equalizing goal came before the half, another defensive error this time from Richmond defender made sure the spoils were shared at the half time break.

A shuffle around in the Tahuna attack saw the energetic Nat Payn move into the number 9 position and Seth move out onto the right hand side. A swift move down the right saw Ethan Skinner come across the park and deftly lifted a sublime cross over the Richmond keeper to take Tahuna into a 2-1 lead. Matt Jepo led the back line well with the return of Adam at right back made sure the Tahuna midfield could take more risks going forward.

An excellent solo effort saw Nat Payn take on the Richmond defense ending a great dribble with a close range finish. The Tahuna boys kept the Richmond attack to a minimum, the game ending 3-1 to the beach boys. Match report by Dave

2nd XI 2 - 4 Locomotive

Location: Botanics

Goals: Jamie, Arjun

Match MVP: Jamie

Tahuna Seconds went down 4–2 to FC Nelson Loco in a game that had a bit of everything: penalties, screamers, defensive generosity, and one of the goals of the season.

Loco opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Ross Smith produced what can only be described as one of the most blatant handballs you'll ever see. There wasn't a hint of debate—he simply decided the ball looked better in his hand than in play and slapped it out of the air. The only real surprise was that the referee kept the cards in his pocket.

Tahuna hit back well to level the scores and keep themselves right in the contest. The highlight of the day came when Jamie Floyd restored Tahuna's lead at 2–1. Somehow, Jamie appeared to cast a magic spell over the entire Loco backline, leaving them frozen in place before switching on the afterburners, sprinting through the middle, and calmly finishing. Nobody is quite sure how he managed to make four defenders look like they were running in slow motion, but it was an absolute beauty and enough to earn him Man of the Match.

Unfortunately, Loco found another gear after that, responding with three unanswered goals to claim the win. Their final goal was worthy of a mention. With virtually the last kick of the game, Loco midfielder Chitty shaped to go outside, sold Jonny completely with a brilliant fake, cut back onto his other foot, and rifled an unstoppable strike into the top-right corner. It was a quality finish and a fitting way to end an entertaining contest.

Final Score: Tahuna Seconds 2–4 FC Nelson Loco Man of the Match: Jamie Floyd – for apparently discovering the cheat code that lets defenders move in slow motion. Dick of the Day: Jonny – for getting sent to the shops by Chitty with the final kick of the game. The finish was unstoppable... but we'll be reminding Jonny about that fake for at least the next few weeks.

Match report by Jonny

3rd XI 4 - 2 Richmond Thistle

Location: Tahunanui S2 Goals: OG, Juan, Sayha (2)

Match MVP: Juan

Tahuna S2, in the sun, final league game of the season against good old Richmond Thistle, what more could you want? Well maybe a referee as both teams found out with 5 minutes to go till kick off. Kodi stepped up to ref the half or so he thought, more on that shortly.

Tahuna wanted to end the season strongly and knowing a win would give them 10 points to round it off. That's exactly what they did!

Tahuna pushed right from the outset and having the strong wind at their backs essentially camped in the Richmond half from the starting whistle. Within 7mins Tahuna found the break as Juan sent in a peach of a ball across the face of goal, Stu and Sayha both bearing down on it but it was the Richmond CB that managed to tap it into his own net! 1-0.

Richmond kicked off and immediately realised long balls up the pitch were not going to work as the wind held the ball in the air. Will and Sobi setting to work to maneuver the ball out to wings, Wayne had a couple of chances within the first 10mins. Some more neat interplay between Sayha, Stu, Sobi and Will spurned Juan down the wing and his cut inside was rewarded with a cheeky dink over the Richmond keeper to make it 2-0 with 15mins on the board. Richmond thought they had pegged a goal back after Eric was caught off his line but a last ditch goal line save by Matty Knight kept the score at 2-0.

It was at this time the referee finally appeared and Kodi was relieved of reffing duties. Richmond spurned some chances but the defence of Rhys, Matt, Ollie and Fraser was enough to keep them out. With Tom Dunn "loaned to the 1sts" Eric put on the gloves and made some decent saves. It was all Tahuna in the first half.

Sayha performed some brilliant footwork to lose his defender and send a ball into the box, Stu smashed it first time but the keeper managed to get an outstretched leg to send it out for a corner. Wayne sent the conrer in, after a game of head tennis between both teams in the box the ball fell into the path of Sayha who duly nutted it into the back of the net! 3-0, 25mins on the clock.

Richmond could not get into the game at all as Juan was slicing every attack down his wing. Sobi then decided to shoot from range and it gracefully fell for Sayha who took one touch and hammered it into the roof of the net! 4-0 (Sayha really does love playing Richmond).

A slight lapse before half time saw Richmond pull a goal back after Eric was caught out with a lofty ball in from the right. 4-1 as the ref blew for half time.

Some tentative words at half time about playing against the wind in the upcoming half and a round of subs on for Tahuna (we boasted a team of 14 this week)

Straight away Tahuna realised the issues Richmond had had in the first half as the wind played havoc getting the ball out and Richmond spurned a multitude of chances, Kodi swapping with Eric to go inbetween the sticks and making some good saves in the process. Richmond then managed to get themselves a goal to take the scores to 4-2 with 15mins to play.

Tahuna held on though with Matt and Ollie heading everything as far away as possible.

Final score 4-2, no yellow cards and 10 points to round off the 3rds first season in the 2nd division. The 3rds are meant to be in this division for sure!

Next up a cup run beckons with the 3rds in a pool of Nelson Suburbs Seals, Karenni and FC Nelson Locomotive. Light work if you ask me.

Best club in the club...

Match report by Stu

4th XI 2 - 2 Suburbs Rovers

Location: Ngawhatu

Goals: Gabe, Ralph

Match MVP: Ralph

Tahuna got off to a great start, dominating possession from the opening whistle. The early pressure paid off when Gabe was slipped through on goal and calmly bent his finish around the goalkeeper and inside the right-hand post.

Tahuna continued to defend well and control the game, eventually earning a corner. After a goalmouth scramble, Ralph reacted quickest to convert and give Tahuna a deserved 2-0 lead heading into halftime.

Suburbs deserve credit for their response after the break, pressing harder and bringing a much more physical edge to the contest. They pulled one back early in the second half before an unfortunate mishit shot looped over Iggy in goal to level the scores at 2-2.

The final 15 minutes were frustrating as Tahuna pushed relentlessly for a winner but couldn't quite find the decisive final pass. The closest chance came when Brad surged forward from defence on a powerful run, played a neat one-two, and found himself through on goal, only to see his shot agonisingly shave the outside of the post.

In the end, it felt more like two points dropped than one point gained. However, after last times 5-1 defeat to the Rovers, there were plenty of positives to take from the performance. The commitment, resilience, and heart shown by the boys was outstanding, and on another day they would have come away with all three points.

Match report by

TFC Womens XI 3 - 1 Mapua Cougars

Location: Mapua Domain

Goals: Alysha, Bailey, Roxy

Match MVP: Bailey With a strong squad of 14 players, there was a mixture of excitement and nerves as Tahuna Women’s 1st XI prepared to take on Mapua at Mapua. With the wind at their backs and the sun in their eyes, Tahuna took to the field with a clear mission: play with strength, defend the goal, and shut down every Mapua attack.

The opening stages were evenly contested, with possession swinging back and forth as both teams challenged strongly for the ball. Neither side was able to build sustained momentum, with the determined defensive lines proving difficult to break down.

EJ made a triumphant return from a knee injury and worked tirelessly up and down the right wing for the opening 20 minutes. Alysha then came on as her replacement and made an immediate impact. Within two minutes, Hannah delivered a well-placed corner that rebounded into Alysha’s path, allowing her to calmly slot the ball past the goalkeeper and give Tahuna the lead. Mapua responded quickly, producing a strong run down the right wing and scoring an equaliser just four minutes later.

For much of the next hour, spectators witnessed a relentless battle for possession, with both sides creating opportunities and making several attempts on goal. Taylor produced a composed performance in goal, repeatedly keeping the Mapua attack at bay.

With five minutes remaining and tired bodies being lifted by the cheering spectators, Sophie drove through the middle and delivered a perfectly timed pass to Bailey on the right wing. Bailey carried the ball towards the goalkeeper before calmly chipping it into the back of the net to restore Tahuna’s lead. Bailey was later awarded Player of the Day for her outstanding performance, tireless work rate, and supportive play on the right wing.

Just as they had earlier in the match, Tahuna struck again within four minutes. Hannah delivered another excellent corner, this time finding the head of Roxy, who powered the ball into the net to secure the result.

As the wind chilled the air and the final whistle sounded, Tahuna celebrated a hard-fought and well-deserved 3–1 victory.

Match report by Cris

TFC Masters 2 - 1 Wakefield Masters

Location: Wakefield Domain

Goals: Paddy

Match MVP: Ed

The start of this week’s game was delayed whilst Macca tried to put his kit socks on. He struggles every week. There was some talk of using baby oil but when volunteers were called for everyone made a sharp exit onto the pitch. We had 15 eager Tahuna players ready to go – it was a stark difference to last week’s barren line up. Packed with subs and players, keen to run at Wakefield, we all felt buoyant about our chances.

At the start of the game, we pressed hard. It felt like we were breaking Wakefield’s back line time and time again. Yet the sight of a Tahuna attacker striding through was met every time by a linesman flag. Like an over-zealous car alarm, it became a tad frustrating. Gwyn struck a chance in the box at full pelt. Unfortunately, it was towards our own goal. Ollie’s crown jewels came to the rescue. Where was that baby oil again? Ollie was the man of the moment later when a pop shot rattled the cross bar, hit the back of Ollie’s head and went out for a corner. However you do it, it’s all about protecting our goal!

Cunny and Diego had similar efforts at the edge of Wakefield’s box with both strikes just cruising over the crossbar. At the halfway line it was great to see Woody cheering on the team. It’d be great to see him stripped in white and blue and ready for battle sometime soon.

Second half we started on the full press. We nicked the ball of Wakefield in midfield, pass to Diego, through to Gaz, down the channel to Paddy. He positively zipped past a Wakefield defender. There was an option to square it in the middle, but Paddy wasn’t having any of that and looped the ball over the keeper and into the goal, 0-1 Tahuna!

Ed wanted more. He did his custom mazy dribbling, skipping into the edge of the 6-yard box. Their keeper was having a blinder and snuffed out the chance. Wakefield tried to wrestle themselves back into the game. They broke through at one point converging with Ollie and defence. Ollie shouted “keeper’s ball,” and we were all startled to see a Wakefield foot just connect and miss our left goal post by a smidge.

Wakefield’s equaliser was opportunistic. Clearing out from defence the ball dropped just in front of the half line circle. A Wakefield striker walloped it on the half volley and sailed past many a head past an unsuspecting Ollie into our goal, 1-1.

Wakefield looked dangerous on corners too. Our defence was rooted statuesque at one point with an unmarked Wakefield player spurning a free chance at the back post. We need to wake up at corners.. Otherwise, Kev might start dispensing traffic cones to the most static offenders. In fairness the next quarter was a merry-go-round of chances from Tahuna against the Wakefield keeper. 1 on 1 on repeat for Diego, Kev, Ed. The goalie regarded the moment like a reaction response machine work out; sticking a hand, bottom left, top right, centre left to knock out our glowing hot chances and keep Wakefield clinging onto the game.

Diego hit the crossbar and Kev’s flying header was particularly deserving of a goal. Macca served a loopy shot effort which seemed destined to drop into the goal only to be repelled by the magnetic forcefield the keeper wore in the second half.

Ultimately the game was decided by an penalty kick. Ed limped back to our goals to shore up our defence. He tried to clear the ball with his foot, but the ball pinged off his leg and onto his arm. The ref only saw the final (handy) moment of that action and gave a penalty kick. Wakefield took their opportunity and got the win when we seemed locked in for that result ourselves. It was a proper shake your head, how did that happen match. But if we learn to take our chances, sharpen up on blocking out opportunistic chances (and corners) we’re a well-set team, ready to go for the memorial cup! Bring it on!!! Match Report by Pete B