Metso Matamata Swifts secured their first Super League victory by beating Rotorua Suburbs in the most one-sided game of football seen at the Matamata Domain in living memory.

The Swifts footballing performance was several levels above their over matched opponents and, if it wasn't for their now customary profligacy in front of goal, they would have set a new 1st team winning-margin record.

As it was, Matamata crammed all their goal scoring into the last twenty minutes. By that stage the Swifts would have taken anything to get the opening goal and the referee duly obliged by pointing to the penalty spot following an innocuous looking challenge. Ged Parkinson, clinical as ever from that range, stroked home his tenth goal of the season.

Before the opener Matamata had done everything but score. Such was their dominance from the kick-off they should have been four goals up within twenty minutes. And that was just from the really good opportunities!

Neil Slater's third minute strike, which hit the upright and cannoned away, set the scene for an afternoon of frustration against a side with a game plan consisting of three things: screaming for off-side, kicking the ball back to Matamata and relying on their excellent goal keeper to keep them in the game.

The screaming for off-side idea seemed to work for a while as the Swifts were repeatedly thwarted by the assistant referee's flags, even though a number of those decisions were more than a little contentious. Scott Parsonage had a first half tap in harshly ruled out, while the Suburbs defenders weren't the only people to be caught out often by the pace of the Swifts wide men and front runners.

The Swifts kept the small crowd on the edge of their seats as they seemingly took pity on their poor opponents by finding new and bizarre ways to miss gilt-edged goal scoring opportunities. Twice during the second half they even bashed the ball over an open, undefended goal.

For all this, Matamata put in a good footballing performance and finally got around to wrapping the game up in the last ten minutes with a couple of special goals. Captain, Andy Birchenough, sent the ball spitting and snarling past the Suburbs goalie from long range, then Neil Slater capitalised on some great work in the box by Alberto Romero to volley home from close range.

The goals gave a small amount of respectability to the final score line, which on another day could have been record breaking. The Swifts are usually slow starters after having a weekend off, so it was reassuring, at least, to put in a solid performance. Hopefully the side will be a little more clinical over the closing weeks of the season as they prepare for three games against three much better teams.

Matamata have two tough away trips over the next two weekends. First they must visit Whakatane to play a game that was deferred from last weekend and then they go to Taupo for the third time this season. The final game of the season is at home to Ngongotaha on September 16.

This game was popular midfielder, John Massey's, last for the Swifts before heading to the UK. Massey has been with the club for two seasons and has proved to be as energetic on the field as he is verbose off it.