Tupapa Maraerenga premier men’s side has taken the lead in the 2022 Rarotonga football club competition after a convincing win over the weekend.

Tupapa FC demolished Puaikura 6-0 in the Tower Insurance premier men’s feature match of round three at CIFA Complex in Matavera on Saturday.

Puaikura’s red troopers started the match well ensuring they maintain possession in their bid to get much needed goals against Tupapa.

Numerous attempts were made by Puaikura forwards Dwayne Tiputoa and Albert Etuete as they tried to breach the Tupapa wall of Ronnie Sakai and Dave Milanovich who made sure to slow down these two speedsters and kept them at bay.

Up front for Tupapa, youngster Marcus Gibbens broke the deadlock after breaking through Puaikura’s hard defensive line.

Despite being down by a goal, Puaikura continued to test Tupapa’s defence but were not able to guard their territory well as Tupapa scored three more goals to lead 4-0 at the break.

In the second half Tupapa’s deadly winger Sunai Joseph added two more goals as the side thumped Puaikura 6-0 to remain undefeated from three matches so far.

In Nikao, Avatiu and Nikao Sokattak couldn’t manage to get any goals as the match ended in a nil-all draw while Matavera took three points from Titikaveka with a 1-0 win.

Matavera’s forwards especially their striker, who seemed to have run out of gas in the second spell, lacked the clinical finish to execute the many opportunities the team created in the match. Titikaveka who suffered heavy losses against Tupapa and Nikao looked a much better side on Saturday.

Matavera will have to improve drastically if they want to avoid an embarrassing loss against a formidable Tupapa this weekend.

In the Islander Women’s division Puaikura’s red maidens came out to CIFA Complex famished, wanting to cause an upset against Tupapa’s Ladies in Black, the defending champions.

Tupapa’s nippy forward Adriana Hauser was hard to handle as she weaved her way through Puaikura’s staunch defensive wall of Natasha Dean and Pekarau Mataio, as quick as she got to the ball. Hauser scored the opener giving Tupapa a slender 1-0 lead at the break.

Getting back on the field after their half time break, Tupapa defenders did well to keep Puaikura at bay. But Puaikura had other ideas, ramping up their attack on Tupapa.

Puaikura’s secret weapon Ngamata Moekaa hustled for a goal every chance she had with support from midfielder Simone Nicholas. Moekaa eventually found herself face to face with Tupapa stopper Tupou Brogan and slotted home the equaliser to level the score 1-all.

Former champions Puaikura were not done yet as they kept pushing and got rewarded with another goal to win the match 2-1, handing Tupapa their first defeat of the season.

Avatiu and Nikao Sokattak match ended in a nil-all draw, while Matavera and Titikaveka finished with a 1-all draw.

• CIFA Media/RK

Results

Under 6 Mix: Matavera FC vs Titikaveka FC: Titikaveka won by default, Puaikura FC vs Tupapa Maraerenga FC: 4-1; Avatiu FC vs Nikao Sokattak FC: U8 Mix: 1-5, U10 Mix: 3-2, U12 Mix: 2-1, U15 Boys: 0-3, U15 Girls: 2-0, U18 Men: 2-1, Senior Women: 0-0, Premier Men: 0-0. Puaikura FC vs Tupapa Maraerenga FC:

U8 Mix: 0-6, U10 Mix: 0-2, U12 Mix: 1-6, U15 Boys: 4-1, U15 Girls: 0-2, U18 Men: 0-12, Senior Women: 2-1, Premier Men:0-6. Matavera FC vs Titikaveka FC:

U8 Mix: 5-3, U10 Mix: 5-3, U12 Mix: 2-0, U15 Boys: 5-0, U15 Girls: 2-1, U18 Men: 9-2, Senior Women: 1-1, Premier Men: 1-0.