This year's fixture had the added bonus of the team playing for the NZSS challenge trophy, The Alex Harvey Industries trophy. TBC has never held this prestigious prize, mostly due to the fact that we haven't had a challenge since 2002 and this was just our third ever. A win would see us hold every trophy we play for and the lads were up for it.

As early as the third minute a Forbes Hellyer inspired set piece saw the ball fall kindly to Braetyn Allen and a good first touch set up a crisp finish. Both teams created chances soon after but it was Westlake who equalised after a fine cross from the left was met with a cushioned volley into the net.

At half time the talk was positive and we came out firing. A penalty was calmly slotted by captain Zach Bryant after good work from Caelen Freher and Archie Mutch. Westlake's reply was immediate and despite the best efforts of Reed Tong the ball found its way in.Another fine corner from Jake Bell was met by a towering Will Casey header and at 3-2 with 20 minutes to go we had our hands on the trophy. Amongst a number of strange refereeing decisions was the awarding of a penalty for Westlake which bobbled home past Ben Richardson.

A grandstand finish saw end to end action and the last act of the game saw Tristan Kawana blaze just over from the edge of the box. A 3-3 scoreline kept our undefeated start to the season intact but also meant the Alex Harvey trophy stays in Auckland. Josh Sutcliffe and Forbes Hellyer had top games and with a raw squad gaining more and more experience in pressure situations, the team has the potential to keep improving in all areas.

Next up is a qualifier at St Peter's Cambridge on Tuesday.