Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield

North Farmington hitting on all strides, upsets West Bloomfield 1-0 in OAA Blue play

By Mike Moore
C & G Sports Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by Patricia O'Blenes North Farmington's Ronnie Basin, left, battles with West Bloomfield's Nick Asker during the second half of an Oct. 2 game. The Raiders hung on for a 1-0 victory. Photo by Patricia O'Blenes North Farmington's Ronnie Basin, left, battles with West Bloomfield's Nick Asker during the second half of an Oct. 2 game. The Raiders hung on for a 1-0 victory.

FARMINGTON HILLS — Jason Clark admitted his team wasn’t focused enough.

Michael Horner called it his team’s best game of the season.

The result followed suit.

In a key Oakland Activities Association Blue Division battle, Horner and his North Farmington soccer team made West Bloomfield High’s trek for a division title all that harder thanks to a 1-0 victory Oct. 2 at home.

“This was our best game of the season,” Horner said after the win. “We’d been playing well, kind of building up to this. But this was the complete team effort. We allowed just one shot, and we really could have had four or five goals. It was a great effort by our guys.”

Niko Matsamakis scored the lone goal of the game less than seven minutes into the first half.

“I don’t think we were ready mentally,” said Clark, the West Bloomfield coach. “We made too many mistakes, started too slow. … It’s disappointing to play like we did, but it just wasn’t our night. We came out too flat. The second half was much better, but it was too little, too late.”

West Bloomfield, battling for the top spot in the Blue, falls to 11-5-1 overall and 8-1-0 in league play.

The Lakers are back in action at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 4 at Hazel Park High.

“This is the kind of game you like to see this time of year,” Horner said of his team, which is now 6-6-2 overall and 6-2-1 in the Blue. “We’re going to keep working and keep improving.”

The Raiders host Oxford High at 7 p.m. Oct. 4.

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Mike Moore at mmoore@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1038. Follow Mike on Twitter.