Second place is the best the Whakatāne Town men’s team can finish this season.

They sit 15 points behind league leaders Tauranga City Relics with a couple of games up their sleeve.

The past two weeks saw Town suffer a loss and bag a draw, effectively ruining any chance they had of winning the league.

Against Tauranga City Relics at Rex Morpeth Park, they put up a strong showing.

The visitors scored first after 23 minutes, but hard-working Cam Wills found the net and had the teams back on level pegging five minutes later.

The killer blow came minutes before halftime when City was awarded a penalty and converted it, holding on the entire second half for a 2-1 victory.

A trip to Fergusson Park followed a week later as they tackled fourth-placed Otumoetai.

A goal to the home side in the 35th minute saw the momentum swing their way.

It wasn’t until the 84th minute that Town managed to find an equaliser through Noah Vullings and the score remained 1-all for the rest of the clash.