Second placed Waitakere missed out on a golden opportunity to grab top spot for themselves with pacesetters Auckland City involved in the O-League. Auckland and Waitakere are both on 23 points but City now have three games in hand on their West Auckland rivals.
The win sees Wellington surge into fourth place on the New Zealand Football Championship table while their closest rivals – Canterbury United – slipped to fifth spot without kicking a ball but they still have three games in hand.
Waitakere United took the lead after a long range strike by Fijian international Roy Krishna after just 17 minutes but the scores were level within sixty seconds of the restart after Wellington striker Greg Draper pounced on a defensive error by goalkeeper Danny Robinson to level the scores.
Team Wellington nudged in front when All Whites midfielder Andy Barron turned a corner beyond Robinson on 24 minutes. The home side led 2-1 at the break but their joy lasted just a further eight minutes after Allan Pearce pounced on a loose ball to score an equaliser after Wellington goalkeeper James Bannatyne had earlier parried a Brent Fisher shot.
Waitakere went ahead for the second time in the match when captain Jake Butler struck an unstoppable shot past Bannatyne to make it 3-2 on 65 minutes. An inspirational substitution by Team Wellington coach Stu Jacobs saw Darren Cheriton score with his first touch of the ball on 80 minutes to make it 3-3 with just ten minutes left to play.
Wellington’s winner arrived when Solomon Island striker Michael Fifii executed a perfect overhead kick past Robinson to snatch a dramatic 4-3 win three minutes into stoppage time.
Meanwhile in the Lion Foundation National Men’s Youth League, Auckland-Manukau scored a 3-1 home win over table-toppers Waitakere United on Saturday.
Goals for Auckland-Manukau trio Alexei Davis-Campbell, Rory Turner and Sean Lovemore cancelled out Jade Mesias fifth minute opener for Waitakere. Waitakere are now joint top of the Northern Conference but edge Auckland-Manukau on goal difference.
Elsewhere, Auckland City swept aside Waikato FC 4-1 thanks to a hat-trick by Rory Kelly. Dan Morgan was also on target for City while Nikolai Molijn scored a late consolation for Waikato FC.
Southern Conference action gets underway next weekend when Otago meet Manawatu and Team Wellington host Canterbury United.
Next week’s New Zealand Football Championship action sees Otago United host Waikato FC in Dunedin, while Auckland City – fresh back from O-League duty in Tahiti – entertain Canterbury United at Kiwitea Street. Hawke’s Bay United and YoungHeart Manawatu go head-to-head at Park Island as both sides seek to keep their play-off hopes alive.
Photo and story courtesy NZFC.