Waitakere’s 3-2 victory over bottom placed Waikato FC lifts them to 16 points while Auckland City moved to within three points of their rivals but have two games in hand.
Otago United – shock 3-0 winners over YoungHeart Manawatu yesterday – swapped positions with their opponents to remain in third place.
Elsewhere, a Greg Draper hat-trick resurrected Team Wellington’s play-off hopes and moved them into fifth after a 4-1 win over Canterbury United. Victories for Otago and Wellington mean Canterbury– who had a chance to finish the weekend in third place – instead slipped to sixth.
Canterbury – unbeaten at home this season – got off to a bad start when Draper converted an early penalty after defender Jeremy Wild was sent off for a foul on Roddy Brown in the fifth minute .
Bryan Little added Wellington’s second ten minutes later and Draper completed his treble with strikes either side of the halftime break. Hue Frame scored a late consolation goal for Canterbury United.
In Ngaruawahia, Michael Gwyther gave bottom-placed Waikato FC a shock lead just 37 seconds into their match with Waitakere United. The lead lasted all of sixteen minutes until Fiji international Roy Krishna equalised from close range.
Waitakere went in front nine minutes into the second half after Benjamin Totori finished off a sweeping counter –attack after sustained Waikato pressure. Brent Fisher put the match beyond Waikato FC’s reach with a calm finish from a cross with twenty minutes left.
Substitute Mauri Wasi gave Waikato FC a glimmer of hope when he scored in time added-on but Waitakere held out for the win. However, Waitakere coach Neil Emblen will lose Totori to suspension after he was shown a straight red card for an off the ball incident.
Auckland City’s unbeaten run in the NZFC stretched to five matches with a 2-1 win over Hawke’s Bay United. Jason Hayne combined with James Pritchett to open the scoring after fifteen minutes. Hayne was involved again when he combined with Daniel Koprivcic to give Grant Young a late goal in the eighty seventh minute.
Auckland survived a nervous end to the match after Leon Birnie gave Hawke’s Bay a lifeline with his fourth goal of the season.
Story & Photo courtesy nzfc.co.nz