Top Two Score Four And Draw Clear Of Canterbury
Story by Jeremy Ruane

Youngheart Manawatu and Auckland City both scored four goals on the road on March 5, and drew clear of third-placed Canterbury United in the process of recording victories in pursuit of top spot in the NZ Community Trust Football Championship, and the automatic qualification for the Oceania Club World Championship qualifiers which goes with it.

The league leaders won 4-3 at Links Avenue in a whale of a game against Waikato FC, who found themselves trailing to Alick Maemae’s twentieth minute opener, but Jakub Sinkora’s thunderous twenty-yarder brought about parity nine minutes before the interval.

After it, the goals came thick and fast, with three in a five-minute spell before the hour mark. Brent Mayhew put through his own net in the 52nd minute when trying to prevent Commins Menapi from turning home a Maemae cross, only for Nathan Robertson to draw Waikato level again three minutes later.

But while they were still celebrating, Ian Sandbrook restored Manawatu’s advantage with a screamer to put his team 3-2 up, and Menapi made certain of the points in the dying minutes following another Maemae-inspired raid.

But the scoring wasn’t over, Robertson heading home from close-range in stoppage time to give Waikato late hope of a share of the spoils. Time ran out on them, however, leaving the league leaders on top of the table by a point from Auckland City.

The reigning champions, whose coach, Allan Jones, is stepping down at the end of the season, bounced back to form in emphatic fashion with a 4-0 flogging of Team Wellington at Newtown Park.

The visitors opened the scoring half-way through the first half when the tried and trusted route one approach paid dividends. Ross Nicholson’s raking clearance sparked off the opening, which culminated in Grant Young turning home Reg Davani’s pass from eight yards.

Before the interval, Bryan Little hit the post for the home team, but after it, three goals in nine minutes killed off the game as a contest, with Papua New Guinea international Davani netting two of them.

His first, half-way through the second half, found the net from eighteen yards via the inside of the post, while the provider of that goal, James Pritchett, struck one himself seventeen minutes from time, a volleyed effort following good work by Young.

Within sixty seconds, Davani doubled his tally for the afternoon, tucking home past Dylan Hall after being picked out by a Neil Sykes free-kick to secure the points, and leave Wellington with a huge task ahead of them if they hope to extend their season beyond the end of the month.

Canterbury dropped vital points at home to Waitakere United, for whom Chris Jackson’s 42nd minute strike looked to be enough to secure Steve Cain’s charges a rare away win.

But road trip triumphs remain rarities for the West Aucklanders, substitute Gerard Brown securing a share of the spoils for the home team in the third minute of stoppage time.

Despite drawing level at the death, Danny Halligan will look on this 1-1 draw as two points lost in Canterbury’s pursuit of top spot, and a top-three finish now looks to be their lot. Waitakere, meanwhile, have their work cut out for them to make the play-offs - they still have to play the top two in their last three games.

Otago United’s play-off prospects, so stunningly revived last week at Auckland’s expense, received another boost in the wind and rain at Park Island, where cellar-dwellers Hawkes Bay United succumbed 1-0 to the visitors, Blair Scoullar doing the damage with a twentieth minute free-kick.

Next weekend, Auckland host wooden spooners Hawkes Bay at 4pm on Saturday, while the Sunday trifecta sees Canterbury hosting Wellington and Waitakere visiting Manawatu in 3pm encounters, while the 4pm game sees Waikato and Otago converging on Rotorua’s International Stadium in a key game for both teams’ play-off prospects, particularly those of the home side.

Details:
Canterbury United 1 (G. Brown (90)), Waitakere United 1 (C. Jackson (42)) HT 0-1

Hawkes Bay United 0, Otago United 1 (B. Scoullar (20)) HT 0-1

Team Wellington 0, Auckland City 4 (G. Young (26), R. Davani (66, 74), J. Pritchett (73)) HT 0-1

Waikato FC 3 (J. Sinkora (36), N. Robertson (55, 90)), Youngheart Manawatu 4 (B. Totori (20), “oggie” (52), I. Sandbrook (57), C. Menapi (88)) HT 1-1

P W D L F A GD Pts
Youngheart Manawatu 18 12 4 2 43 23 +20 40
Auckland City 18 13 0 5 53 26 +27 39
Canterbury United 18 11 2 5 30 18 +12 35
Otago United 18 6 6 6 23 20 +3 24
Waitakere United 18 6 4 8 34 32 +2 22
Waikato FC 18 5 4 9 26 38 -12 19
Team Wellington 18 5 4 9 32 48 -16 19
Hawkes Bay United 18 1 2 15 13 49 -36 5