Premiership develops into a league of two halves
A five-five split has already been established just two full rounds into the ISPS Handa Premiership.
Three of the top five teams won over the weekend, while Canterbury United drew and defending champions Auckland City had their match abandoned.
The round started on Saturday as Eastern Suburbs made it two-from-two with a 2-0 win over the Wellington United reserves. Dominic Wooldridge and Andre de Jong were in the goals at Riverhills Park.
Hamilton Wanderers continued their strong start to the season, keeping their perfect record intact with a 2-1 away win over Tasman United. Joseph Terry scored the 69th-minute winner.
The ageless wonder that is Paul Ifill helped Hawke’s Bay United pick up their first point of the season.
The 39-year-old, who is also Brett Angell’s assistant coach, bagged a late equaliser at Bluewater Stadium in Napier to earn his side a 2-2 draw with Canterbury.
The Auckland City-southern United match at the Caledonian Ground in Dunedin was abandoned at 0-0 after 47 minutes after rain made the pitch unplayable. It will be rescheduled for later in the season.
Team Wellington started their match superbly against Waitakere United at Trusts Arena as Jack-henry Sinclair drew a penalty in just the third minute. Former Wellington Phoenix striker Hamish Watson converted the spot kick.
Mario Ilich added Wellington’s second with a deflected effort in the 80th minute, before Ross Allen added a third two minutes later, capping a sweeping move with a strong finish to cap the 3-0 win.