Dragons topple Southern
Canterbury United have joined Tasman and Southern United on 10 competition points on the national football league table after beating Southern 2-0 at Sunnyvale Park in Dunedin.
Stephen Hoyle scored his fifth goal of the campaign when he intercepted a sloppy back pass and beat Southern keeper Liam Little in the 64th minute, before Futa Nakamura iced the victory with an 81st minute penalty.
Meanwhile Hawke’s Bay United have escaped with a point in a dramatic stalemate with Tasman United where coach Brett Angell was sent from the sidelines and Tasman’s captain missed a late penalty.
Angell was ejected with six minutes to go in their 1-1 draw at Bluewater Stadium in Napier on Sunday after allegedly giving a match official a spray when Tasman striker Maksym Kowal received a yellow card for making contact with Hawke’s Bay midfielder Karanjit Mandair with a high foot.
‘‘Max just went for the ball and put his foot a little bit high but I’m not sure if he connected with the head of the fella, I think he just continued on playing so it wasn’t intentional,’’ Tasman coach Davor Tavich said of the incident.
‘‘I think it was the straw that broke the camel’s back and Brett lost it a little bit on the sideline and that’s why he got sent off.’’
Hawke’s Bay captain Bill Robertson said he did not hear what Angell had said but believed his frustration stemmed from a previous decision.
‘‘To be honest I’m not sure. I was on the pitch so I didn’t even know he had been sent off,’’ he said.
‘‘I think there was a bit of controversy around an offside decision prior to the penalty and offside wasn’t given and I think Brett was asking the question but I’m not really sure what’s happened after that.’’
Angell was suspended for four playing days for using offensive language towards a match official last season.
Cameron Lindsay had a chance to score a late winner for Tasman, which would have been their first win against Hawke’s Bay in three attempts, but the midfielder could
only rattle the crossbar.
Kowal provided the impact for Tasman after being injected into the game in the 61st minute. The Canadian scored just three minutes after being unleashed off the bench by rounding goalkeeper Ruben Parker.
It was his first goal of the ISPS Handa Premiership and he also won the penalty which Lindsay failed to convert.
Gavin Hoy opened the scoring for Hawke’s Bay in the 17th minute.
Tavich hailed his team’s defensive performance in the draw, saying they ‘‘defended like there was no tomorrow’’ after being put under immense pressure throughout much of the game.
Having been on top for large periods, Robertson said he felt it was two points dropped.
‘‘We’ve obviously conceded a penalty late on. It seemed a harsh decision but the referee has seen it that way so in the end it could have been worse.
‘‘They only had two chances throughout the game compared to our 10 or 11. The stats speak for themselves so it’s certainly two points
dropped.’’ Waita¯kere United have moved up to third on the table after scoring twice in three minutes to beat Hamilton Wanderers 4-2 at Porritt Stadium.
Hamilton took a 2-1 lead at halftime courtesy of a brace to Papua New Guinean international Tommy Semmy.
However, two goals in quick succession to Julyan Collett and Dylan Manickum midway through the second half handed the advantage back to Waita¯ kere. Horace James was then able to seal the victory with his first goal for the club. Hamilton’s winless run now stretches to 18 games.
Meanwhile, centre-back Ryan Lowry scored a dramatic 90th minute equaliser as the Wellington Phoenix reserves clinched a 2-2 draw against Eastern Suburbs in Saturday’s game at Bill McKinlay Park.
Suburbs appeared destined to end their poor run of form when captain Tim Payne finished off a swift counter attack to take the lead with just 10 minutes to go. Lowry, returning from one week suspension, had the final say though, rising up at a corner kick to make up for his earlier own goal.