Team Wellington back in top spot

Team Wellington are back where they feel they belong.

Yesterday’s 2-1 win over Tasman United sees last season’s Stirling Sports Premiership champions move to the top of the 2016/17 table, thanks to Eastern Suburbs’ 2-0 loss to Canterbury United and Auckland City being off on international duty in Japan.

Second-half goals to Andy Bevin and Joel Stevens secured maximum points for Team Wellington, after a willing encounter at Trafalgar Park.

‘‘Ideally you want to play 90 minutes our way, but in football it’s impossible. You have to dig in and fight for 20 to 25 minutes and we did that today,’’ Team Wellington coach Jose Manuel Figueira said.

Tasman sprung a surprise by starting former Wellington Phoenix star Paul Ifill in the centre of defence and it looked to be an inspired decision, when the teams went to halftime locked at 0-0.

It was Tasman goalkeeper Coey Turipa who effectively broke the stalemate when his attempt to pass the ball out from the back only made it as far as Bevin, who gleefully tucked it in the back of the net.

Ermal Hajdari responded for the home side, in the 65th minute, before Stevens settled the issue 10 minutes later. Again Tasman had trouble playing the ball out of defence - Ifill was the man this time - and Stevens didn’t need a second invitation.

Team Wellington have now gone six games unbeaten, including five wins.

They weren’t the only Wellington outfit to have a good weekend of it, with the Phoenix reserves beating Hamilton Wanderers 4-0 at FMG Stadium on Saturday.

From 0-0 at halftime, two goals to Ruairi Cahill-Fleury, another courtesy of substitute Max Mata and finally an added time penalty from Alex Rufer made for an emphatic scoreline.

Logan Rogerson, Sarpreet Singh and James McGarry all created useful first-half chances, before Rogerson teed Cahill-Fleury up after the break. He had an unfortunate air swing on that occasion but combined with Rogerson again soon after to put the Phoenix 1-0 up.

Singh laid on Cahill-Fleury’s second and then Rufer provided a one last goal in the 92nd minute.

Hawke’s Bay were 3-0 winners over Southern United in Dunedin on Saturday, thanks to two goals from Sam Mason-Smith and another to Angus Kilkolly.