Auckland City sealed the ASB minor premiership for the fourth time in their history, as the race for second place heated up after wins for Canterbury and Waitakere today.
Auckland's status as minor premiers was confirmed after a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Hawkes Bay, setting up a fascinating race forsecond after Canterbury beat Otago United 3-0 and Waitakere United dumped playoff contenders Team Wellington 3-1.
Auckland win was not without controversy or excitement, with the visitors taking a shock lead when Hawkes Bay's Conor Tinnion struck an unstoppable shot past Tamati Williams after just 32 seconds.
Chad Coombes levelled the scores seven minutes after the restart and nosed in front when David Mulligan struck a superb shot past Shaun Peta with 20 minutes left, before Luis Corrales extended the lead 10 minutes later.
The afternoon turned sour for Mulligan when referee Nick Waldron sent him off for deliberate hand ball, with Tom Biss scoring the resultant penalty on 88 minutes.
But Auckland held on and could yet become the first team in ASB Premiership history to go an entire regular season undefeated.
Youngheart Manawatu v Waikato FC
By contrast, YoungHeart Manawatu remained on track to become the first team to go an entire season without a win despite a 1-1 draw with Waikato FC at Porritt Stadium in Hamilton. Nathan Cooksley gave the visitors a shock 1-0 lead, but Waikato levelled the match when Tyler Boyd cut inside Wade Randle before applying a deadly finish just before halftime.
Waitakere bounced back from their O-League defeat in Tahiti last week to trounce Team Wellington at Fred Taylor Park in Whenuapai.
The visitors took the lead through Louis Fenton, but Waitakere responded with two goals in the space of a minute from Chris Bale and Ryan de Vries, before Bale made the points safe.
Waitakere are now breathing down the necks of Canterbury, with just one point separating the two teams with two matches to go and the coveted runners-up berth offering a possible O-League berth for next season.
The two teams meet each other in the next round on March 11, a showdown that will likely decide second spot.
Canterbury v Otago
Canterbury ensured the remained ahead of the west Aucklanders by beating Otago for the second time in eight days at ASB Football Park in Christchurch.
A Russell Kamo double and a masterful free kick by Aaron Clapham, his eighth goal of the campaign, proved enough to seal the points.
