Tauranga City United had to settle for a disappointing 3-3 draw with Northern League Division Two strugglers Manukau City after a disappointing second half at Links Avenue yesterday.
The home side conceded two goals in the opening 20 minutes of the second half to surrender a well-earned 3-1 half time lead, and failed to convert a swathe of chances that would have seen them win four games on the trot after dropping the first two of the season.
Manukau came out much stronger after the interval, harassing their hosts into panic and a number of rash decisions when the occasion called for cool heads.
Elliot Stead scored for the visitors from a free kick just outside the box before Greg Seed latched on to a through ball after some ineffective defending to tie the match after 67 minutes.
Both sides hit the woodwork in the closing stages, but Tauranga City threatened more often. They will be lamenting this match as one that got away.
The first half was essentially all about defender Thomas Livesey, who proved the most effective player for both sides.
He dispossessed a Manukau player in his own half after six minutes before slipping a well judged through ball into the path of a flying Jack McNab.
McNab, whose eight goals so far this season put him in second equal place for the league's golden boot, did the rest by expertly tucking the ball behind Manukau keeper Faizal Hanit to make the score 1-0.
But Livesey went from hero to villain 10 minutes later with one of the sweetest strikes seen at Links Avenue for some time.
Under a touch of pressure from the Manukau attack, he turned and fired a volley from 25m out over the head of a despairing Simeon Clark and into his own net.
The own goal seemed to unsettle the home side, as they came under increasing pressure passing the ball out of their own half. Enter Livesey again, who finished off some fine lead-up work down the righthand side by Justin Eiman by slamming the ball with his left foot to give his side a 2-1 lead.
The lead stretched to 3-1 after 30 minutes, when some fine work from Gichin Fuhiniu and a touch from McNab saw the ball deflected off a defender into the Manukau net.
Eiman, and especially McNab, looked the best on show, but the smiles and fist pumps from the visitors at full time told the story of which side got the most out of the contest.
Tauranga City United 3 (J McNab, T Livesey, own goal - Nazir Khan) drew with Manukau City AFC 3 (G Seed, Elliot Stead, own goal - T Livesey).
Meanwhile, the Bay of Plenty Women's side fell 2-1 to Fencibles United at Links Avenue yesterday.
Fencibles went 2-0 up after 40 minutes through goals to Sarah Fuller and Hannah Wall, before Sophie Stewart-Hobbs scored two minutes into the second half.