Tauranga City lose again on home turf

Departing Tauranga City United keeper Scott Robinson says they're good enough to win promotion and compete in the Northern league's first division next season, although based on the side's inexplicable malaise at home it's a tough sell.
Just a week after putting themselves back in the hunt for a top-two finish in the second division and promotion, CNS Clinic-sponsored Tauranga shuffled backwards on Saturday, crashing 2-0 at home to mid-table Mangere United to drop off the pace yet again.
It has now been almost two months since City United took maximum points at home and the Mangere defeat has left them 11 points behind pace-setters Mt Albert Ponsonby, who downed Hibiscus Coast 4-1, and three shy of Fencibles United, 5-0 winners against Warkworth and now with a vastly-superior goal differential to Tauranga's.
Robinson, who is in the throes of packing up and moving to Melbourne in a few weeks after a job transfer with the Dulux Group, was confounded by another lacklustre effort at Links Ave.
Sameer Ali put Mangere on the board in the 16th minute when Lieveal Titus burst through the defence, with Ali squeezing off a shot low to Robinson's left.
Aaron Yakub doubled the lead right on halftime when Tauranga was outpaced, not for the first time, on the right.
"We knew they'd be quick and play with 1-2 touches but we just never turned up today, which is very, very disappointing," Robinson said.
"We seem to play better away from home. I don't know what it is but we seem to come together on away trips - maybe next week we need to get in the bus and take a trip down to Rotorua and back before we play.
"We want to do well for our home club and supporters that turn up but tend to put on performances that are really poor.
"Last week (a 2-0 win over Ngaruawahia) we put ourselves back in control of our own fate, so to lose like that today is really disappointing."
With Josh Nelson providing spark in midfield, Tauranga did threaten in patches but were undone several times by the goalpost or crossbar, shots blazed high or poor delivery into the penalty area.
Robinson, who moved to Tauranga from Hamilton this year, was rarely tested in the second half and is only just getting to full fitness after a hamstring tear threatened an early finish to his season.
As it is, his job transfer across the ditch in a few weeks will do that anyway.
"I've probably only got a couple more games before heading away," he said.
"I don't like leaving during the season, especially when we're chasing promotion, but the reality is football doesn't pay the bills."
A former defender with Melville United, the solidly-build redhead reinvented himself as a goalkeeper after breaking his right leg, with his first season between the sticks coinciding with Melville's Northern premier league title.
He was selected the following season to play in the New Zealand Football Championship for Waikato FC under player/coach Che Bunce.
"My wicketkeeping days at school helped with the switch to playing in goal and the move came about because of my keenness to keep playing and get as fast as possible, while realising my days in the outfield were over because of the leg. The irony is I got further as a goalkeeper than I every did playing in defence."