The Chris Greatholder-coached side beat Wellington Phoenix A 3-1 at Bluewater Stadium, Napier, in a friendly match, albeit both sides injected emerging talent.
It was a great opportunity for Greatholder to experiment with combinations in midfield and defence with captain Bill Robertson unavailable for the crucial match against Auckland City this Sunday at Park Island as the hosts are perched only a point below the city slickers in second place on the table.
After last night's game, Matt Hastings said there was no reason why Bay United couldn't beat Auckland.
"The depth and quality are great so I think we should win. It'll be a great game on Sunday," said Hastings, who pulled out of the squad recently to help the academy youth side if required because of a tired body and mind after six years of back-to-back soccer from winter to summer had taken its toll.
Asked if Bay United should feel bullish, Greatholder laughed before replying: "TAB are saying we should win, too.
"We tend to fancy ourselves from the outside but we'll see what we can do."
He felt his troops were in a better position than they could be in and no rational soccer lover would argue that with him.
Rugged midfielder Cole Peverley assumed the mantle of centre back for the first hour before Stephen Hindmarch fell back from the engine room when Peverley was substituted.
The Jonathan Gould-coached Phoenix A drew first blood in the first 15 minutes when the season's reserve goalkeeper, Danyon Drake, and defender Fergus Neil watched each other as the ball bounced into the net from a Hamish Watson header.
But the hosts didn't panic, replying with an equaliser 10 minutes later from a Stephen Hoyle header past keeper Scott Basalaj following a Harley Rodeka corner.
Right back Josh Margetts' roving run from the halfway mark a minute before halftime was the main reason for the spring in their steps heading into the changing rooms.
Striker Dakota Lucas drilled the ball in from the acutest of angles for Bay's 2-1 lead.
It was Lucas again in the 67th minute when Rodeka took the ball to the goal line before cutting it back to the striker to finish from 14m out for a 3-1 score that stood the test of 90-plus minutes to the joy of a bumper crowd.
Onehunga Sports defender Ross Halivand came on in his debut appearance for the franchise after foot surgery in a game that allowed for five substitutes instead of three.
Hastings said it was great to see Bay academy pair Jerome Groots and Angus Kilkolly run on for Phoenix A.
"CG [Greatholder] will have a tough decision to make on Sunday on centre backs but whoever he'll pick will be great," he said of Peverley and Hindmarch.
