Hawke's Bay United 2 Manawatu 2
It could have been easy for Hawke's Bay United football coach Matt Chandler to blame the referee after this draw at Park Island yesterday.
After all, his right back, Fergus Neil, was hard done by when he received a yellow card from Auckland referee Mirko Benischke after a challenge during injury time in Kinetic Electrical Hawke's Bay United's first home encounter in this season's ASB Premiership. The call should have been a penalty in Neil's favour.
While Chandler was spot on when he pointed out there were a couple of crucial decisions from Benischke which didn't help the hosts' cause, he was equally as accurate when he said his troops played well in patches.
"We played well in patches but also allowed Manawatu to play well in patches," said Chandler.
Far too often throughout the Bluewater Stadium encounter, Hawke's Bay played without the intensity required of a side which has set a finals berth as the season goal. The scoreless first half saw the hosts fail with six attempts at goal.
After former Youngheart Manawatu centre midfielder Adam Cowan opened the scoring in the 47th minute, the hosts conceded a goal a minute later when captain and centre back Bill Robertson turned the ball into his own goal.
This error aside, Robertson was among the hosts' best. He provided the experience on defence which was missed when he was serving the end of a suspension in the first round loss to Waitakere United.
"We still have a lot of work to do. We've set ourselves high standards which we aren't living up to," said Chandler.
"In saying that, we must give credit to Stu [his Manawatu counterpart, Stu Jacobs] ... Manawatu are no mugs they are a good side."
Chandler had every right to be proud of the impact of the likes of his son, Adam Chandler, Matt Hastings and Josh Magetts provided off the bench. However, a lack of combinations from this new-look outfit was evident with the amount of soft turnovers.
Considering the team's successful pre-season programme and the fact two competition games have been played, more accuracy will be expected when Hawke's Bay United hosts Canterbury this Sunday.
Ninteen-year-old Neil agreed he should have been awarded a penalty in the final minutes and it was a match Hawke's Bay United should have won. However, he was already in move-on mode.
"It's important we learn from our mistakes," said the former Napier Boys' High School player who has set several goals for the season.
"I want to keep my starting place all season. I want to help United maintain an unbeaten run at home and, of course, the main goal is the final," Neil added.
There were some quality touches from new centre midfielders Stephen Hindmarch and Conor Tinnion.
Manawatu's Jimmy Haidakis scored the best goal of the match with a cracker of a curler from 27 metres out to give his side the lead in the 65th minute.
His captain, Cory Chettleburgh, had a huge workrate and, up front, former United player Joachim Rande and Seule Soromon were still able to create numerous opportunities despite tight marking from the hosts.
Earlier in the day, the Hawke's Bay United youth team lost 4-1 to their Waitakere United counterparts after leading 1-0 at halftime. Tom Biss scored the hosts only goal.
SCORERS:
Hawke's Bay United 2 (Adam Cowan 47m, Hamish Watson 85m), Manawatu 2 (own goal 48m, Jimmy Haidakis 65m). HT: 0-all.