Football: WaiBOP crunched after super start

WaiBOP United have been outclassed by one of the high flyers of the ASB Youth League.

United went into the fixture with Waitakere as one of only three remaining teams to have not dropped a point in the opening two rounds, but their opponents had also earned that distinction and it showed.

The Auckland side ticked up a solid 3-0 win at home at Fred Taylor Park to join Nelson Marlborough Falcons at the top of the table.

With a goal either side of halftime, Joshua Armitt gave Waitakere a two-goal cushion by the 51st minute and Ben Roberts sealed the result with an 84th-minute effort.

Wanderers SC grabbed their second win in three outings, a 4-1 victory over Hawke's Bay United at Park Island, where three of the visitors' goals came after halftime.

Ben Kiore started things off in the 15th minute and Keiran McMinn doubled the Wanderers lead two minutes after the break. Kiore struck his second soon after and Ben Mata added the fourth on the hour mark.

Luke Horn grabbed a consolation goal for the home side with five minutes left on the clock.

Defending champions Auckland City FC earned their first win of the competition with a home 1-0 victory over Heartland Wairarapa, Harrison Bolton-Roberts scoring the decisive goal with 10 minutes to go at the Croatian Cultural Society ground in west Auckland.

On Sunday, Nelson Marlborough Falcons leap-frogged Waitakere United to lead the table on goal difference with a 2-0 home victory over Auckland United at Trafalgar Park.

Kevin Obed gave the home side a 20th-minute lead and Carl Conner-McClean scored an 80th-minute insurance goal to keep the Nelson-based team, competition runners-up in 2013, perfect after three rounds.

Southern United continued their strong start to the year by recording a 2-1 victory over Team Wellington to move into third place.

Lewis Jackson's second-half double paved the way for Southern's victory at Tahuna Park, with Team Wellington pulling one back through Finn Moore.

Canterbury United were 3-1 winners over Manawatu United at Ashhurst Park as Ryan Stanley scored two of the visitors' three goals.