Football: Paul Ifill finds equaliser in added time to guarantee Hawke's Bay United share points

Bay United substitute striker Paul Ifill threads the ball past Canterbury United defenders who arrive too late to shut him down for the added-time equaliser in Napier today. Photo/Warren Buckland

They were parked in different corners of the field but the body language of the two football teams spoke a familiar dialect that required no interpretation at Park Island, Napier, today.

Thirsty Whale Hawke's Bay United and Canterbury United Dragons, going through the post-match stretching rituals, exuded emotions consistent with teams who had just registered a 2-2 stalemate.

Ironically, in many respects, it was a fair result considering neither side had done enough to demand three points in round two of the ISPS Handa Premiership match at Bluewater Stadium.

For the Brett Angell-coached hosts, it wasn't just a matter of eking out a victory that had eluded them throughout last season but also to open their account with a goal after losing 5-0 on the road to Eastern Suburbs in the opening round last Saturday.

"It was important to score the first goal of the season," said Maxime Oliveri, after finding the net in the first minute of added time before halftime to put Bay United up 1-0.

A grinning Oliveri said they now needed a victory at home to chuck the monkey off their backs in the national summer league.

The visitors had made their intentions clear when a header clipped the crossbar following a cornerkick in the 19th minute before former Napier City Rovers striker Stephen Hoyle, of England, rode a wave of counterattacks.

It wasn't until the 42nd minute that the hosts looked like making Canterbury goalkeeper Conor Tracey stretch after an Oliveri free kick found Daniel Allan in the box but the ensuing header sailed wide off the left upright.

Bay United midfielder Karan Mandair and Dragons counterpart Cory Mitchell picked up yellow cards within a few minutes of each other for ill-timed tackles.

The French striker's goal came not just from lateral vision but also the urgency and mind set to follow up on a play he had initiated. He had found midfielder Cory Chettleburgh who had adroitly chested down the floater in the oblique wind before pushing it to Oliveri to regather on the run to finish it past Tracey.

Whatever coach Brett Angell said in the changing rooms worked as Bay United showed more intent when the second half resumed.

"We had to be more confident with the ball, tackle and be a threat," said Oliveri, a 30-year-old who hails from near Marseille, when asked what the word was at halftime.

Striker Jordan Lamb got a break but Tracey was equal to the occasion. The goalkeeper again thwarted a speculator from Allan from about 25m out from the centre of the park.

It was a stop-start, error-ridden game from both sides but Bay United certainly lifted their intensity in the second half.

Play had stopped for a minute when Bay United defender Anders Eriksson, of Sweden, and Canterbury midfielder Maksym Kowal, of Canada, got caught in a head collision following a corner kick in the 52nd minute.

However, when play resumed, with Kowal still having his head bandaged on the sidelines, the Dragons equalised, 1-1. It came from a curler courtesy of Canterbury skipper Gary Ogilvie, the ball dropping into the net past Bay United goalkeeper Mackenzie Waite.

Was it a cross or a wicked use of the cross wind? It hardly mattered to the Southerners who hugged and cheered.

"I always say I was going for the goal," said a grinning Ogilvie, of England.

Hoyle casually popped in a goal to extend the lead to 2-1 from a spilled corner kick that Bay United defenders had failed to mop up in the 59th minute.

Angell pulled out Lamb and Oliveri to inject veteran Paul Ifill and Sho Goto, of Japan, with some immediate impact after Ifill strayed into the box but didn't back himself to pull the trigger.

Hawke's Bay United player Maxime Oliveri, of France, runs into the defence of Canterbury United midfielder Cory Mitchell at Bluewater Stadium in Napier today. Photo/Warren Buckland

Canterbury's George King, of England, had a good opportunity to extend the lead but Waite kept his cool to parry the shot in the 72nd minute.

Ifill again showed his class when his touch deserted him in bringing down a high ball in the box on the right flank but took on a defender, and drilled the ball into the far corner past Tracey but defender Tom Schwarz ambled in like a good sentry to clear from the line in the 77th minute.

Canterbury coach Willy Gerdsen also made a couple of changes with Aaron Spain coming in for Cowal and, a few minutes later, and Seth Clark for Adam Thurston, of England.

Two minutes into added time, the proven Ifill formula paid dividends for Angell when the 39-year-old poked in the equaliser, 2-2, after a pin-ball moment in the box with the Dragons failing to clear the mess.

A sombre Ogilvie said the Dragons had arrived here with the intentions of taking three points but they would now put that disappointment aside to regroup for the next round, after a 1-0 victory over Southern United in round one.

"We know they [Bay United] have got quality throughout the park in the game and, unfortunately, they scored in the last minute," the 29-year-old midfielder who works for Mainland Football in Christchurch.

Ogilvie said his troops had dominated in the second half to score twice but bemoaned their inability to put the game to bed.

"They've got quality to hurt you in the last five minutes," he said.

Bay United midfielder Cory Chettleburgh uses Jordan Lamb as a decoy as the Dragons defenders breathe down his neck on the sideline in Napier today. Photo/Warren Buckland