Football: Waitakere move into third

Waitakere United's Jake Butler. Photo / NZPA.

Waitakere United moved into third place in the ASB Premiership on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Canterbury United at ASB Football Park in Christchurch.

The visitors claimed their fourth win in five games courtesy of a second half double from striker Derice Richards.

Dan Terris pulled a goal back late on for the home side but it wasn't enough and, with two games remaining, Saturday's result eliminates Canterbury United from semi-final contention.

Earlier, Canterbury had a goal disallowed when match officials ruled ex-All White Aaron Clapham was offside when he squared the ball across the goal in the 72nd minute.

The result pushes Waitakere to 23 points, six behind second-placed Team Wellington ahead of their match against Wanderers SC in Wellington on Sunday.

Waitakere United's Jake Butler said his side did what they needed to do to ensure they kept pace in the tight semi-final race.

"We knew we had to get three points and we've done everything we needed to do to get that,'' Butler said.

"It was a great performance, probably one of our best of the season. I think we overpowered them a little bit, we played some good football through the middle of the park.''

Butler hailed the contribution of Richards with the striker's two goals seeing the visitors home.

"He's only a young lad but he's getting better and better. He's been coming off the bench lately and doing a real good job for us. He got a start today and he repaid the boss with two goals.''

After what he felt was a strong opening half performance, Devine struggled to explain how his side fell to what was their fifth straight loss as their slim playoff hopes were extinguished.

"We totally dominated the game again in the first half and created the better chances.''
"I'm lost for words because I can't fault [Canterbury's] commitment... I thought they played some nice football today,'' Devine said.

The ASB Premiership highest-scoring side delivered once again on Saturday as the Wellington Phoenix came from two goals down to record a 3-2 win over WaiBOP United at John Kerkhof Park in Cambridge on Saturday.

A first period double to WaiBOP United's Chad Coombes had the home side 2-1 ahead late in the first half, but despite losing both Josh Brindall-South and Kwabena Appiah to injuries in the opening half, Andrew Blake got the visitors on the board in first half stoppage time when his shot crashed in off the post.

Peter Smith's team maintained their advantage until Wellington Phoenix substitute Ruairi Cahill-Fleury levelled the scores with a 76th minute header after WaiBOP goalkeeper Danyon Drake had parried a Phoenix free-kick.

With both sides set to take a point, New Zealand U-20 and All Whites representative Joel Stevens rifled in an 88th minute winner from outside the WaiBOP penalty area to move the Phoenix over WaiBOP and up to fifth - three points adrift of fourth-placed Hawke's Bay United.

WaiBOP drop to seventh, currently five points outside the top four with two games remaining and Hawke's Bay in action on Sunday against Southern in Dunedin.