KEY POINTS:
Team Wellington and Auckland City have set themselves up for a Christmas cracker which should decide which team will go into the seasonal break at the top of the New Zealand Football Championship.
The only unbeaten teams after five rounds - both got home by the odd goal
in keenly contested matches yesterday - meet at Newtown Park on December 15 in what promises to be a decent scrap with plenty at stake.
City, two points back in second place, have the chance to go ahead of Team Wellington this weekend however as Stu Jacobs' team have had their sixth round match, at home to Waitakere United, rescheduled for December 23 as United are now in Japan for the Fifa Club World Cup.
City have never relished the trip to play Waikato FC.
Yesterday's game was no different.
Ahead 2-0 and cruising after half an hour, the visitors were well on their way.
Bryan Little had them ahead after 11 minutes when he provided a neat finish after gathering from a throw-in.
City continued to dominate and increased their lead when captain Ben Sigmund headed home from a corner.
They held that two-goal advantage until halftime but not much longer.
Two minutes into the second spell Aaron Scott was brought down by Craig Wylie and Robert Gill made no mistake with the ensuing penalty.
Twenty minutes later, Waikato FC stunned City when Sam Wilkinson slammed home a cracker after Henry Fa'Arodo had given up possession, Gill crossed and Jakub Sinkora set it up for Wilkinson. With eight minutes to play, home team hopes of claiming at least a point were dashed when Shaun Van Rooyen handled and Little slotted the penalty for his second goal of the match and sixth of the season and a handy lead in the Golden Boot race.
Canterbury United, chasing their first win of the season and with home advantage to help them, began strongly against Team Wellington but early chances for Dave Walker and Ryan Faichnie were wasted.
The only goal of the match followed soon after as a Team Wellington corner was cleared only as far as Wiremu Patrick lurking outside the penalty area from where he hit home a well-directed low shot.
The visitors had chances to increase their lead before the break but failed to take them.
The second half fell away with flashing yellow cards (six) and substitutions (five) providing much of the action. A red card provided the turning point in the round opener at Fred Taylor Park on Saturday.
Looking for a decent dress rehearsal ahead of their sudden-death game in Japan on Friday night, Waitakere United turned up with their B game but still managed to beat 10-man YoungHeart Manawatu 3-1.
Depending on which coach was spoken to after the game, Manawatu attacker Osea Vakatalesau - sent off in the 48th minute by referee Chris Kerr on the say-so of one of his linesmen for a challenge on United defender Neil Sykes - was definitely at fault and "had to go" or it was a "crazy decision and very harsh".
After going ahead in the 14th minute when Benjamin Totori touched the ball home when the Manawatu defence failed to block a long-range Darren Bazeley freekick, United were back to all square in the 37th minute when Ian Sandbrook ran on to a through ball to embarrass a hesitant Waitakere defence. But the pressure of playing a man short told and the home side scored two second-half goals to take the points.
Bazeley made it 2-1 with a superb freekick which curled inside Michael Utting's near post and, three minutes from time, Totori claimed his second with a well-struck shot from outside the penalty area.
United coach Chris Milicich, happy with the points but not the performance, tagged the win as "ugly" while his Manawatu counterpart Shane Rufer bemoaned the red card which "changed the game". Both calls probably right.