KEY POINTS:
Waikato put themselves into semifinals contention with a 3-1 over nine-man Otago today after a trifecta of upsets yesterday enabled the chasing pack to close within striking distance of the early national soccer league leaders.
Tom Jackson's ninth minute strike gave Otago the perfect start at Ngaruawahia near Hamilton.
But after two goals in two minutes from Waikato's Stu Hogg and Nik-Keown Robson midway through the first half, a red card in the 43rd minute to Robbie Deeley meant Otago faced an uphill battle after the break.
Waikato were always in control from that point and a 90th-minute Hogg penalty - when Rhys Henderson was sent off for the offending tackle - confirmed successive wins for the hosts, who moved up to fifth place in the New Zealand Football Championship.
The race for top-four playoffs posts is sill tight with just three points separating the top six teams after four rounds.
Manawatu remained top on nine points despite an injury time 1-2 loss to visiting Hawke's Bay, while reigning champions Waitakere United moved to second on seven points, with a game in hand, despite a 1-1 draw at home to bottom placed Canterbury United.
Auckland City suffered a 1-2 loss to Wellington in the capital, a result which left both of those sides on six points and tied with Waikato and Hawke's Bay.
Manawatu's charmed start to the season ended at home yesterday to Hawke's Bay United, who snatched victory with a header from former All White Che Bunce two minutes into injury time.
The hosts fell behind to after a calm one-on-one finish from Seule Soromon in the 21st minute but drew level through captain Adam Cowan just before halftime.
Manawatu looked set to at least maintain their unbeaten run until Bunce's heroics.
Waitakere were on course to take advantage of Manawatu's slip-up when Benjamin Totori danced through Canterbury's defence for a 1-0 lead inside 15 minutes in Auckland.
But Canterbury had the better of the encounter after that and were unlucky to only score once in the second half from Gareth Turnbull's 72nd-minute header.
Wellington notched just their second win in 14 attempts over Auckland, and their first at home, in a tense midfield-dominated match that only came to life after 30 minutes when Luis Corrales finished Sam Blackburn's cross at the second attempt.
Substitute Paul Urlovic added spark for Auckland, winning and converting a 77th-minute penalty to restore parity, although it lasted only one minute as Bryan Little put Wellington back in front with a deflected free kick.
- NZPA
