Wanganui City rue errors after draw

CHALLENGE: Marcus Dorgan comes in on Lee Rufer in the second half of City's 2-2 draw with Red Sox Manawatu on Saturday.PHOTOS/STUART MUNRO 030515WCSMFOOTBALL2

EVOLUTION Painting & Decoration Wanganui City will rue not being able to walk away with a much needed three points on Saturday in the Lotto Federation League, after a lacklustre performance saw them only able to share the points 2-2 with bottom-of-the-table Red Sox Manawatu.

Meanwhile in the Western Premiership, the local derby proved to be hotly contested, providing plenty of talking points, but ultimately left Wembley painted red as Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic took a last-gasp victory from the Wanganui City Reserves.

The Wanganui City Renovator's march came to a screeching halt with a thumping at the hands of the lower-placed Palmerston Marist Banshees.

The mood in the City clubrooms on Saturday evening was muted, as first team coach Kelvin Francis dwelled on a game which should have been an easy three points, yet finished in a stalemate.

"We played some good football, but we turned it over too easily.

"We made a lot of mistakes. Simple stuff. Passing mistakes, taking the wrong option, and just coughing up the ball.

"I'm just so disappointed. The Red Sox coach felt a draw reflected the game, but I feel differently."

The game should have been City's for the taking as they had a 1-0 lead as they walked off at half time.

Francis said his message was to simply focus on looking after the ball more.

The break also saw Francis make two changes to the line-up that walked back on to the pitch.

Both Cameron Hawker-Guilford and leading goal-scorer Carl Bonds were dragged and replaced by Jake Lockett and Marcus Jones.

City's hopes were dented after only 10 minutes when a simple mistake resulted in the ball being turned over to Red Sox, giving them the opportunity to bury the ball in the back of the net, and bring the game back level.

City were also given an opportunity to take the game by the scruff of the neck when Red Sox had a player sent from the field after receiving a second yellow card.

While City did pull ahead again, and looked to be ready to finish things off, Red Sox still had their tails up and managed to find a late goal to bring the scores level at 2-2 at the fulltime whistle.

While Francis was dismayed with the result, he is fully aware of where the team needs to focus as they look ahead to Sunday's Chatham Cup tie against the New Plymouth Rangers.

"It's disappointing that we gave it away through our own mistakes.

"Eli [Fleming] had a massive game at centre back, and Marcus [Jones] came on and had a great game too.

"But it'll be back to basics this week. Looking at our first touch and ball control. We just got to get the simple stuff right."

While the main event on Wembley's No1 ground provided a bit of an anti-climax to the local football, the derby game beforehand provided plenty of spark and proved that club rivalries are still alive and well.

Both Athletic and City Reserves looked to be playing for more than simply three points as they walked out, and from the first whistle there was no love lost and no quarter given when going into challenges.

Neither team could maintain ascendancy in the match for long, with the score changing frequently, never allowing one side to pull ahead and sit back with a comfortable lead.

But a late winner was again to prove to be the difference, with the Reds finding the back of the net to take the match.

In a surprising result, The Wanganui City Renovators slumped to a big defeat at Skoglund Park in Palmerston North on Saturday, going down 5-0 to the Palmerston North Marist Banshees.

While the Renovators have managed to bag a couple good wins, Saturday's loss saw them slip from fourth on the table down to sixth.

They host league leaders Red Sox Manawatu at Wembley's main ground this weekend.