Title-chasing Team Wellington were the big winners in the ISPS Handa Premiership this weekend, capitalising on a pair of upsets to haul themselves closer to leaders Auckland City and open-up a seven-point gap over third-placed Waitakere United.

The men from the capital were able to take care of their own business with a 2-1 victory against Canterbury United in Christchurch and that allowed them to make up ground on Auckland as the Navy Blues suffered a rare setback in Nelson – falling 2-1 to Tasman United for their first on-field league defeat in 27 months.

The other upset came in the Waikato, where Hamilton Wanderers and Waitakere United were meeting again after their clash earlier in the season was washed out.

That rescheduled match had the honour of opening the weekend’s action – which again featured only three games due to the OFC Champions League – on Saturday and proved worthy of its curtain-raising billing as the hosts pulled off a dramatic 3-2 win.

The scores were level at the break after Hamilton’s Joe Harris and Waitakere’s Dane Schnell swapped first-half strikes and it stayed that way until near the hour when Alex Connor-McClean put the visitors in front.

It appeared as if Waitakere had done enough to earn their seventh win of the campaign as the clocked ticked into added time but Wanderers somehow managed to produce a pair of last-gasp goals to flip the match on its head. There were already only seconds remaining when Xavier Pratt came up with an equaliser but one point turned into an unexpected three just moments later when George Ott struck in the fifth minute of the added period.

Wanderers are now just two points behind Waitakere and can leapfrog their fellow play-off contenders when the sides meet again in Auckland next weekend.

Late drama also unfolded at the tip of the South Island as Auckland City’s remarkable run was finally brought to an end. Jose Figueira’s side took the competition’s only unbeaten record down to Tasman and were on course to extend it when Tom Doyle equalised just a few minutes after an opener from Fox Slotemaker towards the end of the first half.

But New Caledonia international Jean-Philippe Saiko found the net for the sixth time this season with one of the last kicks of the game to earn both a vital win and a piece of history for Tasman, who had never previously beaten Auckland City.

Tasman have now joined Hamilton in putting themselves right in the play-off mix – they are level on points with Wanderers and Eastern Suburbs and just two behind Waitakere – as the business end of the season rapidly approaches.

Their win also gave Team Wellington a long-awaited opportunity to make up some ground on Auckland City and they made no mistake with a hard-fought victory in the Garden City. Ironically, it was a former Navy Blues player who helped them do so, the freshly-signed Joao Moreira making a triumphant return to these shores by coming off the bench to break the deadlock mid-way through the second half with an accomplished finish.

Canterbury were then gifted a golden opportunity to get something from the match from the penalty spot but Aaron Clapham was denied by an outstanding save from Scott Basalaj. That allowed Rory McKeown to double Wellington’s advantage from close range but they were given a late scare when Canterbury skipper Tom Schwarz headed home a corner at the back post.

The hosts were not able to kick on and force an equaliser though, leaving them still five points adrift of the Wellington Phoenix Reserves at the bottom of the table.

Wellington meanwhile need a least one further slip-up from Auckland to wipe out their six-point advantage but the chasers have a game in hand and will have the chance to inch closer with Auckland now heading to Tahiti for their OFC Champions League group stage campaign.

Eastern Suburbs will meanwhile bring some good form back with them from Papua New Guinea, where they topped their group to earn a home quarter-final in the Champions League.

For the table and more information on the ISPS Handa Premiership please click here

ISPS Handa Premiership Match Week 15

Hamilton Wanderers 3 (Joe Harris 7’, Xavier Pratt 90 + 3’, George Ott 90 + 5’)
Waitakere United 2 (Dane Schnell 26’, Alex Connor-McClean 59’)
HT: 1-1

Tasman United 2 (Fox Slotemaker 39’, Jean-Philippe Saiko 90 + 5’)
Auckland City 1 (Tom Doyle 42’)
HT: 1-1

Canterbury United 1 (Tom Schwarz 83’)
Team Wellington 2 (Joao Moreira 69’, Rory McKeown 81’)
HT: 0-0

Article added: Sunday 23 February 2020