The New Zealand Football Championship roared into life as debut goals fired Manawatu, Auckland, and Hawke’s Bay to opening weekend wins while champions Waitakere came from behind to beat Wellington 4-2.
Waitakere United lead the table by merit of goals scored, ahead of Auckland who beat Otago 2-0, while Hawke’s Bay – 2-1 winners over Waikato – and YoungHeart Manawatu – who beat Canterbury 1-0 – round out the top four.
Wellington got off to a flyer at home and looked set to repeat last season’s upset opening round win over Waitakere when Andy Barron smashed a third minute free-kick into the bottom left hand corner of the Waitakere goal, and even more likely three minutes later when former Waitakere midfielder Pedro Garcias netted on his Team Wellington debut.
But the champions fought back to square the ledger with two goals in three minutes. First Paul Seaman side-footed Danny Hay’s knock down past Phil Imray in the 19th minute and then a Steve Gulley hand ball allowed Allan Pearce to equalise from the spot.
Pearce stole in behind the Wellington defence to give Waitakere the lead six minutes after halftime, while substitute Daniel Ellensohn wrapped up the result against his former club with a well-taken fourth in injury time.
In Auckland, American Matt Friel needed just nine minutes to repay his new club after moving from Waikato FC in the off-season. The midfielder-cum-left-back headed Auckland City to an early 1-0 lead over Otago but the Southerners were tougher than expected and City required a 63rd minute strike from Keryn Jordan to seal all three points.
Meanwhile, Vanuatu striker Seule Soromon also scored on debut, firing Hawke’s Bay ahead inside 20 minutes on the back of a swift counter attack and incisive passing from Graham Fyfe and Chris McIvor.
On Saturday, YoungHeart Manawatu edged Canterbury 1-0 with Jason Hayne scoring 18 minutes into the first game for his fourth club in five seasons.
The goal – Hayne cutting in from the left flank to fire a low drive under Adam Highfield – was the highlight of an otherwise toothless affair, with Canterbury eyeing the impending transfer of former Waitakere and Manawatu striker Commins Menapi to add goals up front.
With Waitakere entertaining the Wellington Phoenix next Saturday, Auckland have the chance to claim an outright league lead when they visit Waikato’s new Ngaruawahia home, while YoungHeart have the same opportunity at home to Team Wellington.
On Sunday, an early-season Southern derby at Dunedin’s Sunnyvale ground gives Canterbury and Otago the prospect of getting points on the board and chasing one of four semi-final spots in an extended playoff series.
Results
Saturday
Canterbury United 0
YoungHeart Manawatu 1 (Jason Hayne 18)
Halftime: 0-0
Sunday
Auckland City 2 (Matt Friel 9, Keryn Jordan 63)
Otago United 0
Halftime: 1-0
Hawke’s Bay United 2 (Seule Soromon 14, Leon Birnie 26)
Waikato FC 1 (Steven Holloway 55)
Halftime: 2-0
Team Wellington 2 (Andy Barron 3, Pedro Garcias 6)
Waitakere United 4 (Paul Seaman 19, Allan Pearce 22-pen, 51, Daniel Ellensohn 90+2)
Halftime: 2-2
Standings
Name |
P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Waitakere United | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Auckland City | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Hawke’s Bay United | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| YoungHeart Manawatu | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Team Wellington | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Waikato FC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 0 |
| Canterbury United | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| Otago United | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
Story courtesy of NZF media. For more visit www.nzsoccer.com