Hawke's Bay United kept their slim national football league
playoff hopes alive with a 2-1 win over high-flyers
Canterbury United in Napier today.
Hawke's Bay's victory lifts them to 15 points - three points
adrift of third place - and sets up an all-or-nothing clash
with unbeaten Auckland City next week in their final match of
the New Zealand Football Championship regular season.
A Hawke's Bay win must be accompanied by heavy defeats for
Wellington and Otago United in their final matches if they
hope to qualify for the playoffs.
Canterbury - who could have confirmed their play-off spot
with a win today - now face a nervous final two games against
fellow playoff rivals Wellington and Auckland City.
Canterbury could still lose both games and qualify for the
playoffs but only if both Otago and Team Wellington loses
their final matches too.
If Canterbury and Hawke's Bay finish level on points,
Canterbury's goal difference of plus-10 gives them a
significant advantage over Hawke's Bay who have a goal
difference of minus-three. Fourth-placed Wellington - on 18
points - only have one match left, against Canterbury while
fifth-placed Otago United are now in a precarious position
where a win in their final match against Manawatu will lift
them to 20 points but that may not be enough to clinch a
play-off spot if other results go against them.
Hawke's Bay's victory continued an impressive home record for
the season, with the Bay dropping only one of their six
matches at home to date.
Andrew Abba opened the scoring when he volleyed home a Stuart
Ferguson flick on after 17 minutes. Leon Birnie extended
Hawke's Bay's lead six minutes before halftime when he went
on a brilliant solo run before scoring from long range past
Canterbury goalkeeper Tom Batty for Birnie's eighth NZFC goal
of the season.
Canterbury United bounced back when Russell Kamo finished off
a move started by Tom Lancaster on 56 minutes. But the home
side held out for the 2-1 win, with Hawke's Bay goalkeeper
Shaun Peta playing a strong game as a replacement for the
suspended Richard Gillespie.
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