Football: Otago Utd sunk by two Abba hits

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Hawkes Bay's George Barbarouses (left) and Otago United's Stu Kelly race for the ball during a New Zealand Football Championship match at Bluewater Stadium, Park Island, Napier, yesterday. Photo from Hawkes Bay Today.

The National Football Championship match was evenly balanced until referee Anthony Riley sent off Otago's James Reichwein and Bay centreback Jonathan Taylor in the 28th minute for some push and shove after a disputed tackle by Reichwein.

However, the ensuing space did not open the game up despite both sides making positional changes to compensate for the missing players.

David Dugdale did carve past defenders and hit a strong shot which cannoned of the Bay's goalpost, but the home side was also dangerous and Chris Greatholder laced a 30m shot which rebounded off the Otago woodwork.

The match hung in the balance with a 0-0 half-time scoreline.

Solomon Island striker Andrew Abba intercepted a defensive clearance then left-footed a strong shot past Otago keeper James Waggett in the 52nd minute to take a 1-0 lead.

Only minutes later, referee Riley pointed to the penalty spot after a robust challenge by makeshift Bay centreback Dan Wilson, and Robbie Deeley showed no nerves to send keeper Richard Gillespie the wrong way and level the score.

Almost from the kick-off Abba's pace had the home crowd roaring as he again beat keeper Waggett and regained the lead for Hawkes Bay.

Otago coach Malcolm Fleming then changed his defence to three at the back, and Otago charged forward seeking to gain something from the match.

Otago's pressure penned the Bay side in its own territory, but despite several close shaves, the home side hung on to take all three NZFC competition points, and stretch its record against Otago to eight wins in three years.

"You can't win games if only four or five players turn up," said Fleming, "and that's all we had today.

"Last week against Auckland everybody fronted but today Hawkes Bay did to us what we did to Auckland last week."

Hawkes Bay coach Matt Chandler was content to consign last week's away loss to history and make a positive start at home.

"It's a great response to last week," said Chandler.

"We defended well, and we needed to because Otago came at us hard, and we lost our centre back in the first half."

At the Caledonian Ground in Dunedin yesterday, Footballsouth's women were outclassed 6-0 by a strong Johan Koutstaal-coached Wellington combination which now tops the National Women's League.

Footballsouth coach Darren Rewi said, "To concede a goal after just 82 seconds was not the start we wanted, and I am proud of the way our team battled back into the game, and had a strong spell midway in the first half."

Elise Mamanu Gray had a particularly effective match, and her experienced team-mates Kushla Golver and Careena Oosterbaan helped to keep the visitors honest, he said.

But at the turn around Wellington utilised wind advantage and reduced Footballsouth to sporadic breaks.

The goal of the match, number six, was a superb combination of expert technique as captain Renee Leota chested down a strong cross and the lurking Terry Amber Carlson volleyed with precision.