- Otago United 2
Hawkes Bay 3
Andy Bevin hit the first goal of his hat trick for the Bay when Chris McIver slid an eighth-minute pass through for the striker to chip Otago keeper Adam Highfield.
Only a minute later, Otago's youngsters combined as left fullback Tristan Prattley flighted a superb cross for Ant Hancock to collect, then equalise from close range.
Referee Neil Waldrom then issued rapid yellow cards to Nathan Knox (Otago) and Phil Doran as both sides lifted their intensity.
While Otago's defence was finding McIver and Bevin a handful, young Hancock was typically strong on the ball and after one wriggling turn his shot required a last-ditch block by Bay captain Jonathan Taylor.
After the break, Otago started strongly with Paul Seaman blasting an unstoppable 30m shot past keeper Richard Gillespie to give Otago a 2-1 lead.
The Bay showed resilience to strike back only a minute later when a Dan O'Brian corner was bulletted in by Bevin.
Matt Thomas almost regained Otago's lead when he ran square, but slid his shot narrowly past the upright.
Then Bevin again found space at the far post and McIver delivered a quality cross that the striker half volleyed to complete his hat trick in the 62nd minute.
Otago rang the changes with Liam Lockhart replacing Haydon Gunn, and Morgan Day coming on for Tom Sadd.
Predictably, Otago exerted increasing pressure as time ran out, but Hawkes Bay centreback Bill Robertson inspired the home side with some tough defending.
Robertson collected a yellow card, and referee Waldrom sent off Doran for a second yellow, but by then Bay had a firm grip on the three match points.
Otago coach Malcolm Fleming said, "When we scored the second goal to go ahead - and it was a screamer from Seaman - we had the match in our pocket and were dominating.
"But poor marking allowed the wee guy Bevin in to score their winner unmarked and that's a disappointment, all the more so since he is a youth academy player.
"For us it was a patchy performance, with some really good form showed by some.
"Tom Connor and Nathan Knox were excellent but at the other end of the scale some players were just not up to scratch for the whole 90 minutes."
Otago's disappointment worsened as the United Youth side was hammered 7-1 by Christchurch United Youth at Linfield Park.
The score was 4-0 at halftime, and included a hat trick by Billy Scott.
