Otago United broke an 11-match drought to beat Wellington 2-0 in the New Zealand Football Championship match played at Newtown Park yesterday.
Coach Malcolm Fleming's refreshing new attacking approach has paid off in his short reign as Otago now shares third place in the NZFC with Hawkes Bay and Canterbury, equal on four points.
"We were a bit at sixes and sevens for the first 10 minutes as the new guys continued to settle in, but after that we dominated for long spells," Fleming said.
"There were some really good personal performances, backed by a solid team effort, and even locals said that we deserved the win.
"You have got to score goals to win games. We'll be going to attack. Whether we play three up front, or two up front with five in midfield, we've got to be scoring goals if we want to make the play-offs."
Fleming said Otago goalkeeper James Wagget made some top saves and the Otago forwards had Wellington keeper James Bannatyne scrambling several times.
Young Morgan Day had an excellent match in central midfield despite getting a gashed head.
He was outstanding and combined well with Stu Kelly, Fleming said.
Also singled out for praise were the Otago centrebacks, Tim Horner and Chris Jenkinson, who have formed a reliable partnership in defence.
New striker Nathan Knox went well for an hour, Dave Dugdale harried and grafted for the whole game, and showed pace and anticipation to break through and entice keeper Bannatyne into conceding an 83rd-minute penalty, which the striker scored to seal the result.
It was a classic right wing attack in the 48th minute that put Otago into the driving seat as striker Dan Ede timed a late near-post run to sweep the ball past Bannatyne and levitate the Otago bench in celebration.
In Ede, Canterbury's top scorer last season, Dugdale, Knox and Reichwein, Fleming has gathered an attack of some potential.
Otago substitutes got a run as Andy Coburn and Tom Connor came on in the last 20 minutes and added the resistance needed as Wellington coach Stu Jacobs urged his whole team forward to score its first goal of the season.
"I'ts like coming into an oasis after a drought, to win in Wellington after so long, and at the final whistle there were some very happy guys out there," Fleming said.
Due to the erratic NZFC fixtures, Otago will now have time for some navel gazing before playing its next match against Waitakere United at Carisbrook on Sunday, December 6.
