A brilliant start was not enough to propel Southern United to victory in the Hamilton heat yesterday.
The side was held to a 2-2 draw by the winless Hamilton Wanderers, despite having led 2-0 after five minutes.
Andrew Ridden gave Southern a leg up after just 25 seconds. He headed in a cross from Ben Wade after finding himself in open space in front of the goal.
Four minutes later, it was Omar Guardiola to the fore. He hit a free kick from the edge of the box over the Hamilton wall, getting it to dip just below the crossbar.
At that point Southern was dominant, outpacing its rival and constantly threatening.
However, it soon wilted in the heat, energy levels dropped and it lost its edge.
The game became loose and the Southern defence, at times, was exposed.
After conceding a goal to Michael Built in the 20th minute, it let in the equaliser in the 50th minute after a mistake saw it forced to scramble to cover Hamilton’s counter-attack.
It was unable to do that, a brilliant strike from Alexis Varela finding the bottom left corner of the goal.
Both sides had chances from that point onwards, but neither was able to put one away.
The result left Southern coach Paul O’Reilly disappointed after a "dream start".
He said the team struggled for energy in the heat after the first 20 minutes, with several players in their first game back from injury.
However, he also felt complacency may have crept into the team after going two up.
He said a third goal could have put it beyond reach, but conceding the first one gave Hamilton the hope to spark its comeback.
Southern was perhaps unlucky not to have been awarded a penalty 15 minutes from the end, after a Hamilton hand ball occurred in front of the Southern goal.
O’Reilly felt it probably should have been a penalty, although he had spoken with the official and was happy with his explanation for the non-call. He said those decisions would balance out throughout the season.
The draw takes Southern to 10 points, keeping it in fifth place on the table as it edged ahead of Tasman United but fell behind Waitakere United.
National football league
The scores
Southern United 2
Andrew Ridden 1’, Omar Guardiola 5’.
Hamilton Wanderers 2
Michael Built 20’, Alexis Varela 50’.
Halftime: 2-1 Southern.
