A stoppage time penalty from captain Kara Waetford fired Delta Tapware Metro to a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Manawatu in their July 17 North Island Soccer League encounter at Albie Turner Field, a result which sees the Auckland side climb back into the top half of the table.
There were few highlights in a first half sorely lacking in imaginative play. Luke Malcolm was picked out by Stuart Mair in the eighteenth minute, got behind the Manawatu defence and poked the ball past the advancing Manawatu goalkeeper, Hayden Englefield. But no-one from Metro was up in support on this occasion, allowing the visitors to clear the danger.
A timely Mair tackle denied Steve Lochhead in the 21st minute, but Stu Roberts was not so fortunate six minutes later, as his desperate lunge caught Jamie How in full flight in the penalty area. What turned out to be the best chance of the half was spurned by Ian Robinson, however, his well-struck spot-kick being superbly saved low to his left by Grant Schofield, who saved from the lively Cameron Jones soon after.
Five minutes before the break, Lochhead squandered a great chance for Manawatu, after Mark Tesar had switched play to Lazar Vukcevic. His low cross deceived Schofield, leaving Lochhead with the simple task of tucking the ball away. But he over-elaborated and made a right meal of the chance, much to Schofield's relief.
Nigel Curties, on meeting a deep cross from Roberts, headed the ball into the hands of Englefield, this the last chance of a fairly tepid first forty-five minutes, which contrasted sharply with the first twenty minutes of the second spell.
The key to this period of play being so lively was the opening goal, a strike which came out of nothing just ninety seconds after the resumption. Manawatu cleared their lines after a Metro attack had broken down, and Vukcevic chased what appeared to be a lost cause, as Metro's defenders left it to Schofield to clear the danger.
The goalkeeper had to race some ten yards outside his penalty area, however, and Vukcevic was virtually on top of him as he won the race for the ball. What Schofield had hoped would be a hefty clearance cannoned off the visiting front-runner and bounced, almost inevitably, into the gaping net. 1-0 Manawatu, with Schofield far from amused with the efforts of those in front of him as a result.
The visitors quickly sought to build on this lead, but Schofield was in splendid form. Four minutes after the goal, he turned a Lochhead shot to safety, and from the resulting Vukcevic corner, pulled off a cat-like reflex save to pounce on Lochhead's eight-yard shot, the ball having gone behind the goalkeeper before he got to it.
The same players were involved again three minutes later, and the result was the same on this occasion, Schofield saving from Lochhead after Vukcevic had exploited Stu Davidson's ball-watching to the fullest when breaking down the left.
Mair aided his goalkeeper by blocking a spectacular Tesar shot in the 55th minute, to which Metro responded through Heath McCormack. The striker did a lot of off-the-ball running and harrying in this match which would have gone unnoticed by many, and he almost gained his reward with a thumping thirty-yard drive which beat Englefield all ends up but hit the crossbar.
Davidson's shot, from the rebound, was parried to safety by the goalkeeper, who was beaten by a crisply struck twenty-five yard grasscutter from the ever-energetic Hoani Edwards, the ball fair sizzling into the bottom right-hand corner of Englefield's net to level the scores on the hour.
Five minutes later, Malcolm scampered through and clipped a shot past the advancing Englefield, but just past the far post, as Metro looked to build on their riposte. But for the next twenty-five minutes, save for a close-range effort from Waetford being deflected to safety, and a timely tackle by Sakdy Phommahaxay curtailing the run of substitute Alistair Sturm, the game reverted to the standard set in the first half, i.e. plenty of intention, nowhere near enough imagination.
A draw appeared certain, until in stoppage time, McCormack delivered a low cross from the right looking for Danny McHenery. The striker was denied the opportunity to reach the sphere however, going down under pressure just inside the penalty area.
Referee Brian Precious had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, from where Waetford, whose overall performance was sound, stepped up to claim all three points for the home team. The drama wasn't over, though, for while Metro celebrated their winner, Trent Watson gave vent to his feelings about this turn of events in language deemed inadmissable by the match official. Out came the red card, and off went the burly defender, the beaten side completing the match with ten men.

Metro:  Schofield; Phommahaxay, Waetford, Mair (booked, 25); Davidson, Malcolm (Snedden, 80), Edwards (booked, 77), Curties, Roberts; McHenery, McCormack (booked, 64)

Manawatu: Englefield; Kenyon, J. Watson, T. Watson (sent-off, 90); McCallum, How (booked, 24), Robinson, Tesar (booked, 87), Jones; Vukcevic (Welsh, 69), Lochhead (Sturm, 80).

Referee: Brian Precious

Scoring: Metro: H. Edwards (61), K. Waetford (90, pen)

Manawatu: L. Vukcevic (47)

Arcus Trophy: Grant Schofield (Metro) 3; Kara Waetford (Metro) 2; Heath McCormack (Metro) 1.

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