Division Two : Levin Masters 3-2 Manakau United Hui Mai

Levin Masters produced their best performance of the season to beat Manakau United Hui Mai 3-2 in a quality game of football at Donnelly Park.

Top-of-the-table Manakau started strongest and opened the scoring when Paul Kulhavy slotted a through ball to Gavin Saunders, and Saunders delivered a perfect cross to the back post for Mike Urlich to head home.

But Levin had a spark about their play and equalised two minutes later when Tony Sheridan cut inside from the left wing and hit a shot from the edge of the box that squeezed under Manakau keeper Paddy Sannazzaro for the equaliser.

And five minutes later Levin had taken the lead when a deep curling free-kick from Justin Greig took an unfortunate deflection off Kimbal McHugo and flew into the goal just inside the far post.

Manakau searched hard for an equaliser before halftime, with Atain Halley close on several occasions, while Kulhavy hit the crossbar with a close range effort and James Hoskins was denied by a great save from Levin keeper Keegan McLaclian just before halftime.

In the second half Manakau did finally get a reward for the efforts, with Hoskins and Saunders combining to create a chance that Urlich snapped up with a quality finish to level the scores at 2-2.

Unfortunately, Jamie Allcock picked up an injury and had to come off at that stage, a real blow to Manakau as the big man had led the forward line well, and the Manakau substitutes bench was rather thin this weekend.

The game turned into a real end-to-end affair, with chances at both ends, and the winning goal was a stunning strike with Joel Nugteren controlling a pass 25 yards out and hitting a fierce curling shot into the bottom right hand corner of the net to give Levin a 3-2 lead.

Manakau poured forward to try and rescue a point with 10 minutes remaining, but despite a couple of close efforts the determined defending from Levin ensured that it was the home side that would take all the points.

Levin’s player of the day was young keeper Keegan McLaclian, while Manakau nominated their midfield pairing of Mike Urlich and Paul Kulhavy as their standout players.

Division Three : KCU 4ths 3-2 Manakau United Hotel

Kapiti Coast United outlasted Manakau Hotel to win 3-2 in a tight encounter at Weka Park on Saturday afternoon.

KCU took a lead in the first half, before Manakau equalised with a well taken goal from Jamie Lamplough to go into the halftime break level.

Kapiti also struck first in the 2nd half to grab a 2-1 lead, but Manakau found a reply through Josh Sannazzaro who received the ball 25 yards out and beat a defender before striking a fierce shot that sped past the keeper and dipped under the crossbar to level the scores.

Both sides then went in search of the winning goal and it was KCU who scored the winner with just a few minutes left, finishing off a quick counter-attack to claim the victory.

Josh Sannazzaro picked up the man-of-the match award for Manakau for his efforts upfront, while Chris Henry and Jamie Lamplough also impressed with solid efforts.

Friday Night Flatwarming? WTF?

Which Manakau United central defender decided to have a Friday night flatwarming - and then get so hammered that he was unable to turn up to the game (even to watch) on Saturday afternoon?

To give you a clue - he shares his flat with Hosso - and Hosso also looked decidedly pale at times during Saturday's match.

Lucky for you both we won - next time what about scheduling the party for SATURDAY night - and inviting the team along?

Division Three : Manakau Hotel 6-5 Waikanae Youth

A late goal from Josh Sannazzaro gave Manakau United a 6-5 victory over Waikanae Youth in a goal-filled encounter at the Manakau Domain.

The match started slowly with both sides taking time to come to terms with the game, but once the first goal was scored the shots started to rain in on goal from all angles.

The lead see-sawed throughout the match with both sides holding the lead on three separate occasions. Manakau scored first, but Waikanae had taken a 2-1 lead by halftime.

The second half saw Manakau go 3-2 ahead, but Waikanae found more goals and led 4-3, and then 5-4 before the game was locked up at 5-all with 10 minutes to play. That was when Sannazzaro’s strike from close range in the 85^th minute finally settled the match in favour of the home side.

Murray Haughey was named Manakau’s man of the match for another skilful performance up front, scoring one goal and having involvement in several others.

Division Two : Manakau United 4-0 Waikanae Masters

Manakau United enjoyed a successful return to a sunny Manakau Domain by scoring four unanswered goals to defeat an experienced Waikanae Masters side 4-0 on Saturday.

Atain Halley opened the scoring in the first half, running onto a ball and hitting a powerful shot into the bottom left hand corner of the goal to put Manakau 1-0 up after 15 minutes.

Waikanae threatened on occasion, and Manakau goalkeeper Paddy Sannazzaro had to react quickly to block a shot in a 1-on-1 situation to make a fine save but Sannazzaro took a heavy knock as a result and had to be replaced.

Ten minutes later the score became 2-0 after Halley created space for another shot which was partially blocked by the Waikanae keeper, but midfielder Mike Urlich was following up to ram the rebound home. Just before halftime Halley made it 3-0, scoring from the penalty spot after he had been fouled inside the penalty area.

In the second half, Manakau defenders Willie West and Chris Temperton both managed to impress when going forward, but it was Urlich who wrapped up the scoring midway through the second half, getting on the end of a fine cross from Gavin Saunders and volleying the ball to score with some aplomb leaving the Waikanae defenders with no chance.

Manakau’s man of the match was Paul Kulhavy, who put in a strong 90 minute effort in winning a lot of ball in midfield to provide an attacking platform.

Division Two : Waikanae Geezers 1-2 Manakau United

Manakau United won this top-of-the-table clash at Jim Cooke Park, beating Waikanae Geezers 2-1 to open up a three point lead in Horowhenua Football’s Division Two standings.

The game was a closely fought affair throughout, and despite the heavy pitch both teams were moving the ball around well as they probed for additional scoring opportunities.

Manakau dominated the early minutes of the match, creating several half-chances but it wasn’t until the half-hour mark that Jamie Allcock broke into the penalty area and worked his way to the bye-line before cutting the ball back to where Mike Urlich was on hand to force the ball home to open the scoring for the visitors.

It was Manakau who made the next breakthrough as well, when Atain Halley latched onto the through ball from halfway, and shook off the desperate challenge of the last defender before taking the ball into the goal area and slotting the ball past the stranded Waikanae goalkeeper to make the score 2-0 to Manakau.

Peter Rowe in action

With twenty minutes to go, Waikanae were handed a lifeline, literally, when a loose ball struck the hand of Manakau sweeper Kimball McHugo and the referee pointed to the spot for a penalty kick which Waikanae converted to close the score line to 2-1.

But Manakau held firm during the closing minutes, and earned three vital points.

Midfielder Peter Rowe, who was playing his final game for Manakau before heading off to Perth, picked up man of the match honours with a cultured display of passing.

Division Three : Manakau Hotel 1-2 Waikanae Strollers

Waikanae Strollers travelled up to the Manakau Domain, and put on a solid display of passing football to claim their first win of the season beating Manakau Hotel 2-1.

After a scoreless first half it was Waikanae player Will Reardon who broke the deadlock 10 minutes into the second period with a fine run that took him past several Manakau defenders, and Reardon then struck a solid shot into the bottom left hand corner of the net.

The Strollers then extended their lead when Reardon sent in cross from the right and Rob Burrows was on hand to score and give Waikanae a 2-0 lead.

Manakau’s James Wylie closed the gap when he grabbed a fine goal with a couple of minutes remaining, volleying home a snapshot from 20 yards out to give the home supporters in the clubhouse something well worth cheering about.

There was no time for an equaliser however, with Stollers claiming the win.

Manakau youngster Murray Haughey was awarded man of the match for the home side.