Napier Marist striker Jorge Akers unleashes a thunderbolt to level the scores at 1-all but Marist went down 3-2 to the Manawatu Red Sox. PHOTO/Paul Taylor
Just as a signature reveals an individual's character, knockout football tends to expose a team's temperament which isn't that obvious in the league format.
The do-or-die mentality often unveils a side's ambitions, way beyond the demands of a winter.
That was prevalent in the match between Alexander Electric Napier Marist Premiers and Breakers Red Sox Manawatu at Park Island, Napier, on Saturday when they played in the quarterfinals of the Lotto Federation League.
Red Sox pipped a youthful Marist 3-2 with two minutes remaining on the clock but both the coaches, Nigel Barker and James Dunning, came away raving about their side's intent and where the future of the game lies.
"It's good to play against a young football side who were playing football," said Barker of Marist after the sides were locked 1-all at halftime.
"We're trying to play football and some sides don't. They simply defend or disrupt."
Dunning was equally laudatory about the visitors' mind set and affirmed Marist's approach to the season.
"Red Sox were very well organised and the best team we played all season," he said of the Federation League team who play a tier above his Computer Care Pacific Premiership side's Bay-based competition.
Bay representative youth team coach Dunning said they had attempted to get the ball down to play the entire season and were second on the premiership table, albeit nine points below an experienced Duke of Gloucester Napier City Rovers.
On Saturday, Red Sox striker Bart Rimnongrua struck first in the ninth minute before Marist counterpart Jorge Akers levelled with a "screamer" from 25m out.
In the 57th minute, striker Liam Patterson pushed Red Sox ahead, 2-1, but that stung the hosts into action. Marist midfielder Bongani Sikupa equalised, rising above two defenders to nod the ball past the goalkeeper from a freekick.
Both sides pressured but it was Red Sox captain and centre midfielder Caleb Gilyard who pounced on the ball in the 18m box to send the winner past Marist goalkeeper Wilson McCullough.
Both coaches praised the prowess of the 16-year-old Taradale High School goalkeeper who has stepped up since regular gloveman Ryan Todd has been out with a fractured eye socket.
Dunning said seven of his marquee players were away playing at the futsal nationals in Palmerston North but he did not want that to be an excuse.
"For mostly 16 to 18-year-old boys who are playing senior football for the first time and twice on Saturday, after playing for their schools in the morning, I'm very proud of them and a very happy coach," he said, revealing Matt Hastings, the former Hawke's Bay United franchise administrator was their oldest player at 29.
Barker said they had played twice away from home, beating Gisborne 4-2 in the previous round at Park Island, so they wouldn't mind a home game in the semifinals.
Three Palmy North teams are through to the next round.
Pacific Premiership leaders Rovers will fly the Bay flag after pipping Fed League side Promotem Port Hill United 1-0 at Marewa Park, Napier.
Man-of-the-match midfielder Vinnie McKirdy broke the deadlock in the 67th minute after finding some space to break away before placing a left footer from the edge of the box.
Veteran player Stuart Wilson said Rovers goalkeeper Heath Caldwell played because regular Kyle Baxter was Chatham Cup tied after turning out for their flagship Central League side.
"He didn't have a shot to save all game. We probably had the majority of the chances but for poor finishing, keeper's saves, a few blocks and hitting the bar once - the rest of it was 18-yard box to 18-yard box. It was just a game," said Wilson of the Stuart James-coached side.
He said Terry O'Neill-coached Port Hill were unlikely to argue but had Rovers captain David Gearey and his men taken 25 per cent of their chances the result would have been closer to 4-0.
In the other games, Palmerston North Marist Men's Reserves are in the semifinals after thumping Heavy Equipment Services Gisborne United 5-2 at Park Island.
BB Construction North End 1sts pipped Speights Ale House Napier Eskview United 3-2 at Skoglund Park in another nail-biting finish in added time.
The Tony Bartlett and Craig Lennox co-coached visitors dominated the opening 10 minutes but it was the hosts who scored on the counterattack from striker Costa Mufunda.
Eskview struck back 1-1 in the 27th minute through centre-mid Joshua Tyson.
However, the game came to a halt briefly after Eskview midfielder Anthony Floyd and striking teammate Aden McKinnon had to be taken to hospital to be stitched up following a head clash.
North End went up 2-1 in the 51st minute from speedy right back Cam Dearlove who fed the ball to a centre-mid, surged down the flank to receive before putting it into the goal.
Eskview defender Rex Leach, who was pushed up to strike after the head clash, equalised almost on time but North End weren't done.
A minute into referee's time Mufunda clinched the winner.
"It was a very exciting game, played in good spirits but it could have gone either way," said North End coach Matt Wallace whose team would progress to the semis as "underdogs".
Eskview executive officer Hayley Christison said the injured players were kept for observation then released for cuts to their eyebrow and forehead in a "pretty physical game".