Hawke's Bay United make it two in a row with win over Eastern Suburbs

Hawke's Bay United forward Gavin Hoy scored twice in his side's 2-1 win against Eastern Suburbs on Sunday. Photo / Ian Cooper

With big boots to fill, Hawke's Bay United forward Gavin Hoy stepped up and netted twice in his side's second win of the season.

While still bottom of the ISPS Handa Men's Premiership, HBU moved level on points with Waitakere United after a 2-1 win against Eastern Suburbs at Madills Farm Reserve in Auckland on Sunday.

In the absence of star forward Jesse Randall – who departed Hawke's Bay to play for North Kentucky University as part of a four-year scholarship – Hoy led from the front, as the home side missed the chance to go top of the table.

Hawke's Bay United continued their somewhat surprising record of not conceding a goal in the first half of a match this season, before the 28-year-old Canadian broke the deadlock in the 55th minute.

Referee John Rowbury awarded the visitors a free kick on the edge of the Eastern Suburbs box, after a foul on Karan Mandair, from which Hoy lifted the ball over the wall and past a helpless Danyon Drake.

Hoy doubled United's lead and his tally for the season 10 minutes later after a well-worked team move was poked home by the forward.

Miscommunication at the back led to a sloppy consolation goal for Eastern Suburbs through Reid Drake, but the visitors held on for all three points after weathering a bombardment of late corners thanks to confident goalkeeping from Scott Morris.

Hoy, who joined United in 2017, said "pressure, second thoughts and embarrassment" have been put aside after a winless start to the season.

"I'm not a prolific goalscorer, so it's nice to get on the score sheet - especially twice against a good opposition at their place," he said.

"Now that pressure is off, we were able to just play and show how good we actually are."

Hoy added: "We wish Jesse Randall all the best in the US and it's nice to show that we can compete without him."

Hawke's Bay United goalkeeper Scott Morris said the concerns over losing top goal scorer Jesse Randall were soon put behind the side. Photo / Paul Taylor

HBU keeper Morris said losing Randall – the club's only scorer prior to Sunday's match – did cause uncertainty around where goals were going to come from.

"It's evident that we've got boys in the squad who can step up to the mark when required, displayed by Gavin's fantastic two goals," he said.

"But it couldn't have gone better for us. Three points against one of the competition's top teams should only work wonders for our confidence going forward."

Suburbs' scorer Drake said his side must learn from the "disappointing result".

"We played really well in the first half, but in the second half we came out and don't think we had the absolute fight we should have had and that let us down," he said.

"We need to be better and more clinical and finish games off when we have the chance."

Morris added the return of French midfielder Hugo Delhommelle after six weeks out injured also helped lift spirits.

"Full credit to everyone on and off the park, you could see how much it meant for us at the end of the 90 minutes. Everyone worked unbelievably hard to ensure we brought the points back to the Bay."