Soccer: Playoff plans run into hurdle

Neil Emblen. Photo / Natalie Slade

Tefana 3
Waitakere United 1

The O-League title is no closer to Waitakere United after they failed to overturn a two-goal deficit and eventually fell to defeat against Tefana in Papeete, Tahiti, last night.

Player-coach Neil Emblen and his men were aiming to take advantage of the inactivity of Group B rivals Auckland City - who sat out this round after their clash with New Caledonia's Magenta was postponed - and would have hoped for a better opening half hour than the one they had.

Waitakere had trained on North Harbour Stadium's artificial pitch to get used to the surface they would experience in Tahiti. Both sides saw plenty of ball in a fast-paced start.

But Tefana, out for revenge after a 3-1 loss away to Waitakere in round one, soon began to pressure United's youthful back four of Aaron Scott, Jason Rowley, Tim Myers and Ashton Pett. Goalkeeper Danny Robinson could do little to prevent the home side going ahead in the 20th minute.

Tefana's first corner was initially cleared but found its way to Lorenzo Tehau on the edge of the box and his finish found the net off the underside of the crossbar. It was 2-0 just 10 minutes later in almost identical fashion, United again failing to deal with a corner and Alvin Tehau pouncing.

It looked like Waitakere would have to trudge into the sheds two goals behind but they were thrown a lifeline in first-half injury time when Dakota Lucas was brought down in the box. Ex-All White Allan Pearce stepped up to smash the penalty home and set up an intriguing second spell.

Emblen had obviously given his charges a stern talking to at the interval and they responded well, Roy Krishna and young substitute Sean Lovemore causing the Tefana defence problems. Emblen threw himself on with 15 minutes to go as United switched to a 3-4-3 but it was Tefana who found the net again, Axel Williams finding himself unmarked in the box to make sure of the points in injury time.

Waitakere assistant coach Darren Bazeley was disappointed to have lost a match he felt was more even than the scoreline suggested.

"I don't think they really dominated us in the first half but they scored from their two best chances," he says. "We had a lot of opportunities in the first 20 minutes of the second half but just couldn't score."

The result means Waitakere's next O-League match against fierce rivals Auckland City on February 26 now takes on even more significance. With just one other game remaining, defeat at City's Kiwitea St home could spell the end for United's hopes of a spot in the final.