Papakura City have opened up the race for the NRF Men’s Championship with a 2-1 win against leaders Papatoetoe.
The win at McLennan Park was sealed six minutes into added time when Papatoetoe goalkeeper Mohammed Hanif was judged to have own goaled.
Yet the evening started so well for Papatoetoe as they took the lead through Shalvin Prasad after only nine minutes.
Papatoetoe kept the 1-0 at half-time but Papakura came out strongly under the lights.
Captain Argyle Morling levelled two minutes into the second half.
The sides appeared to be heading for a draw until late in added time, when Hanif was judged to have put into his own net.
The main beneficiaries of the result were second-placed Central United who are now three points behind Papatoetoe and with a game in hand.
Papakura, South Auckland Rangers and Te Atutu are all close enough to mount challenges of their own if they can string results together and beat the leaders.
Main photo: Shalvin Prasad … opened the scoring for Papatoetoe. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.
Results
Game played on Saturday July 23, 2022
Papakura City 2 (Argyle Morling 47′, own goal 90+6′)
Papatoetoe 1 (Shalvin Prasad 9′)
Game played on Friday July 22, 2022
Ranui Swanson 0
Central United 3 (Sam Lloyd 22′, Lyle Lazarus 62′, Alex McGregor 80′)
Click here for match report >>>>
Standings
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