Otago United's Youth team took a step closer to the ASB national youth final, beating Nelson Falcons 1-0 at Tahuna Park yesterday. Otago now plays Canterbury next week in Christchurch, in a sudden-death match to reach the final.
Otago bossed Nelson into submission with a powerful display of attacking football in the first half. A brilliant right-wing run by Will McIntyre produced a cross that Taylor McCormack hammered against Nelson's crossbar and Nikki Meglinski calmly slotted the rebound to make the score 1-0, after 14 minutes.
When Otago had the advantage of a strong tail wind in the second half but Nelson improved, with patterned play that had Otago on the back foot. However, Otago's midfield energy blunted Nelson as Jackson Mitchell and Andy Ridden hit top form, and at the back a composed match by Peter Overmire steadied the ship.
Otago finished with a flourish when McCormack again outpaced Nelson's defence and hit a shot on the run that was centimetres too high. Coach Tony Martin saw the result as a reward for all the hard training his youth side has done since late last year.
''Now we just need another top effort to overcome Canterbury next week,'' he said.
