Teenage Solomon Island striker Andrew Abba struck twice in the second half as Hawke's Bay edged Otago 2-1 at Napier to get their New Zealand Football Championship campaign back on track.
Both sides played with 10 men after just 30 minutes of the match when Hawke's Bay skipper Jonathon Taylor and Otago's James Reichwein were sent off by referee Anthony Riley for a scuffle after Taylor went down in a late tackle by Reichwin.
Hawke's Bay threatened to breakthrough with a flurry of first half activity but Chris Greatholder's long range shot hit the post and Leon Birnie just missed connecting with a a ball flicked across the face of goal.
The breakthrough came when Abba latched onto a loose ball to calmly slot home.
Otago equalised with a penalty after Hawke's Bay defender Dan Wilson fouled striker Dale Dugdale in the box.
Robbie Deeley converted the spotkick but Abba promptly popped up with a re-run of his first effort to restore the one goal advantage.
Otago dominated the last 25 minutes but couldn't find a way through.
"You can't win games if only four or five players turn up," Otago coach Malcolm Fleming said.
Hawke's Bay coach Matt Chandler was content to consign last week's loss Waikato to history and start make a positive start at home.
"It's a great response to last week. We defended well, and we needed to because Otago came at us hard, and we lost our centre back in the first half," Chandler said.
At Christchurch, Canterbury United notched their first win of the season with two late goals against Waikato despite playing with 10 men for 47 minutes.
Paul Dirou was sent off after picking up two yellow cards in the space of nine minutes in the first half.
Substitute Jordan Sweeney needed just eight minutes after coming on to open accounts in the 78th minute and midfielder Aaron Clapton sealed the game with an 85th minute effort.
