WaiBOP United put their troubles behind them with a well-earned 1-1 draw with Waitakere at Mount Maunganui on Saturday.

Peter Smith's men were dealt a hammer blow in the build up to the game after being docked three points and fined $2000 for fielding an ineligible player in last month's win over SC Wanderers.

WaiBOP midfielder Alexis Varela scored a fine equaliser at Links Ave on Saturday. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

But despite going a goal behind, a brilliant second-half equaliser from Alexis Varela capped a determined display from the home side in an entertaining encounter at Links Ave.

In a bright opening, the visitors almost snatched the lead as early as the seventh minute when skipper Andy Boyens headed Alec Solomons' dangerous free-kick against the post.

And the breakthrough came when United keeper Danyon Drake could only parry a shot into the path of Tom Bliss, who calmly slotted home from close range to move to the top of the ASB Premiership goalscoring charts.

At the other end, a quick response from WaiBOP saw Federico Marquez go close, but the number ten's goal-bound shot was deflected wide.

Despite a dominant shift from Waitakere's centre-back pairing of Boyens and Solomons and a rash of yellow cards after the break, United held their nerve and got their reward with a little under 15 minutes remaining.

Fergus Neil's cross-field pass found Varela in space outside the 18-yard box, and as Waitakere backed off, the Chilean bent a delightful shot beyond the grasp of Alex Carr and into the top corner.

And the away side had Carr to thank for keeping the score level minutes later when he pulled off a fine stop to deny Jerahl Hughes.

Both sides had chances to steal all three points late on as Marquez grazed the cross the bar after bursting into the penalty area before Solomons lifted a shot over the bar following a Waitakere free-kick.

After the game Smith was happy with the way his team had responded to the events of the previous seven days.

'It has been a tough week for the players and the coaching staff,” he said, 'and I think we showed a huge degree of resilience there to pull the group together.

'We certainly deserved something out of the game and the last 20 I was particularly happy with.

'At halftime we spoke about that final ball and that final delivery and just to do the basics right. If we kept moving the ball then the gaps would appear and inevitably they did.”