By Andrew Bailey / nzfc.co.nz

Auckland City will travel to Palmerston North this Sunday looking to stretch their lead at the top of the NZFC table and inflict further misery on a struggling Manawatu side.

Auckland City’s 1-1 draw with on-fire Canterbury last week means that they sit just a point above Waitakere, but their two games in hand over the West Aucklanders suggest that the champions may just stretch their legs into a comfortable first place finish.

Their job this Sunday will be to turn those games in hand into points.

The way the competition fixture list is configured will mean that Auckland City and YoungHeart Manawatu will meet for the first time in this edition of the NZFC, and while City look ahead to another finals appearance, Manawatu’s end of season calculations are looking less bright.

A playoff berth isn’t yet mathematically impossible, but with just three games left and two of them against the champions, the Palmerston North side must be close to resigning themselves to finishing a frustrating season outside of the top four.

If a look at the two sides’ relative positions on the table isn’t enough to make the YoungHeart fans despondent, a glance at the form guide will be.

Auckland comes south yet to taste defeat in the competition.

Astonishingly, YoungHeart Manawatu have not won a game yet this year.

Their battling point away at Hawkes Bay last week arrested a run of defeats and came as a relief to Manawatu coach Bob Sova, but the result cost them the competition’s current golden boot leader.

Two yellow cards in that match, after incidents with first Phil Clarke and then Stu Ferguson, saw Manawatu striker Seule Soroman sent from the pitch and he will be suspended for Auckland’s visit.

If this year’s danger man is absent for Manawatu, last year’s won’t be.

Jason Hayne will return, this time in an Auckland City kit, to the ground where he quickly became Manawatu’s main attacking weapon last season.

YoungHeart fans will remember the goal he scored against City in last year’s semi final.

Just a year ago their side were memorably knocking off Auckland City 3-1 at Memorial Park in the first leg of the NZFC semi final; it must now seem an eternity ago to Bob Sova and the YoungHeart players that will line up on Sunday.

YoungHeart fans may fear that come the end of 90 minutes on Sunday that memory won’t seem any closer.