Fourteen points separate the top and bottom teams in the Stirling Sports Premiership. But on the football field, over a 90 minute stretch, well, nothing does.

Tasman United have snapped a five-game losing streak by securing a hard fought 1-1 draw with six-time champions Auckland City - a result that must feel as good as a win.

Bouncing back from a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of rivals Canterbury United last weekend, with Stephen Hoyle scorer the game-winner in the 93rd minute, it was Tasman's time to celebrate at the death at Trafalgar Park on Sunday.

After a late dash to find an equaliser, the ball fell to the feet of Tasman's replacement striker Nicolas Abot in the six-yard box and the Argentinian was able to poke the ball past City goalkeeper Enaut Zubikarai, clinching a point deep in injury time.

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There are many reasons why the draw was as remarkable as it was unlikely. City are the powerhouse franchise of the premiership, they recently returned from the Club World Cup, had conceded 24 less goals than Tasman and boast a roster unrivalled in the competition - having current All Whites midfielder Clayton Lewis coming off the bench clear evidence of that.

Tasman on the other hand are the new boys on the national stage, Nelson gaining a franchise for the first time in more than 20 years when they were awarded a two-year licence for the 2016-17 season. Not only do they have the smallest budget in the competition but their form guide was LLLLL leading into the fixture and they were 10-1 outsiders at the TAB.

But even taking all of that into consideration, the fact that Tasman finished the game with centre-back Daniel Allan in goal and just 10 players on the field will be even more satisfying.

Goalkeeper Coey Turipa was taken from the field with a serious knee injury with just five minutes to go but Richard Anderson had already made all three substitutions by that stage.

That left Allan to step up and take the gloves, and when Abot scored all the pressure was on the 20-year-old defender to ensure Tasman would hang on.

But Allan was able to clear a Clayton Lewis freekick and hoof the ball away as Tasman earned their most memorable draw yet, a result that is only dwarfed by their sole win against Hamilton Wanderers.

"I'm absolutely ecstatic," Anderson said at fulltime.

"It's a game that coming into it I don't think anyone would have given us a chance of picking up points but all I can say is that I'm absolutely proud of the players.

"To dig as deep in the second half as we did and to continue pressing, continuing to frustrate and continuing to support attacks, and to be optimistic that we could get a result, I could not be any more proud of them."

The Oceania champions had earlier opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, a Joao Moreira strike hitting the crossbar and dropping on to Tasman defender Nick Smith and landing in the back of the net. But City seemed too focussed on keeping possession and were not direct enough to trouble Tasman's stoic defence.

Now tied at the top with Team Wellington and Waitakere United after failing to secure three points, City coach Ramon Tribulietx knows he has a fight on his hands. But despite failing to beat bottom of the table, he was still full of praise for Tasman.

"Tasman were very competitive, they were a very resilient team, very organised at the back, and they made our lives very hard," he said. "This is a big point for them."

Anderson made just one change to the starting 11, Ryan Stewart featuring at right wing-back in the place of the suspended James Hoyt.

Though no doubt relieved to have ended their barren run, Tasman have been unable to close the gap on ninth placed Southern United who registered three consecutive victories for the first time since 2011 by beating Canterbury 3-1.

AT A GLANCE

Tasman United 1 (Nicolas Abot) Auckland City 1 (Nick Smith own goal)

HT: 0-0