Harry Gordon's second-half strike equalised for the hosts after the Wildcats took the lead in a dour first half.

United coach Nathan Wade said a lethargic opening 20 minutes cost his side.

"We didn't turn up in the first 20 for whatever reason," he said.

"They were a bit more physical than us and we found them hard to break down; they had a plan to sit deep and try and hit us on the break and it seemed to have worked.

"They didn't get into our 18-yard box at all in the second half; they sat on halfway and defended."

Wade was left frustrated at some of the decisions his side received during the game.

"We misread the interpretations from the officials so we'll just have to be a bit more physical next time," he said.

The Wildcats' physical nature forced the coach to substitute Matt Bale during the second half after he received plenty of attention.

"He seems to have a target on his back at the moment," he said.

Bale stayed on the field long enough to set up Gordon's equaliser after a clever interchange of passing.

"It was a really nice one-two and Harry slotted it into the bottom corner," Wade said.

"As a coach you want to win every game, but Taree probably played their best game of the season."

Wade also hit out at the standard of the playing surface.

"We're not getting any favours at our home ground because we like to play the ball quickly and the grass was about 100 millimetres longer than it should have been," he said.

The draw was the first time United hadn't taken all three points in their opening six matches of the season, but it was still enough to maintain their position on top of the table.

"A couple of our earlier games we were lucky to get the win so maybe the draw evened that up a bit," he said.

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