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Derby Delight For Auckland, Despite Conceding First Goal
by Jeremy Ruane
Auckland FC's unbelievable start to the Isuzu Ute A-League season continued unabated at GoMedia Mt. Smart Stadium on December 7, as they saw off arch-rivals Wellington Phoenix 2-1 in front of a New Zealand record 26,253 fans to make it six wins from as many matches and maintain their grip on the top rung on the league ladder.
The home team enjoyed the early territorial advantage, and mustered the first threat on target after Jake Brimmer's fourth minute corner wasn't cleared. Nando Pijnaker looked to take full advantage, but Alex Rufer blocked his near post effort.
Wellington responded in the twelfth minute, Paulo Retre delivering a cross from the right which targeted the flying figure of Isaac Hughes. He ended up in the back of the net, while the ball was in the safe grip of Alex Paulsen, who was subjected to a fair bit of a pounding by his former Wellington team-mates before the half-hour had passed, with Costa Barbarouses, Scott Wootton and Sam Sutton all having a go as the visitors went down the physicality road.
Referee Shaun Evans wasn't too impressed by it - the fact he booked five Wellington players and their coach, Giancarlo Italiano, by the full-time whistle tells its own tale. Nor were Auckland, who, soon after seeing Wootton block a Louis Verstraete shot, were forced to withdraw the Belgian from the fray with a suspected concussion - a yellow-clad opponent got away with one in the heat of battle.
Rather than fight fire with fire, Auckland opted to fight fire with football, and were rewarded for playing the ball rather than the man with the opening goal in the 31st minute. Felipe Gallegos and Logan Rogerson combined on the right to send Hiroki Saki sprinting into the penalty area, from where he drilled in a cross which Hughes could only divert into his own net - 1-0 to the league leaders.
Stunned, Wellington reverted to that other strategy they employ which invites trouble, and Josh Oluwayemi twice managed to avoid the attentions of Brimmer as he played the ball out from beneath the shadows of his crossbar - a mistake on either occasion would have seen the scoreline doubled needlessly from the visitors' perspective.
Oluwayemi produced his first save of the game in the 39th minute to deny Gallegos, after Guillermo May had pounced on a loose ball, while after Cameron Howieson blocked a Matt Sheridan shot after good work on the right by Tim Payne, the Uruguayan striker again gave Wellington cause for concern, evading two challenges before inviting Sakai to let fly. Rufer blocked his attempt to double Auckland's advantage.
In first half stoppage time, intricate play on Auckland's left resulted in an opening for Brimmer, which he fired narrowly past the far post from twenty-five yards. Soon after, it was Hughes' turn to intervene, heading a goalbound drive from May to safety to bring the half to a close.
Wellington signalled their intentions for the second half straight away, Hideki Ishigi thundering a twenty-yarder narrowly over the bar after Payne - now being employed as a central striker to provide a physical presence in their attack - and Retre had combined on the right.
Auckland's response saw them go close to doubling their lead, Rufer having felled Brimmer on the edge of the penalty area - Wellington's captain was treading a very fine line at this point, discipline-wise. Brimmer curled the free-kick over the wall,
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but just past Oluwayemi's right-hand post in the 52nd minute.
The home team were enjoying the better of the game possession-wise, and were comfortably controlling proceedings, aided by Wellington's lack of imagination, penetration and discipline - perhaps if they'd focused on playing football, rather than trying to impose themselves on proceedings physically, they might have gained greater reward.
May went close again in the 63rd minute, a looping header from a Brimmer cross which Oluwayemi grabbed beneath his crossbar. Five minutes later, the Uruguayan did brilliantly to beat Hughes on halfway before scampering downfield into the penalty area, only to lose control of the ball at the vital moment. Substitute Neyder Moreno, following up, saw his shot blocked to safety.
Auckland didn't have long to wait to score the decisive second goal, however - a mere two minutes, in fact. Sakai's well-flighted free-kick to the far post prompted hesitance from Oluwayemi, and that was all Pijnaker needed to power home a header between defenders and into the far corner of the net - 2-0.
That was surely that, but Wellington weren't giving up. Sam Sutton's superb swashbuckling run saw four opponents left in his wake as he surged into the penalty area, from where he fired a shot through the legs of Tommy Smith. Paulsen saw it late and made a super parried save, only to direct the ball straight to Sheridan, who returned the favour when scoring seemed the easier option.
Paulsen's goal-line was finally breached in the 82nd minute - the A-League record for most minutes from the start of the season before conceding is 532 minutes, and that's thanks to Barbarouses, who fair battered the ball beyond the 'keeper into the top corner after Rufer had pounced on a stray pass and sent the striker scampering through the inside left channel.
That goal gave the visitors hope, and soon after, substitute Stefan Colakovski charged down a Paulsen clearance, the ball ricocheting past the post of an open goal. Auckland weathered the storm, however, and in the final minutes, it was the home team who looked the more likely to re-establish their two-goal advantage, despite Marco Rojas' best efforts to prompt a Wellington equaliser.
Luis Toomey and Howieson both fired wayward attempts at Wellington's goal before Moreno's fine work down the left in stoppage time saw him evade two challenges before drawing a top drawer save by Oluwayemi at his near post which prevented a fifteen yard missile from finding the top corner.
2-1 it remained, however, with the final whistle prompting delighted scenes in "The Port", Auckland's core fan base, in stark contrast to the long faces among the "Yellow Fever" fans who made the trip north from Wellington to see their charges deservedly lose another "Kiwi Classico". If they'd focused on playing football, they might have had greater reward …
Auckland: Paulsen; Sakai, Hall, Pijnaker, de Vries; Gallegos, Brimmer (Smith, 69), Verstraete (Howieson, 22 (booked, 53)); Rogerson (Moreno, 59), May, Gillion (Toomey, 59)
Wellington: Oluwayemi; Sheridan, Wootton, Hughes; Payne (Rojas, 61), Retre (booked, 50 (Colakovski, 61)), Rufer (booked, 78), Nagasawa (Van Hattum, 80), Sutton (booked, 43 (Piper, 90)); Barbarouses (booked, 67), Ishige (booked, 17)
Referee: Shaun Evans
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