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Ten-Man Auckland Held By Newcastle
by Jeremy Ruane
Auckland FC survived the sending-off of Louis Verstraete fifteen minutes from time to earn a 1-1 draw with Newcastle Jets at McDonald Jones Stadium on March 9, a result which trimmed their Isuzu Ute A-League competition lead to six points.
There was little between the teams in the early stages, but the home team was first to flex its muscles, first doing so in the tenth minute when a lovely ball over the top by Thomas Aquilina caught out Nando Pijnaker - not his best game - and allowed Lachlan Rose to nip in behind him and lob the approaching figure of Alex Paulsen.
Fortunately for Auckland, Rose's attempt narrowly cleared the crossbar, much like Pijnaker's attempt to make amends via a header from Jake Brimmer's corner in the twelfth minute. Nayder Moreno secured possession from the resulting goal kick, but Callum Timmins swiftly stripped him of the ball and set in motion an attack from which Newcastle took the lead.
The ball was worked to Eli Adams, inside the centre circle, from where he shifted into overdrive almost immediately. Felipe Gallegos tried to stay with him, but the youngster was too quick for the midfielder, and as he reached the edge of the penalty area Adams unleashed a screamer which flew past the diving figure of Paulsen and in off the far post - a cracking goal!
And they came desperately close to doubling their lead on the quarter hour. Clayton Taylor exploited open space on the left and picked out Rose with a cross which invited the striker to shoot on the turn. Paulsen parried his effort, but the ball sat up invitingly for Adams, who volleyed it narrowly past the post.
Newcastle continued to press, and from Kaza Mizunuma's eighteenth minute corner, Pijnaker inadvertently handled the ball. He didn't know much about it, as he was concentrating on his marking duties from the set-piece, but referee Nathan Shakespear had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot.
Up stepped Kostandinos Grozos to double Newcastle's lead, but Paulsen had other ideas, pulling off a fine save to turn the spot-kick to safety, and inspire a stirring fightback by Auckland, who had a 21st minute Jesse Randall goal ruled out for offside against the scorer.
The visitors continued to grow in confidence, Francis de Vries' wicked near post cross six minutes later forcing goalkeeper Noel James to scramble clear as Randall ran across his line of sight - he could very easily have fumbled it into his own net.
Newcastle appeared to weather the storm, and threatened again ten minutes before half-time. Taylor sent Rose rampaging down the left, from where he laid the ball back into the stride of Timmins, whose twenty-yarder flew past the far post.
Back came Auckland, Guillermo May leading the charge this time, on a diagonal run from left to right which Newcastle players were reluctant to counter. How they were punished for not doing so, as the Uruguayan eventually brought Hiroki Sakai into play, the captain delivering an angled cross which saw Randall beat James in the air and head home the equaliser in the 37th minute.
Six minutes later, Randall charged goalwards before inviting Moreno to bear down on goal. James did extremely well to block the ball at the feet of the Colombian, then recover to deny de Vries as he looked to capitalise on the ricochet.
The start of the second spell was frenetic, with Adams and Rose combining from the kick-off for Newcastle. The latter's dummy, on the edge of the penalty area, deceived Paulsen, but not Pijnaker, who, instead of clearing his lines, dallied on the ball, allowing Rose to close him down, dispossess
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him and set up Lachlan Bayliss for a twenty-five yarder which Paulsen turned round the post.
Auckland responded via half-time substitute Marlee Francois, whose curling twenty-five yarder forced James to fly to his left to maintain parity. Soon after, a long-range effort from Pijnaker was scrambled to safety by the goalkeeper, prompting a Newcastle counter-attack which culminated in Paulsen diving to his left to grab a Rose shot from the edge of the area in the fiftieth minute.
Cue a brief lull in proceedings as both teams took stock of the situation, followed by another burst of attacking action at both ends of the park either side of the hour mark. This time, Auckland fired the first salvo, Pijnaker, de Vries and Gallegos combining to invite Francois to unleash another curler, an effort James turned round the post.
The resulting corner was cleared for a throw-in of the long variety, de Vries delivering it. May was the beneficiary, and his volley on the turn flashed narrowly over the crossbar as the league leaders continued to press for a come-from-behind lead.
Newcastle had plans of their own in this regard, regaining the lead being their priority. Grozos' 64th minute corner to the far post saw Rose head the ball back across goal, with Mark Natta just failing to make contact with a full-length diving header.
Two minutes later, Rose, Daniel Wilmering and Taylor combined on the left, with the last-mentioned turning and delivering a cross which invited Adams to head goalwards. His attempt was of the looping variety, and would have clipped the underside of the bar and gone in had Paulsen not been perfectly positioned to deny him.
Fifteen minutes from time, Auckland were denied the services of Verstraete for the balance of the match. While the combative midfielder won the ball in the tackle, his momentum saw his boot slide off the ball and into the thigh of Newcastle substitute Kokola M'Mwombwa.
Referee Nathan Shakespear immediately booked the Belgian, but the Video Assistant Referee invited the on-field official to have another look at the incident. Cue a change of card from yellow to red, the incident being deemed "serious foul play", meaning Verstraete will be sidelined for a couple of weeks at least.
That gave Newcastle the numerical advantage, but there was only one team in it in the time remaining, and they only had ten players on the park. Auckland piled on the pressure in search of a winner, with Cameron Howieson's teasing twenty-yarder being tipped over the bar by James in the 77th minute.
Four minutes later, Newcastle's custodian made a fine save to his left to keep out Gallegos' twenty-five yard volley. Substitute Luis Toomey regathered the ball and delivered a cross to the far post which struck the arm of Tommy Smith and ricocheted into the net - alas for Auckland, their second disallowed goal of the contest.
Still they pressed, May being denied by James in the 83rd minute. But Newcastle held them out, and nearly pinched the points at the death, Grozos' twenty-five yard free-kick narrowly clearing the crossbar deep in stoppage time, the last kick of the game confirming the final 1-1 scoreline.
Newcastle: James; Aquilina, Grozos, Natta; Mizunuma (Ingham, 61 (booked, 85)), Timmins (Susnjar, 80), Bayliss (M'Mwombwa, 69), Wilmering; Adams, Rose (Vidic, 80), Taylor (Wellissol, 80)
Auckland: Paulsen; Sakai, Smith, Pijnaker (booked, 67), de Vries; Rogerson (Toomey, 80), Brimmer (Verstraete, 46 (booked, 75)), Gallegos (Howieson, 68), Moreno (Francois, 46); Randall (Elliot, 68), May
Referee: Nathan Shakespear
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