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120425
Auckland Come From Two Down To Hold Sydney
by Jeremy Ruane
Isuzu Ute A-League leaders Auckland FC overcame a two-goal deficit to hold Sydney FC to a 2-2 draw in front of 18,437 fans at Allianz Stadium on April 12, as they inched ever closer to winning the Premiers' Plate in their maiden season.
The visitors were first out of the blocks, Francis de Vries and Marlee Francois combining on the left in the seventh minute. Logan Rogerson was unable to capitalise on the latter's cross, prompting a swift Sydney counter-attack which saw Adrian Segecic thread a pass through for Joe Lolley to latch onto and side-step Dan Hall before unleashing a drive which Alex Paulsen turned to safety.
Steve Corica's side retorted instantly, Nando Pijnaker picking out de Vries on the left, from where he headed the ball inside to Guillermo May. The Uruguayan shrugged off the challenge of Rhyan Grant but dragged his shot across the face of goal.
They attacked again in the ninth minute, makeshift striker Cameron Howieson holding the ball up well before bringing Francois into play. His cross was punched off the head of May by Sydney goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares.
The home team opened the scoring in the twelfth minute with a goal out of nothing. Zac de Jesus slipped a pass inside to Segecic, who from twenty yards sent a scorching drive flying past the flailing fingertips of Paulsen into the top far corner of the net - 1-0 Sydney, and how!
Auckland took five minutes to get back on an even keel after going behind, with May holding the ball up well in their seventeenth minute before inviting Rogerson to combine with Louis Verstraete.
His neat flick invited May to let fly, but his shot was blocked by Joel King, off whom the ball rebounded to Felipe Gallegos, who sent a twenty-five yarder thundering over the crossbar.
Back came Sydney, Lolley linking with Anas Ouahim on the left, from where he got past two opponents before unleashing a shot from the edge of the penalty area which Paulsen flew to his left to deny. Ouahim took the resulting corner, which saw Jordan Courtney-Perkins beat the goalkeeper, who was at full stretch, only to rebound off the far post, allowing Rogerson to hook clear.
Cue an Auckland counter-attack, Gallegos and May teaming up with Francois, who did well to engineer some space from which to produce a cross which was met by de Vries, with two Auckland players lining up behind him. Alas for the fullback, Devenish-Meares was equal to his header.
After Hall had blocked a Segecic shot, and Devenish-Meares had grabbed a Pijnaker header, this time following a de Vries throw-in, Sydney doubled their lead in the 32nd minute with a near duplicate of their opening goal.
Francois was caught in possession by Leo Sena, with the ball breaking to Segecic. From twenty-five yards, he hit an absolute screamer into the top far corner, the ball grazing Paulsen's fingertips en route - it was simply too hot to handle! A terrific strike!
At 2-0 down, the league leaders needed to score next, and did, just three minutes later. Gallegos pounced on a stray pass and fed Howieson, who held the ball up well before bringing Francois into play.
He evaded a challenge before seeing his shot blocked by Devenish-Meares, who looked on in horror as Rogerson, following in, rammed the rebound into the roof of the net from six yards - 2-1, game on!
The final attack of the half saw Sydney threaten to
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restore their two-goal margin. Courtney-Perkins pounced on a stray pass and promptly picked out Lolley, who turned the ball into Ouahim's stride. His twenty yard effort was tame, however, easy pickings for Paulsen.
After the interval, the game was fiercely contested, both teams defending with venom aplenty. Segecic's bid to complete a hat-trick foundered on a wayward 56th minute shot, to which Auckland responded via Gallegos, whose drive was parried by Devenish-Meares after the charging figure of May had provided his overlapping team-mate with a measured pass.
Halfway through the second spell, de Vries was in action at both ends of the park, first blocking a shot from Lolley, then levelling the scores with a thumping volley into the far corner of the net in the 68th minute.
Hiroki Sakai and Verstraete had worked a one-two on the right which resulted in Auckland's captain delivering a cross which Devenish-Meares spilled, straight into the stride of the marauding left-back - 2-2.
There was virtually only one team in it from here on in, with Auckland piling on the pressure in search of a winner which would edge them to within touching distance of the silverware. Pijnaker flicked on a Sakai throw-in to de Vries, whose shot was grabbed by Devenish-Meares in the 76th minute.
Three minutes later, substitute Neyder Moreno sent a twenty-five yard shot on the run sizzling narrowly over the crossbar, soon after which he was released down the left by May. Into the penalty area Moreno powered, Sydney defenders trailing in his wake, before a pass invited fellow substitute Jake Brimmer to break the deadlock, only for King to clear his shot off the line.
Auckland were gifted a glorious chance to take the lead in the 82nd minute by Devenish-Meares, who had one of those "What on earth are you doing?" moments. The goalkeeper passed the ball straight to May on the edge of the penalty area, and he instantly invited Moreno to let fly, a snapshot which hit the post with an open goal gaping in front of a decent-sized contingent of Auckland's fans - there'd easily have been 300 amongst them, cheering on their champions.
Sydney mounted a rare attack in the 87th minute, Paulsen tipping Segecic's cross-shot past the far post following a well-worked corner routine. Soon after, referee Alex King failed to call a foul on Verstraete on the edge of Sydney's penalty area, allowing the home side to launch a counter-attack.
Substitute Jaiden Kucharski led the charge, but with Segecic in support he opted for glory, and got it well wrong, much to the ire of his hat-trick-hunting team-mate, and the delight of "The Port", who urged Auckland on for one final attack before the final whistle.
Jesse Randall was its fulcrum, rampaging down the left before inviting May to evade two challenges. He then lost control of the ball, but retrieved it almost instantly and promptly let rip with a shot which narrowly cleared the crossbar, the last kick of a lively affair which ended with honours even, 2-2.
Sydney: Devenish-Meares; Grant, Popovic, King, Courtney-Perkins (booked, 43); de Jesus, Sena (booked, 85), Caceres (booked, 89), Ouahim (Hollman, 66); Lolley (Kucharski, 83), Segecic (Quintal, 90)
Auckland: Paulsen; Sakai (booked, 52), Hall, Pijnaker, de Vries (Randall, 90); Rogerson (Elliot, 46), Gallegos (booked, 85 (Smith, 86)), Verstraete, Francois (Moreno, 61); Howieson (Brimmer, 46 (booked, 76)), May
Referee: Alex King
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