The Football Kingz produced a come-from-behind 2-1 National Soccer League victory over Parramatta Power in an Ericsson Stadium thriller on November 15, and in doing so, recorded their first win on home soil since January 25.      The match-winner on that occasion was Paul Urlovic, and nigh on ten months later, he emerged as the hero again, ending a personal nightmare in front of goal which had seen him fail to hit the target since March.      He more than made up for this drought by potting an absolute snorter, a blistering hip-turn volley nine minutes from time which sent the 2908 faithful into ecstasy, as they savoured the sweet taste of something which most clubs take as given - a home win.      While they left the ground in delight due to victory, they should also have done so had this game been a draw, because in truth, this was an outstanding game of football, rich in attacking forays from both teams.      For, unlike the vast majority of NSL teams which cross the Tasman Sea, who set out their stall not to lose, there was only one intention in Parramatta's game-plan upon their arrival in Auckland.      Make no mistake, they came to win, and played accordingly, and every credit is due to Nick Theodorakopoulos and his charges for doing so - if more teams adopted such an attack-oriented approach when on the road, the local faithful would have no football-oriented excuses for not turning up to watch, because they could be assured that they would be getting value-for-money entertainment-wise before they even came through the turnstiles.      In this match, they certainly did, right from the first whistle. And after just 176 seconds, they had seen the game's first goal. Jeff Campbell and Andy Vlahos got their wires crossed during a left-flank raid, and the outstanding Wayne O'Sullivan stepped in to pick up the pieces and spark a Parramatta counter-attack.      When your team is blessed with a  speed merchant such as Ahmad Elrich, you take full advantage. Power did, on several occasions in this match, this being the first of them. Away he scampered on receipt of O'Sullivan's pass, charging relentlessly at the retreating Kingz defence.      Spying Kosta Salapasidis on the far side of the penalty area, he split the defence with a gorgeous curled pass which the striker gathered in his stride. Salapasidis stepped inside Jonathan Perry and unleashed an unerring drive beyond the despairing dive of Michael Utting and into the top left-hand corner of the net - 1-0 Power, a goal which silenced the drums, if only briefly.      Within three minutes, the visitors could have had a second goal, following a dreadful schoolboy blunder by Jonathan Taylor. Elrich pounced on his woefully under-hit back-pass, and curled a first-time shot around the stranded Utting, but just past his right-hand post. It was a let-off for the Kingz, make no mistake.      The home side began to warm to the uphill task which faced them, Vlahos producing an outstanding performance as he attempted to drag the Kingz back into the match. He went close in the seventeenth minute, as did Patricio Almendra three minutes later, but in between times, Parramatta were in their element.      There were times during the first half when the visitors' play was a joy to behold, as they administered a first-class lesson in speed of thought and movement off the ball to a Kingz side which, defensively, chased shadows in this match.      The most prominent of these, of course, was Elrich, but he was a mere spectator to this nineteenth minute raid, which was sparked by O'Sullivan and Salapasidis combining to good effect. Matt Thompson was also involved, as was Matt Langdon, who motored down the leftg before picking out Royce Brownlie with a near-post cross which the striker, who was deputising for the injured Pablo Cardozo, fired wide this time round.      The pattern of play in the first half didn't reflect the statistics, the Kingz having created any number (approaching ten) of corners during this time. From two, both sourced from Campbell, Power goalkeeper Liam Reddy blocked an Almendra shot with his outstretched leg, while Brendan Renaud blocked a goalbound Jonathan Taylor drive late in the half.      The Kingz kept pressing, however, Almendra just too slow in reacting to a delightful through ball from Raf de Gregorio after the locals, through Vlahos' inspiration, had prised open Parramatta's defence in the 23rd minute, three minutes before the visitors had a huge let-off of their own.      The only Australian on the Kiwi team's books was having a whale of a game, relishing every minute of the battle to drag his side back into the match. Within ninety seconds of being denied a penalty, after employing some delightful skill to evade the clutches of both Michael Beauchamp and Jack Sobczyk, Vlahos thought he had brought about parity, Mark Burton having released him in space down the left with a peach of a pass in behind the defence.      It left the chunkily-built wide-man through on goal with just the advancing Reddy to beat, and this he duly did, slipping the ball past the 'keeper with aplomb. But as he turned to start celebrating, Alvin Ceccoli was chasing the ball for all he was worth as it trickled towards the line. He gained his reward for the pursuit of a seemingly lost cause by sliding in to hook the ball off the line, as Vlahos' face depicted delight, then despair, within a matter of seconds. Some of the passing in this match combined high quality with great intelligence to reward clever off-the-ball running, as opponents sought to make the ball do the work in an effort to exact maximum punishment on the opposition. The visitors were arguably the better combination in this regard, and should have doubled their advantage in the 32nd

minute to reflect this. Brownlie and Salapasidis teamed up on the right, then linked with Thompson. With no options open to him, the midfielder dwelt on the ball, then spotted Sobczyk lurking unmarked on the blindside of the Kingz defence. The pass which sliced through same was delicious, and left Sobczyk one-on-one with Utting, who was relieved to save rather comfortably after the defender exhibited finishing in keeping with his playing position. Back came the Kingz, Harry Ngata - another to be denied strong penalty claims - leading the charge ten minutes before the interval. He held off the defence before setting up Almendra, whose snappy low drive almost deceived Reddy, who smothered the cross-shot at the death as it sped towards the bottom left-hand corner of the net. The visitors finished the half on top, however, Salapasidis twice going close before the half-time whistle, on both occasions firing the ball past Utting's left-hand upright, firstly with a free-kick, then with a rasping drive following a delicious teasing cross from Elrich which deceived the home team's goalkeeper. The second half continued the pattern and quality of the first half's play, with the Kingz first to attempt to score this time round. Almendra weaved past three opponents on the right before linking with Burton, who, after combining with Ngata and Vlahos, curled a twenty-yard effort narrowly over Reddy's crossbar. The Chilean international was left to contemplate the meaning of life from the comfort of the Ericsson Stadium turf in the 51st minute, Brownlie having left Almendra sitting squarely on his rump upon dispossessing him in the centre circle. Off the Power man set for goal, and from twenty yards, he let fly at the target, only for Utting to parry his effort to safety. Reddy matched this save two minutes later, saving superbly at the feet of Vlahos, after Almendra and Ngata had teamed up on the right. Then it was Brownlie's turn once more, Perry denying him this time, after Brendan Renaud had joined the attack to good effect. The Parramatta defender was not a happy chappy in the 63rd minute, not that the Kingz were complaining. For a team whose strike-rate at set-pieces borders on disgraceful, given that 80% of goals in the modern game emanate from dead-ball situations, a Kingz goal from such a situation is usually cause for a double-take!! It was necessary on this occasion, if only to ascertain just who had sent Vlahos' corner to the near post bulleting into the top corner of the net in classic fashion. None of the Kingz players were being congratulated by their colleagues, while only one Power player, Renaud, was ruefully beating the ground in frustration, and the video evidence duly bore this out. So, 1-1, and immediately, both coaches rang the changes, with Urlovic and Mark Beldham's entrance for the Kingz being matched by the introduction of Parramatta's Peter Zorbas and John Buonavoglia. The latter pairing had the greater impact initially, as Power laid siege to the Kingz goal. Both saw shots saved by Utting, while Brownlie and Zorbas were both left to suffer the frustration of seeing their efforts blocked by members of a Kingz defensive unit whose performance, like that of the team as a whole, could be summed up in one word - character-driven. Occasionally, a brief respite allowed the Kingz to charge downfield, and create openings of their own. A tame finish from Urlovic, following a fine one-two down the right featuring Ngata and the pacy Beldham, was followed by a similar finish from Almendra, before Reddy had reason to warm his gloves. The goalkeeper smothered a low Beldham drive after the wide-man had cut inside soon afterwards, then, after Burton and Buonavoglia had exchanged shots on goal, produced a stunning save to thwart a viciously swerving 79th minute shot from Almendra, which had Reddy diving away from the ball's trajectory. Two minutes later, Reddy was beaten, by something a little bit special. Ngata orchestrated a right-wing raid which saw a vicious low cross for Vlahos, who was well policed and was forced to turn back. Still in support, Ngata presented himself as the only passing option, and duly received the ball, before whipping in another low cross. Urlovic was lurking with his back to goal some fifteen yards out when the ball headed in his direction, but what happened next from a man in the middle of a goalscoring drought met with the unbridled delight of the natives, who could not contain themselves as the perfectly executed hip-turn volley crashed into the back of the net to put the Kingz 2-1 up. Back came the visitors, now desperate for a share of the spoils. But try as they might, they couldn't recover, the final evidence of this coming in the form of a stunning save by Utting in stoppage time to deny Buonavoglia's close-range effort, after Elrich had again scythed the Kingz open down the right. Soon after, referee Derek Rugg blew the final whistle, much to the delight of the home faithful, who could celebrate just their third win on home turf in 2002, a result which Parramatta could scarcely take in. Kingz:          Utting; Perry, Miyazawa, Taylor; Atkinson (Beldham, 64), de Gregorio, Burton, Campbell (Urlovic, 64); Almendra (booked, 84), Ngata (Turner, 82), Vlahos (booked, 86) Power:          Reddy; Beauchamp, Sobczyk, Ceccoli, Renaud; Elrich, O'Sullivan, Thompson (Zorbas, 66), Langdon; Salapasidis, Brownlie (Buonavoglia, 66) Referee:     Derek Rugg