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300325
Auckland Secures Finals Football At First Attempt
by Jeremy Ruane
Auckland FC guaranteed themselves a place in the Isuzu Ute A-League play-offs on March 30, overcoming Brisbane Roar 2-0 on a treacherous Suncorp Stadium pitch to extend their advantage at the top of the table to seven points with five rounds remaining.
Steve Corica's team were made to work hard for the points by their hosts, who had by far the better of the first half, only to pay the price for their profligacy as Auckland struck late in each half to clinch the points.
Concerted pressure resulted in Asumah Abubakar firing the first shot in anger over the bar in the ninth minute, a threat which prompted Brisbane to keep on pounding away in their quest for an early goal.
Jacob Brazete was next to threaten, cutting in off the left past two players before inviting Jay O'Shea to unleash a shot from inside the 'D' which Alex Paulsen tipped over the crossbar in the tenth minute.
Auckland's goalkeeper then made a terrific save from the chaos which arose from Henry Hore's resulting corner, the ball ricocheting goalwards only for Paulsen to paw it out next to the upright.
After surviving that flurry, the visitors got into the contest without threatening Matt Acton's goal. Indeed, the only shot of note during over thirty minutes of football following that brief early flurry was a tame shot at Paulsen by Brazete, who deserved greater reward given his attempt was the climax of a swashbuckling run across the penalty area past five opponents.
In the shadows of the half-time whistle, Auckland finally announced themselves as an attacking force in this contest. Guillermo May set off on a jinking run from halfway which saw him work a one-two with Logan Rogerson en route before checking and shooting.
Lucas Herrington blocked his attempt - Auckland's first of the match, prompting a sustained Brisbane attack in which Pijnaker - with the assistance of Dan Hall initially - blocked shots from Ben Halloran, O'Shea and Samuel Klein.
Having proved his defensive prowess at one end, Pijnaker duly exposed a glaring weakness in Brisbane's rearguard in first half stoppage time, as Auckland took the lead. Louis Verstraete's cross was cleared to May, whose first-time round the corner pass was steered by Hall into the stride of the Belgian.
Verstraete's cross this time was measured to perfection, a near post delivery which was met by a thumping unchallenged six yard header from Pijnaker which fair crashed into the back of the net before Acton had had time to react - 1-0 Auckland, with the last action of the half.
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Auckland was first to threaten in the second spell, Verstraete releasing Rogerson down the right in the 55th minute. His cross was headed clear by Herrington, but the winger retrieved the ball and was more successful with his second delivery, picking out half-time substitute Cameron Howieson, whose header was blocked by Hosine Bility.
Brisbane responded via an O'Shea free-kick on the hour, a low-struck effort around the wall which Paulsen spilled. Bility, following in, was first on the scene, but could only execute a looping header which landed in the grateful gloves of the goalkeeper.
Both goalkeepers were called into action in the next five minutes as each team sought to alter the scoreline. Acton raced out to deny May as he looked to latch onto Verstraete's lobbed ball forward, while Paulsen was at full stretch to tip O'Shea's twenty-five yarder round the post after an initial break made by substitute Pearson Kasawaya.
This was the cue for Brisbane to keep on pressing for an equaliser, but Auckland's rearguard rebuffed them at every turn. They finally forced another save from Paulsen eight minutes from time, O'Shea and Kasawaya combining for Florin Berenguer-Bohrer to direct a header goalwards, one which the goalkeeper wasted little time in grabbing.
And promptly igniting a counter-attack from which Auckland delivered the coup de grace. The ball was played forward to Hiroki Sakai, who headed it inside to Howieson. He evaded the challenge of Herrington before sending Rogerson racing through the inside right channel.
The winger stood up Bility with some sleight of foot before slipping a pass inside to Sakai, who was racing up in support. He buried it beyond Acton and raced off towards the corner flag to celebrate, only for his joy to be crudely curtailed by the sight of the offside flag raised aloft.
A check by the Video Assistant Referee was in order, and it discovered that Rogerson had timed his run to perfection as Howieson released him while riding Herrington's challenge. Cue renewed goal celebrations from Sakai, and a vital win for Auckland which puts them in a commanding position in the race for the Premiers' Plate.
Brisbane: Acton; Hingert (booked, 45 (Burke-Gilroy, 57)), Herrington, Bility, Zabala (booked, 32 (Kasawaya, 57)); Klein (Zimarino, 84), Hore, O'Shea; Halloran (Amanatidis, 57), Abubakar, Brazete (Berenguer-Bohrer, 67)
Auckland: Paulsen; Sakai, Hall (booked, 28), Pijnaker, de Vries (Elliot, 87); Rogerson, Gallegos, Verstraete (Smith, 77), Francois (Toomey, 66); Mata (Howieson, 46), May (Bidois, 77)
Referee: Alireza Faghani
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