Auckland City v. Team Wellington, 27/3/11

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City Go Nap To Book Grand Final Place

by Jeremy Ruane

Auckland City marched into the 2010-11 ASB Premiership Grand Final on March 27, the O-League Grand Finalists thumping Team Wellington 5-1 at Kiwitea Street to prevail 7-1 on aggregate and leave the victors poised to qualify for next season’s version of the Oceania Football Confederation’s flagship club competition.

City got off to a flying start, opening the scoring after 40 seconds. Daniel Koprivcic gathered the ball on the left and worked a slick one-two with Adam Dickinson before dancing his way across the edge of Team Wellington’s penalty area.

The visitors paid the price for failing to offer a challenge to the striker, who finally found a gap and unleashed an unerring eighteen-yarder across the diving figure of Phil Imray into the far corner of the net.

That left Wellington needing to score three goals to have a chance of getting back into the contest - they were trailing 2-0 from the first leg in the capital - and to their credit they set about the task with gusto.

George Barbarouses was the instigator of the visitors’ attempts to get back into the match, his first effort prompting a seventh minute save from Jacob Spoonley, fresh off the plane from China following the All Whites’ friendly international in Wuhan early on Saturday morning, NZ time.

Spoonley sparked Auckland’s response three minutes later with an inch-perfect clearance to Manel Exposito, who dashed in off the left before unleashing a deflected twenty-five yarder which Imray got down well to his right to save before it crept in by his near post.

Back came Wellington, a more concerted flurry this time, with Barbarouses and Hicham Kamri working an opening on the left. The former cut in and let fly, only to find Spoonley perfectly placed to deal with his twelfth minute attempt.

Sixty seconds later, Darren Cheriton curled in a gem of a corner right into the heart of City’s goalmouth. The ball was cleared to Barbarouses on the edge of the area, and he laid the ball back into Emiliano Tade’s stride.

His twenty-yarder flashed narrowly past Spoonley’s left-hand post, unlike Kamri’s effort two minutes later. Tade was the architect, his superb footwork on the left prising open City’s rearguard.

But he looked to have undone all his good work with a driven pull-back, until Kamri appeared on the scene and unleashed a screamer of a first time volley into the bottom left-hand corner of Spoonley’s net - 1-1 after fifteen minutes.

Wellington were eager to try and build on that goal, and had they scored next it would have made things very interesting indeed. But it was City who reacted better following the equaliser, and after Koprivcic and Alex Feneridis had both fired wide following tidy approach play, the latter went close to restoring Auckland’s lead with a fiercely struck twenty-five yarder just shy of the half-hour mark.

Adam Dickinson, Exposito and Koprivcic had been instrumental in creating that opening, and it was the

Scouser and the Spaniard who combined a minute later to tear through the heart of Wellington’s rearguard and put City back in the box seat in this two-legged tie.

A delightful one-two between the duo saw Exposito’s return pass leave Dickinson with just Imray to beat, a feat the former Tranmere Rovers front-runner accomplished with aplomb.

Wellington weren’t going to take this setback lying down, and only an untimely slip in the penalty area by Kamri, when he was about to pull the trigger to cap off a raid led by Ryan Cain and Jamie Duncan, prevented the visitors from drawing level a second time.

That warning prompted Auckland to lay siege to the Wellington goal inside the last ten minutes of the first half, during which they created four clear-cut openings, three of which were superbly saved by Imray.

Koprivcic linked with Stu Kelly, whose measured cross-field ball invited Ian Hogg to storm down the left - not for the last time in the match, either. His measured cross found Exposito rising salmon-like on the far post, from where he directed a downward header which Imray somehow scrambled off his line as he dived backwards - a brilliant save, and excellent positioning by the referee’s assistant, Nick van der Salm, to confirm the fact.

Seconds later, only a timely tackle by Scott Robson denied Exposito as he scythed into the penalty area off the left flank once more. And it was off that wing - Auckland had a field day throughout down the left - that he cut in towards the target again in the 37th minute, only to see Imray produce a flying save to tip the Spaniard’s curling effort to safety.

Wellington’s right flank was missing, presumed having a good time throughout much of this match, and Exposito and Hogg weren’t slow to take advantage of their opponents’ absence. Kelly found the former in space on the left on the stroke of half-time, and once again, Exposito made a bee-line for goal, only to be thwarted once more by Imray.

The same combination exposed Wellington once more three minutes after half-time, Kelly’s raking cross-field ball finding Exposito in yards of space. Only a fine recovering tackle by the overworked Karl Whalen thwarted him on this occasion, but the visitors had no answer to City’s next left flank raid in the 53rd minute, and suffered the consequences.

Hogg gathered the ball on the left and did Robson a treat, turning past the fullback before racing to the by-line, from where he looked up to find four team-mates up in support. He opted for the late-arriving figure of Koprivcic, who had slipped his marker and composed himself before unleashing an unerring finish beyond Imray - 3-1, 5-1 on aggregate.

That goal effectively killed off the contest, and Kelly looked to make certain of that just sixty seconds later. Dickinson set him up, but Imray wasn’t to be denied on this occasion, nor again seconds later, Feneridis his next frustrated opponent, after Kelly, Dickinson and Koprivcic combined to create an opening which both Kelly and Feneridis looked to volley home from outside the area.

But for Imray’s exploits, City could well have prevailed by double-figures in this match, but Wellington also had chances to score more than just the one goal. Spoonley was their nemesis, however, his fine 56th minute save to thwart Tade’s wickedly struck twenty-yarder the first of a handful of impressive stops by the New Zealand international.

Before he had reason to produce another, Imray twice denied Exposito with a couple of outstanding saves either side of the hour. The first was a stunning block at point-blank range, while the second, a cat-like dive low to his left, left the Spaniard a rather frustrated figure.

But Exposito and his team-mates were celebrating once more in the 64th minute, although it was a former Team Wellington player who was conducting the cheering. Luis Corrales has only scored against one team this season, and he was back to haunt his old club again in style this time round, swerving a shot with the outside of his right boot around Imray and into the far corner on receipt of a raking clearance from Spoonley.

That made it 4-1, but Wellington didn’t lie down and die, to their credit. They kept pounding away, only to find Spoonley in fine form - the ‘keeper frustrated substitutes Andrew Abba and, on two occasions, Justin Gulley, in the next eight minutes, prior to grabbing Cheriton’s twenty-five yard free-kick as the visitors sought another goal.

Abba was to be frustrated twice more by Spoonley in the last ten minutes, the ‘keeper blocking at his feet on the first occasion before tipping over his late shot, by which time City had gone nap.

Fittingly, it was Exposito who got the goal, the striker finally getting the better of Imray in a one-on-one situation after substitutes Corrales and Andrew Milne had combined to find their team-mate had been afforded the freedom of Kiwitea Street - he was all alone in acres of space down the left - by Wellington’s absent rearguard.

Imray cut a forlorn figure upon conceding five goals in his side’s final game of the season, but he’s the one Wellington player who impressed throughout - but for him, this would have been a rout!

City, meanwhile, were inspired by the displays of Koprivcic, Hogg, Exposito and Spoonley, who, with non-playing team-mates David Mulligan and Ivan Vicelich, came straight from the airport to the ground for this fixture.

Both All Whites will be available for selection for City’s next two fixtures, Grand Finals both. Saturday sees Auckland taking on Vanuatu’s Amicale FC in the first leg of the O-League showpiece fixture in Port Vila, while the following Sunday the ASB Premiership Grand Final will take place in the Queen City, at either Kiwitea Street or, most likely, Fred Taylor Park.

Auckland: Spoonley; Pritchett (Thomas, 61), Campbell, Berlanga, Hogg; Vidal (Corrales, 51), Kelly, Feneridis, Exposito; Dickinson (Milne, 68), Koprivcic

Wellington: Imray; Robson, Whalen, Lissette (Patrick, 50), Duncan; Barbarouses (booked, 20), Cheriton, O’Connor; Cain (Gulley, 65), Kamri (Abba, 50), Tade

Referee: Peter O’Leary

National League