Auckland City v. Team Wellington, 6/2/13

The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website | home

Last-Gasp Vicelich Winner Sinks Ten-Man Wellington

by Jeremy Ruane

A last-gasp winner from captain Ivan Vicelich secured a come-from-behind 3-2 victory for Auckland City over a gritty ten-man Team Wellington combination at Kiwitea Street on Waitangi Day, as the teams played their rescheduled fifth round ASB Premiership encounter.

The visitors began brightly, frustrating Auckland at every turn before springing forward with sharp counter-attacks, such as in the fourth minute. A corner resulted from this raid, with Luke Rowe's delivery being cleared to Cory Chettleburgh.

His rasping low-struck twenty-yarder through a crowded penalty area was well smothered by Tamati Williams, but City's 'keeper could do nothing to prevent the visitors from opening the scoring in the ninth minute.

Henry Fa'arodo gathered the ball on the right and jinked inside before playing a one-two off an Auckland defender's shins. As City's players stood off the Soloman Islands striker, Fa'arodo took full advantage, and from twenty yards curled an absolute peach of a strike into the top far corner of the net - 1-0 Team Wellington, in a match they couldn't afford to lose.

Chettleburgh battered a twenty-five yarder over the bar soon after, before the visitors settled back and allowed Auckland to come at them. This they did, but found Wellington's well-organised and disciplined defence in obstinate mood, frustrating their hosts whose attempts to penetrate the attacking third of the pitch all too often proved fruitless.

Set-pieces initially appeared to be Auckland's only hope of getting an equaliser. Pedro Garcia's fourteenth minute free-kick was cleared to Albert Riera, whose twenty-five yard volley was deflected for a corner which saw Garcia's delivery pick out Vicelich.

His mis-timed effort gave Scott Basalaj little cause for concern, and even less was afforded him by Manel Exposito soon afterwards, the Spaniard skying his effort after working a one-two with Gustavo Souto.

Basalaj produced his first save of the match in the 25th minute, plunging to his left to tip a Vicelich header round the post after Garcia had picked out his captain with a well-flighted free-kick to the far post.

Seconds later, Riera and the well-performed Chris Bale linked with Garcia, whose cross was headed down by Souto to Exposito. But with just Basalaj to beat, the striker mistimed his volley badly, and the groans around Kiwitea Street spoke volumes for City's fans, who are becoming increasingly frustrated with the efforts of their mercurial number nine.

Eleven minutes before half-time, Wellington's impressive display was unhinged by captain Adam McGeorge. The former City player went studs-up into a challenge with Andrew Milne which left the fullback writhing, and referee Campbell-Kirk Waugh had no hesitation in reaching for the red card, leaving the visitors to see out the remainder of the match with just ten men on the park.

It took just five minutes for City to exploit their numerical advantage. Bale, now freed of his defensive duties as a result of the premature departure of Wellington's attacking midfielder, was

able to join in Auckland's attack, and worked a slick one-two with Souto before slamming an unerring twenty-five yard drive beyond Basalaj and into the bottom far corner of the net - 1-1.

Bale nearly bagged another on the stroke of half-time, while Exposito spurned another opening nine minutes into the second half, having been set up by Riera, who has been a model of consistency throughout the season to date.

But the ten men had a surprise in store for their hosts, in the form of a second goal. It came in the 57th minute, with fortune playing a hand in the build-up, hand being the appropriate word. For the ball inadvertently bounced against the fist of the foraging Chettleburgh as he brought it under control, prompting cries of "handball" from nearby blue-clad players.

Referee Waugh, as he had done with a similar incident in the first half, waved play on, deeming there was no intent to handle the ball, even though, as in the earlier episode, the player involved had benefited from its bounce.

How Chettleburgh made the most of his good fortune! Buccaneering through City's defensive ranks, he burst into the penalty area before, from the most acute of angles, rifling a simply unstoppable drive into the top far corner of the net - 2-1 to the ten men! Game on, big-time!

This wasn't a game Wellington could afford to lose, and City weren't exactly keen to drop points for the second time in four days on home turf either. Having seen their league record 23-match unbeaten run come to grief at the hands of league leaders Waitakere United on Saturday, Auckland were looking to bounce back quickly, and Wellington's second goal presented them with a genuine threat to those hopes.

Cue a flurry of chances as City laid siege to the goal at the clubrooms end. Basalaj punched a Garcia free-kick off the head of Daniel Koprivcic, before Tom Doyle blocked a goalbound drive from Milne, after Takuya Iwata's driving run into the penalty area on the hour.

Three minutes later, Basalaj battered away Bale's blockbusting twenty-five yarder. Garcia latched onto the loose ball and curled a gorgeously weighted cross to the far post, where Koprivcic, timing his leap to perfection, headed inches wide.

Garcia was the architect of Auckland's next noteworthy raid, five minutes later. Vicelich was still forward following a cleared corner, and the captain headed down his team-mate's clipped cross into the stride of Exposito, whose shot slammed into what many thought was Tim Schaeffers' arm, but referee Waugh deemed was his ribcage.

The winded fullback recovered quickly, but by the time he did, City substitute Emiliano Tade was getting up a head of steam. In the 72nd minute, he worked a one-two with Vicelich before curling one just over the bar.

It was a warning Wellington didn't heed, for the pair were involved in Auckland's next attack sixty seconds later, along with Riera and the overlapping figure of Bale, who produced a gilt-edged cross which begged to be headed home. Exposito duly obliged, powering the ball past Basalaj - 2-2.

Wellington's main hope of building on their two-

goal tally was the threat posed by Fa'arodo and substitute Hamish Watson on the counter-attack. The former was sent spearing away down the left by Doyle in the 75th minute, after the defender had caught Tade in possession.

The Solomon Islands star duly charged goalwards, jinking this way and that into the penalty area before letting fly with a rasping drive which the advancing figure of Williams turned over the bar.

Back came Auckland, Garcia and Milne combining well on the left for the fullback to fire in a cross which sailed over the heads of both Exposito and Doyle. But the Wellington defender had a problem, for he'd pushed the City striker down inside the area as both began to leap for the ball, right in front of referee Waugh …

The official pointed to the penalty spot with thirteen minutes left on the clock, and booked the defender as Exposito grabbed the ball and put it on the spot, eager to net his second goal in five minutes.

It wasn't to be, however, the sight of the ball slamming against the bar prompting more than a few City fans to air once more their growing frustrations about a striker whose appreciation and employment of the team ethic upon which the Kiwitea Street club is built isn't always evident on the pitch.

Now it was Wellington's turn to press for a winner - remember, they couldn't afford to drop any points given they are behind the eight ball in their quest to make the top four. Luke Rowe's set-pieces were to the fore at this stage, but from one cleared delivery, Auckland mounted an 82nd minute Tade-led counter-attack which culminated in Riera seeing his rasping drive blocked to safety by the fast-retreating figure of Justin Gulley.

It was nip and tuck stuff now, with the game in the balance and time running out. Exposito greedily blazed a twenty-five yard free-kick well over the bar - Garcia or Bale would surely have proven a better executioner - before City really piled on the pressure as the game entered stoppage time, with both Exposito and Bale being denied in stirring fashion by Basalaj.

Real drama followed for City fans, as Watson despatched the ball past Williams, only for the offside flag to deny the substitute a certain winner. The striker then worked a one-two with Chettleburgh for what would surely be the game's last chance, only for Watson to pull his shot past the far post - a glorious chance.

Deep inside the fourth minute of stoppage time, City mounted one last raid against the tiring ten men, and it was the one man they could not cover who punished them mercilessly, Vicelich steering the ball home unerringly into the top far corner of the net to clinch the points for the home team, after City had probed and prodded Wellington's doughty defence in search of an opening which materialised less than thirty seconds before the final whistle.

Auckland: Williams; Milne, Vicelich, Arms, Iwata (Tade, 61); Koprivcic, Garcia, Bale, Riera; Souto (Dickinson, 68), Exposito

Wellington: Basalaj; Schaeffers, Whalen, Doyle (booked, 77), L. Rowe; McGeorge (sent off, 34), Cheriton, Gulley; Fa'arodo, D. Rowe (Watson, 66), Chettleburgh

Referee: Campbell-Kirk Waugh

National League