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Auckland City FC versus Canterbury United
Played on 04/04/2010 at English Park |
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Auckland City gain upper hand in semi-final
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Goals |
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Daniel Koprivcic |
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Jason Hayne |
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by Gavin Searle at English Park
nzfc.co.nz
Click HERE for video of goals.
Defending champions Auckland City had to come from a goal behind before taking a healthy 2-1 lead into the second leg of their semi-final at Kiwitea St with Canterbury United next Sunday.
It was costly mistakes at the back by Canterbury that gave this game to Auckland City and they now must be strongly favoured to reach their fifth NZFC grand final on 25 April.
Canterbury took an early lead when defender Gareth Rowe scored his first goal of the season from a corner.
Auckland replied with a goal of supreme quality with James Pritchett leading a counter attack down the right hand touch line before he delivered a cross which saw four Auckland attackers lining up to meet the cross.
In the end it was the impressive Jason Hayne who headed home pass Canterbury keeper, Tom Batty, to bring the scoreline level and provide the home side with a healthy dose of reality about play-off football.
Ten minutes later Auckland took the lead and a mistake by Rowe allowed Daniel Koprivcic in for an easy goal.
It was a hammer blow for Canterbury after such a promising start.
Auckland then controlled play for a period into the second half with the home side then pressing hard for an equalising goal in the final minutes of the game but with little luck.
On the balance of play Auckland deserved their win and Canterbury will be looking to kept their rivals scoreless in the return leg if they have any hope of making their second final appearance - and score twice themselves, something they have yet to achieve in Auckland this season.
"We are disappointed but we are not out of it, it (the play-off) is only half time. Late in the second half I felt we had them under the cosh and a bit of luck did not go our way," Keith Braithwaite said.
"We have just played the best team in the country and they scored through our mistakes. We made mistakes and they punished us, it was the same the other week when we lost to them 3-1 but we are learning the hard way".
"We know what we have to do next week and we will give them a go up there", said Braithwaite.
"This is a tough place to come and play and we are thrilled with the result. The goals we took were as a result of good finishing for a change, so it is really pleasing. We had talked a lot about creating but not finishing so it was good to finish a couple today", said Auckland coach Paul Posa.
The return match is scheduled for Sunday 11 April, 2010, at Kiwitea Street with the kick-off time yet to be confirmed.
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Club World Cup December 2009 - UAE |
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