Junior Navy Blues edge Tasman
Auckland City FC made it two wins from two in the National Youth League after outgunning Tasman United 2-1 at Kiwitea Street today.
As with yesterday's Stirling Sports Premiership clash between the two clubs, it was the home side who score an early goal to set the tone.
Ignacio Machuca was the protagonist finishing off beautifully on 14 minutes to hand the Junior Navy Blues the lead.
The advantage doubled when Jack Anderson finished off a Mitch Watts free-kick unmarked at the backpost to make it 2-0.
Coach Andy Peat warned his team about the dangers posed by a Tasman United side that gave up a 4-1 deficit to Canterbury United last week to lose 6-5 last week.
He was right to be wary.
Tasman United pressed Auckland City FC aggressively every chance they had and at times the possession game favoured by the club received a stern test.
That willingness to pressure the Junior Navy Blues yielded paydirt midway through the second half when Matt Tod-Smith scored to half the deficit on 64 minutes.
Cameron Brown kept the Junior Navy Blues lead intact two minutes later when he made a critical save.
The Junior Navy Blues had chances of their own to restore their two goal cushion when Ceci and Antonio Bonkovich spurned opportunities inside the final 15 minutes.
Connor Cahill-Fahey then forced a punched save out of goalkeeper Nick Stanton from a well-taken free-kick late on.
Tinashe Marowa almost dragged the game out of the fire for the visitors when he found space to shoot only for his effort to strike a team-mate and deflect out for a goal-kick.
Auckland City FC clung on as Tasman United won a flurry of corners but they held firm to secure maximum points.
Coach Andy Peat was pleased with the performance but admitted it was an anxious finish.
"Overall, we held on for the result and we battled through with our performance.
"Tasman United came at us how I thought they would. We battled through to the end.
"We could've shown a bit more composure with some of the chances we had but our combination play was good.
"We kept our nerve to win the match. There's only so much we can do to direct them from the sideline its down to the players and they deserve credit for the result and performance," he said.
The Junior Navy Blues are next in action on November 6 when they travel south to Christchurch to face the Canterbury United Dragons at English Park.
Kick-off is 1pm.
Ends
Match Result
National Youth League
Sunday 30 October, 2016
Auckland City FC 2 (Ignacio Machuca 14', Jack Anderson 23')
Tasman United 1 (Thang Thang Vanuk 64')
Halftime: 2-0
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Player Profiles
Table
| Position | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | AC | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 15 |
| 2 |  | WS | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| 3 |  | BU | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 9 |
| 4 |  | BO | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 9 |
| 5 |  | MN | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 5 | 7 |
| 6 |  | AU | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 6 |
| 7 |  | ES | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| 8 |  | TC | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 3 |
| 9 |  | MU | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 3 |
| 10 |  | WR | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 2 |
| 11 |  | HW | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 1 |
| 12 |  | EB | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
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