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Navy Blues face Lilywhites in high-stakes Gridlock Derby

Words: ACFC Media

Friday 4 August 2023

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - Auckland City FC will visit Northern League title rivals Eastern Suburbs AFC in a top-of-the table crunch match on Saturday afternoon at Madills Farm.

With the two sides locked level on points at the top of the competition ladder and only six more games left for each of them in the 2023 Northern League season, this weekend’s encounter is shaping up as a potential title decider.

Both the Navy Blues - who are currently ahead on goal difference - and Eastern Suburbs are still unbeaten in the league with 14 wins and two draws, one of which came when the two clubs last faced each other in Round 7 at the end of April.

On that occasion at Kiwitea Street neither side could find the net as they were forced to settle for a share of the points at the end of a tense and even contest.

And City coach Albert Riera is expecting another tough encounter this weekend.

“It’s a special game and one of those that every player wants to play so it’s one of those weeks when you really don’t need to motivate the players and it’s definitely going to be an interesting one against a very, very good, strong team.

"They are flying high, obviously beating Wellington Olympic in the Chatham Cup so it will be very interesting," explained the Navy Blues coach.

In contrast to the Lilywhites’ Chatham Cup commitments in the New Zealand capital last weekend the Navy Blues had a rare break to recharge their batteries.

And Riera is confident the rest will benefit his side for the remainder of the season.

“We had last weekend off and I believe we needed it to freshen up the legs and the minds as we had a lot of games this season and in the last season.

“I think it comes at the right time, this game, we’ve had a very good week of training, we have a lot of players back as well and we are looking forward to it,” he said.

Saturday’s match will be the18th encounter between these two rivals since their first meeting in December 2016 and despite pushing the Navy Blues to their limits on a number of occasions, including three keenly contested draws, Eastern Suburbs are still searching for their first win against City.

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Meanwhile it will also be a crucial weekend for the Auckland City FC U23s, who currently lead the Lotto NRFL U-23 Premiership table, as they host their Eastern Suburbs counterparts at Kiwitea Street on Saturday at 11:30am.

The Eastern Suburbs U23s side are third in the table only four points behind the Navy Blues youngsters.

Ends

Match Details
Northern League Round 18
Saturday 5, August 2023
Eastern Suburbs AFC v Auckland City FC
Madills Farm
Kick-off: 3.00pm NZST

AC SQUAD: 1-Conor TRACEY (GK), 2- Mario ILICH, 3- Adam MITCHELL, 4-Christian GRAY, 5-Michael DEN HEIJER, 6-Dan MORGAN, 7-Cam HOWIESON (c), 8-Gerard GARRIGA, 9-Angus KILKOLLY, 10-Dylan MANICKUM, 11-Ryan DE VRIES, 12-Regont MURATI, 13-Nathan LOBO, 14-Jordan VALE, 15- Aidan CAREY, 16-Joseph LEE, 18. Sebastian CIGANDA (GK), 19-Liam GILLION, 20- Emiliano TADE, 21- Adam BELL, 22-Tong ZHOU. 24-Joe WALLIS (GK), 25-Takuya IWATA, 26-Rayan TAYEB, 27-Stipe UKICH

COACH: Albert RIERA
ASSISTANT COACH: Ivan VICELICH
GK COACH: Enaut ZUBIKARAI
TECHNICAL: Adria CASALS
TECHNICAL: Jarrod WALLACE
LOGISTICS: Keith COTON
PHYSIO: Matt PAYNE