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Post-match reaction - Ramon Tribulietx

Words: ACFC Media

Tuesday 22 January 2019

NAPIER, New Zealand - Auckland City FC coach Ramon Tribulietx pleased as the Navy Blues swept aside Hawke's Bay United 4-1 in Napier on Sunday.

Goals from Fabrizio Tavano, Micah Lea'alafa, Jordan Vale and David Browne cancelled out a strike from Sam Mason-Smith as Auckland City FC's unbeaten start to the season continued.

And Tribulietx's team could easily have scored more goals.

"Apart from the first 10-15 minutes we dominated clearly. We had a lot of chances in both halves and scored four goals but we could've scored a lot more.

"Bluewater Stadium is a very big pitch and it is difficult to connect when you try to play possession football and that took time from us but once we did it was a pretty good performance.

"We missed a penalty, missed a sitter with no goalkeeper and we had two chances with David Browne going around the goalkeeper twice, Dan Morgan missed a tap-in and we had another one over the crossbar that looked easier to score.
"Jordan in the first half also had a decent chance that went wide. There were so many clear chances and we have to be happy about what we are creating," Tribulietx said.

Tribulietx had planned on resting three players for the trip to Napier including striker Javier Lopez, only for the intended replacements to pull up injured or sick.

"We have to rotate players in the next few weeks because the schedule is very heavy and we don't want to overload players which is the main reason we decided to rest Javier.

"Alfie Rogers was going to start but had a sore toe and Mario Bilen picked up a sore throat on Saturday morning which limited out options so we decided to start Angel and rest Mario. We wanted three players rotating but due to the circumstances that turned into one.

"We need some of our players to start getting game time ahead of the OFC Champions League which is going to be key. Yousif Ali played a very consistent game and Maro came on for 15 minutes and that was good to see these players getting ready. Everyone will be very important in the next four to five weeks.

"The win proved we can rotate, stay competitive and I'm happy with that," he said.

One player who was expected to play but didn't was Albert Riera.

"The plan was to give Albert Riera some game time but we decided to give him another week to get himself right but we hope he's able to get on the pitch soon.

"It would've been great to give him 20-25 minutes but we need to be aware that there are big games coming up very soon."

While the margin and style of victory were pleasing the Navy Blues suffered a key injury to midfielder Reid Drake who rolled his ankle in a challenge with Maxime Oliveri.

"It's very early to say what condition Reid is in. He was in for a scan today. Initially, it doesn't look too good but we need to wait and see how it shapes up in the next few days," he said.

The Navy Blues schedule becomes intense with Saturday's Gridlock Derby with Eastern Suburbs moved forward to Saturday at Kiwitea Street at 4pm before they tackle nine games in the space of a month.

The first of those is with Canterbury United on ISPS Handa Premiership business before a trip to Hong Kong to take on Shandong Luneng Taishan in the first match of two in the Lunar New Year Cup.

Matches with Wellington Phoenix (H), Southern United (A), Hamilton Wanderers (H), before travelling to Honiara to begin the OFC Champions League with three group games against Oceania opposition.

Ends

Match Result
ISPS Handa Premiership
Sunday 21 January 2019
Hawke's Bay United 1 (Sam MASON-SMITH 58')
Auckland City FC 4 (Micah LEA'ALAFA 47', Jordan VALE 67', David BROWNE 90+3', Fabrizio TAVANO 22')
HT: 0-1

AC: 1. Enaut ZUBIKARAI (GK), 5. Angel BERLANGA (c), 6. Brian KALTAK, 7. Cam HOWIESON, 10. Micah LEA'ALAFA (21. Maro BONSU-MARO 81'), 11. Fabrizio TAVANO, 14. Jordan VALE, 15. Dan MORGAN, 16. Yousif ALI, 17. Redi DRAKE (12. Dylan MANICKUM 34'), 19. David BROWNE.

SUBS NOT USED: 18. Ruben PARKER (GK), 4. Mario BILEN, 8. Albert RIERA.

COACH: Ramon TRIBULIETX.

AUCKLAND CITY FC FIXTURES

ISPS Handa Premiership

26 January 2019
v Eastern Suburbs AFC (H), kick-off 4pm NZST

2 February 2019
v Canterbury United (A), kick-off 2pm NZST

Tonghai Financial Chinese New Year Cup

5 February 2019
v Shandong Luneng Taishan (N), kick-off TBA

7 February 2019
v TBC, kick-off TBA

ISPS Handa Premiership

10 February 2019
v Wellington Phoenix (H), kick-off 2pm NZST

13 February 2019
v Southern United (A), kick-off: 5.30pm NZST

17 February 2019
v Hamilton Wanderers (H), kick-off 4.35pm NZST

OFC Champions League

24 February 2019
v AS Magenta (N), kick-off TBC

27 February 2019
v OFC Champions League Preliminary Runner-Up

2 March 2019
v Solomon Warriors (A), kick-off TBC

ISPS Handa Premiership

10 March 2019
v Team Wellington (A), kick-off 2pm NZST

17 March 2019
v Waitakere United (H), kick-off 4.35pm NZST

23-24 March 2019
Semi-Finals

31 March 2019
Final

OFC Champions League*

6 April 2019
OFC Champions League 1/4 Final

20 April 2019
OFC Champions League Semi-Finals

27 April 2019
OFC Champions League Semi-Finals

11 May 2019
OFC Champions League Final

18 May 2019
OFC Champions League Final

*Oceania Football Confederation to confirm format and match dates.