McFarland wary of Otago challenge

Words: Bob Pearce

Thursday 18 November 2010

AUCKLAND - Auckland City coach Aaron McFarland has good reason to dispel any complacency in his team ahead of their clash with lowly-placed Otago United at Kiwitea St on Sunday.

He spent most of his playing career in the Deep South and has great respect for the fighting spirit of sports teams from the area.

"The mentality down there breeds self-belief and they relish their underdog status," he said. "You can't underestimate their passion and we certainly won't be taking them lightly."

McFarland and co-coach Ramon Tribulietx were buoyed by the 1-1 draw in their O-League fixture with Waitakere United last weekend, a result that dispelled some of the doubts the Auckland fans had after their team had been beaten 3-1 at home by the Westies in the ASB Premiership.

But McFarland believes results are not always indicative of performance. He didn't think that defeat was as bad as some thought, but he rated the draw as an indication of more consistency and elimination of some of the mistakes that proved costly.

Still Auckland are sitting in fourth place on the table and cannot afford any more slip-ups at this stage of the competition.

Gone with injury for the first part of the season is the tricky Luis Corrales but David Mulligan is a possible starter after missing the O-League game.

In the absence of Mulligan, Stu Kelly has stepped into the role of midfield creator and goal threat with freekicks.

Last season Otago played a scoreless draw with Auckland in Dunedin but were punished 5-0 at Kiwitea St, with four of the goals coming in the last 15 minutes when the southerners wilted in the northern heat.

McFarland can recall another 5-0 score-line with mixed feelings. In 1998 he was in a Dunedin Technical team beaten by that margin in the Chatham Cup final against Central United - the parent club of Auckland City.

Otago are certainly not the easy-beats they were two seasons ago. Last season they went very close to making the playoffs under new coach Malcolm Fleming. He is disappointed by the start this time but buoyed by the performance in a 3-2 loss to Hawkes Bay.

"We were unlucky last week," he said. "We certainly did enough to get some points. We've been good coming forward but we need to work on our defence."

New to Aucklanders will be Phil Ruggles, a 27-year-old striker signed from Bromley in England. But they are well acquainted with rugged midfielder Paul Seaman, who has had spells with both Waitakere and Auckland.

Seaman struggled with a calf strain in the opening game but was a force against Hawkes Bay with a goal in the second spell that put Otago briefly ahead.

Auckland has been enjoying some early summer heat, which shows no sign of abating. Otago would be well advised to pack their water bottles if they want to avoid another late-game slump in Sandringham's soccer sauna.