City youngsters claim another win
AUCKLAND, New Zealand - Auckland City FC U23 are on the march after defeating their Manukau counterparts 3-2 in round 11 of the Lotto NRFL U-23 Premiership Division on Saturday afternoon at the Mangere Centre Park.
The young Navy Blue had got off to a much better start than in recent weeks to dominate the first half from the outset.
Valerio Raccuglia’s men had plenty of possession as they moved the ball around to race to a two goal lead before the break courtesy of Samuel Clegg and Stipe Ukich.
However, the City youngsters looked somewhat complacent at the start of the second half letting their counterparts back into the game who took full advantage to level the scores thanks to Tafara Chawira and Paul Jong.
The two Manukau goals served as a wake-up call for the Auckland City players who managed to rediscover their urgency and reestablish their authority before finding a winner through Ukich’s second of the match in the 72nd minute.
Racugglia was delighted withe the points but warned his side against complacency.
“We can’t afford to let teams back into the game when we have a stranglehold over the proceedings.
“Obviously there is still a lot of work to do for us if we want to achieve what we set out do, so we just keep going, working and hopefully improving,” explained the U23’s coach.
The young Navy Blues will play Western Springs in Round 12 of the competition next Saturday.
Ends
Match Result
Lotto NRFL U-23 Premier Division Round 11
Saturday, 27 May 2023
Mangere Centre Park
Manukau United U23 : 2 (Tamara CHAWIRA 53’, Paul JONG 69’)
Auckland City FC U23: 3 (Samuel CLEGG 25’, Stipe UKICH 31’, 72’)
HT: 0-2
AC: 18 Nicolas EVANS (GK) 3 Karthik KUMAR, (19. Jesse BURGE 49’), 5. Mario YUGOVICH, 6. Riley SEXTON, (17. Oscar DUFFY, 17’), 7. Stipe UKICH, 8. Takuya IWATA, (12. Jeremy FOO, 55’), 9. Samuel CLEGG, 14. Jesse GAGE, 20. Neo Noah ECKSTEIN, (16. Petram HASSANIAN 65’), 21. Adam BELL, 22. Rayan TAYEB (c)
SUBS NOT USED : 1. Binath Sanithu PERERA (GK),
COACH: Valerio RACCUGLIA
ASSISTANT COACH: Alfie ROGERS
TEAM MANAGER: Dinesh CHAND
NORTHERN LEAGUE R7
Saturday 27 April 2024, Kiwitea Street, 3pm
Player Profiles
Table
| Position | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | AC | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 6 | 18 |
| 2 |  | WS | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 6 | 18 |
| 3 |  | BU | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 13 |
| 4 |  | ES | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 12 |
| 5 |  | MN | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 11 | 10 |
| 6 |  | AU | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 9 |
| 7 |  | BO | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 9 |
| 8 |  | TC | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 19 | 6 |
| 9 |  | MU | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 25 | 3 |
| 10 |  | WR | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 2 |
| 11 |  | EB | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 2 |
| 12 |  | HW | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 18 | 2 |
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