The ASB Charity Cup is a new fixture on the season’s calendar, pitting the ASB Premiership champions with the best-performed Kiwi side in the O-League – the Pacific’s premier club competition – and will be played the weekend prior to the opening of the ASB Premiership each year.
This year the match will support White Ribbon – a campaign that offers men the opportunity to be part of the solution to end domestic violence – and both teams are committed to the cause.
Waitakere United will give 10 per cent of gate takings to White Ribbon and the visitors have pledged to match Waitakere’s donation.
“Obviously the more we can do to highlight the cause the better,” Auckland City coach Ramon Tribulietx says.
“We hope a lot of people turn up to Waitakere’s ground to watch the game because it will be an entertaining match and White Ribbon is a great cause.”
The extra game will also benefit the two clubs’ preparations for a season where both face domestic and continental campaigns, with Auckland also adding December’s FIFA Club World Cup to their schedule.
And, of course, it offers the ASB premiership joint title favourites the chance to claim the season’s first silverware.
“We’re certainly taking it seriously,” Tribulietx says.
“Playing Waitakere is probably the biggest test we can have in New Zealand so we’ll make sure we’re up for it. But we will still use it to get the last bits of pre-season preparation in place.”
This year the two rivals have been drawn in different O-League pools and, while that means they won’t clash during the O-League season, they could square off in the final for the first time. The winner of the ASB Charity Cup will earn themselves a leg-up in that competition with $2000 awarded to the winner to go towards O-League preparation costs.
“It’s a great concept and a big game to have early on in the piece,” Waitakere United coach Neil Emblen says.
“There are no points at stake but plenty of pride and it’s a derby match of course. We haven’t won too many but we hope that changes on Sunday.
“It’s a good game to have early doors and it will give both clubs a chance to see how they match up with the players they’ve brought in over the winter.”
Emblen expects a more free-flowing match than traditional Super City derbies but can’t resist trying to claim the underdogs’ tag.
“I think Auckland go in as heavy favourites. They’ve had a sensational pre-season including the win over Central Coast and ours has been a bit average to be honest.
“Matches between our two clubs are always tense and sometimes not the best spectacle because there is usually so much at stake. I think there will be a bit more freedom from the teams in this match and that will add to what should be a great day.”
ASB Charity Cup 2011
Waitakere United v Auckland City
Fred Taylor Park, Whenuapai, Auckland
Sunday 16 October, 2011
Kick-off: 2pm
Admission: Adults $10, Pensioners $5, kids under 15 free
Waitakere United (from): 1-Danny ROBINSON (gk), 2-Jason ROWLEY, 3-Aaron SCOTT, 4-Tim MYERS, 5-Ryan ZHOGBY, 7-Martin BULLOCK, 8-Chris BALE, 10-Allan PEARCE, 11-Ross MCKENZIE, 12-Roy KRISHNA, 13-Mauri WASI, 14-Tim PAYNE, 15-Gagame FENI, 16-Neil EMBLEN, 17-Jake BUTLER (c), 18-Zane SOLE, 19-Dakota LUCAS, 20-Ryan DE VRIES, 21-James DEBENHAM, 22-Matt UPTON (gk), 23-Jordan SWANEY, 24-Luke ADAMS, 25-Sean LOVEMORE, 26-Bill TUILOMA, 27-Ross HAVILAND, 28-Andy RALPH (gk), 29-Jordan VALE, 30-Rory TURNER.
Coach: Neil EMBLEN
Auckland City (from): 1-Jacob SPOONLEY (gk), 2-Reece LAMBERT, 3-Ian HOGG, 4-Sam CAMPBELL, 5-Angel BERLANGA, 6-Chad COOMBES, 7-James PRITCHETT, 8-David MULLIGAN, 9-Manuel EXPOSITO, 10-Luis CORRALES, 11-Daniel KOPRIVCIC, 12-Liam LITTLE (gk), 13-Alex FENERIDIS, 14-Adam DICKINSON, 15-Ivan VICELICH (c), 16-Albert RIERA, 17-Adam MCGEORGE, 18-Paul GOTHARD (gk), 19-Daniel MORGAN, 20-Emiliano TADE, 21-Andreu GUERAO, 22-Andrew MILNE, 23-Simon ARMS, 24-Stephen CARMICHAEL, 25-Halili NAGIME, 26-Liam ANDERSON (gk), 27-Thomas DOYLE.
Coach: Ramon TRIBULIETX
Information about White Ribbon
White Ribbon offers men the opportunity to be part of the solution to end domestic violence. It is a campaign led by men who condemn violence against women and take action. White Ribbon Day (25 November) is the international day when people, particularly men, wear a white ribbon to show they won’t tolerate or condone violence towards women.
For more information on White Ribbon go to www.whiteribbon.org.nz
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz