Minor premiers Waitakere’s ruthless 6-2 disposal of Canterbury looks set to book the West Aucklanders their fifth consecutive ASB Premiership grand final berth, while City’s plans are also on track after they snatched a 2-0 win over ten-man Wellington.
But it was Waitakere’s goal-scoring master class that caught the eye as they scored four times in a pulsating opening 15 minutes at Fred Taylor Park. Ryan De Vries began the rout when he pounced on a defensive mix-up in the Canterbury defence after six minutes. Dakota Lucas punished more lax defending to double the lead with a tidy finish just three minutes later.
Canterbury’s nightmare continued to unfold when Aaron Scott blasted home a De Vries pass to extend Waitakere United’s lead to three on 12 minutes. Midfielder De Vries piled on more agony for Canterbury when he made it 4-0 with barely 15 minutes on the clock.
Lucas completed his own double when he finished off another move started by De Vries five minutes before halftime to leave Canterbury stunned. Allan Pearce grabbed his 14th goal of the domestic campaign on 61 minutes to make it 6-0.
Canterbury’s All Whites midfielder Aaron Clapham curled a shot that bounced off the Waitakere crossbar on 69 minutes before Nick Wortelboer gave Canterbury supporters something to cheer when he finished inside goalkeeper Andy Ralph’s right-hand upright on 81 minutes.
Canterbury added a second two minutes later when Tom Schwarz finished from close range to make it 6-2 and take two away goals into the second leg.
Team Wellington produced a stubborn defensive performance to frustrate Auckland City after they had striker John Sutherland sent off by referee Mirko Benischke after 23 minutes. Sutherland’s red card left the home side on the back foot but they still managed to produce a highly-effective performance as the visitors struggled to get the breakthrough.
The nerves were calmed when City substitute Luis Corrales broke his former team-mates resistance when he scored with 12 minutes left. Manel Exposito completed Auckland’s smash-and-grab victory in the 90th minute when he finished past goalkeeper Phil Imray to give the visitors two vital away goals and a comfortable 2-0 aggregate lead heading into the second leg.
The second leg between Waitakere and Canterbury is scheduled for the weekend of April 2/3 while Auckland host Wellington at Kiwitea Street on the weekend of March 26/27. The ASB Premiership grand final date is set for April 10.
Visit www.asbpremiership.co.nz for full previews, reviews and live in-game updates from all ASB Premiership matches.
Story and photo courtesy of NZ Football.
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