Waitakere took the lead through Fijian striker Roy Krishna with just under ten minutes remaining and it looked like they had done enough to earn all three points when the clock ticked over into injury time.
But City had other ideas and were rewarded for their never-say-die attitude when midfielder Alex Feneridis smashed a low volley past unsighted goalkeeper Danny Robinson from the edge of the box with almost the last kick of the game for a 1-1 draw.
Waitakere player-coach Neil Emblen, who brought himself on in the final frantic moments, was disappointed with his side’s failure to close out the game but admitted Auckland deserved to take something away from Fred Taylor Park.
“It feels like a loss,” Emblen says. “But I think over the balance of the game a draw was probably a fair result. Auckland did come on strong in the second half and our goalkeeper had a bit more work to do than theirs. But when you’re a goal up with a minute to play it does hurt.”
Plenty of industry and determination were required in a physical game of few chances and Emblen felt his players came up short in those areas.
“They out-fought us a little bit which is disappointing. I don’t like saying that my players didn’t step up but I just thought, after last week’s result, Auckland probably had the bit between their teeth more than we did,” he says.
“They made it difficult and won more personal duels.”
Auckland co-coach Aaron McFarland agreed that his charges deserved at least a point for their efforts.
“I think it would’ve been an injustice if we hadn’t got something out of it so better late than never,” he says.
“Waitakere’s front runners will always cause teams problems and that pace on the break is lethal. Krishna was on the end of one for his only chance of the game and finished it off.”
City’s energetic showing was exactly what McFarland and co-coach Ramon Tribulietx were looking for after losing 3-1 to the same opposition in domestic competition the ASB Premiership last weekend.
“We played some really good football last week but were punished for some poor mistakes,” McFarland says.
“We removed those mistakes today and were happy with our overall performance. I think the extra bit of space here at Fred Taylor helped us play the brand of football we’re trying to.”
Waitakere United vs. Auckland City – Match Summary Download PDF