The Premmy Files – Semi-Finals Review
Auckland City were always favourites coming in against Eastern Suburbs, a team they’d already beaten twice this season. Everyone else has been pondering how to finally break this City defence that hasn’t conceded since the middle of January and which only conceded 11 goals in total across the league season and three of those were default goals. Suburbs sure didn’t know, they’d already been blanked twice across all those clean sheets.
City made just two changes from the team that beat the Wellington Phoenix Reserves last week, with Angel Berlanga predictably returning to things and Darren White also starting at fullback ahead of Takuya Iwata. The one proper interesting thing was having Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi start at centre-back with Mario Bilen in the midfield but that turned out to be another clever move from Ramon Tribulietx. Bilen played it nice and simple while providing a level of physicality that they wouldn’t have gotten from TAHW while TAHW got to be the silky Ferdinand-esque defender at whose feet most of their possessions began (as well as bringing a little extra mobility at the back). You almost didn’t notice that Cam Howieson was missing and he’s been one of the best players in the competition this season.
That’s Auckland City doing what they do but the real question marks were all over the Eastern Suburbs lineup. They were without Tim Payne through international duty (same as Howieson) while Andre De Jong left the team three weeks ago and Moses Dyer was suspended. The answer to the midfield question was simple enough. Charlie Spragg joined Max Mata up top with Derek Tieku popping deeper into a diamond midfield that also included Mike Built and the teenaged talents of Leon van den Hoven and Kingsley Sinclair.
Bloody teenagers, loitering all over the place. Speaking in grunts with their bad attitudes and always playing the video games… nah, shout out to the kids coming through. It’s a brow-raiser when you look at the starting XI in a national league semi and there are five players aged 18 or younger but it’s not like they were off the pace or anything. Danny Hay’s been playing the ‘if you’re good enough, you’re old enough’ card all season and that’s how they got here. Nothing was gonna change now.
The problem was that they didn’t have another defender to fill in for Tim Payne, who was voted Player’s Player of the Year for the season. Ryan Elder would have been the dude but he did his Achilles a few weeks back, leading to Kelvin Kalua’s big break. This time it was Jordan Vale asked to drink that poisoned chalice and go CB against the daunting prospect of Tade, McCowatt and Lea’alafa. He’s a natural replacement for Payne only in that he’s followed the Tim Payne Trajectory of going from a highly rated young attacker and moving deeper as he gets older.
First half there were no dramas. Like, literally no dramas. It was wet and it was kinda cold and if you were waiting to see what Danny Hay had up his sleeve then it mostly revolved around sitting deep and keeping numbers behind the ball. Suburbs looked for the long ball to Mata and Spragg but neither were able to hold it up long enough for Tieku or Built to get forward in support, let alone linking up together. Having said that they had the first genuine chance to score when Tristan Prattley had a whack at a free kick with that rocket left boot of his which drew a good save out of Enaut Zubikarai and Albert Riera beat Max Mata to the rebound to clear. Emiliano Tade threatened from a free kick as well and that was about it for a tightly contested first half. Hudson-Wihongi flicked a header over the top right at the end too.
Thing is, you knew that City had another level in them but you didn’t know if Eastern Suburbs would be able to A) handle it or B) respond to it. As solid as they were in the first 45 they were only ever one moment away from having to chuck it all in and go chasing things. That moments came about ten minutes into the half when Jordan Vale looked to get rid of the ball but took a heavy touch and Dan Morgan stepped in. There was a quiet shock when the ref blew his whistle and pointed to the spot but the replays seemed to justify the call. It was out of Vale’s control and he dove in a little recklessly. Unlucky for sure. You can see why he’d disagree – after all he was the player who started out in possession – but even still it was unnecessary. Freeze frames tend not to be the best indications… but yeah…
For a short spell the game returned to what it had been before Emiliano Tade stepped up and buried the spottie. Then Suburbs steadied up and went for it, throwing numbers forward. That meant the inevitable test that this Auckland City defence has been waiting and preparing for except before the pressure could really toll they’d added a second at the other end. The flipside of gunning forward is that you leave space at the back and Callum McCowatt was remarkably wide open when he slammed in the second goal. Really composed finish but there was nobody even challenging him.
Suburbs took off defender Hayden Johns and threw on Matty Palmer which was arguably what needed to happen five minutes earlier but whatever. Palmer found himself out wide and he was responsible for Suburb’s best moment of the game as he threw a few jinks in down the right and made room to cross to where Charlie Spragg was able to put a flick on it a few yards out. It went straight at the keeper with not much pace on it yet Super Zubi fumbled it and just barely recovered to stop it on the line. This was how close it got…
And then in the last couple minutes Tade added a second and substitute Dalton Wilkins scored his first Premiership goal (having twice scored off the bench in the OCL stuff) and it ended 4-0. Obviously a score that flattered Auckland City but not a result that did the same. They were too good when it mattered, they had the cutting edge when it mattered, they avoided those crucial mistakes when it mattered. Now they’re into the final.
Twenty-four hours later we had what promised to be a much closer game. Team Wellington against Canterbury United, a pair of teams that played out a competitive 0-0 draw just a couple weeks ago. The Tee Dubs obviously slight favourites with their home field advantage and all that, this one taking place at the picturesque Dave Farrington, but only the Dragons came in at full-on, hundies, top strength.
Actually Canterbury were the only team of all the semi-finalists who pretty much had all their dudes to pick from. The result was a predictable first XI, exactly the team that Willy Gerdsen trusted to get the job done up in the capital. The standard front three of Nakamura, Hoyle and King, the midfield trio of Mitchell, Ogilvie and Pendrigh and the back four of Spain, De Vries, Schwarz and Liddicoat – the latter overcoming injury to take up his regular right back role. Coey Turipa in goal as well.
The home side didn’t have that luxury so they did have to mix things up. But not too much. Captain Justin Gulley was called up to the All Whites which left a spot open in the backline but Roy Kayara jumped in to cover that. Basalaj in goal, that’s normal. Hilliar and Schrijvers at the back, same deal. Jack Henry-Sinclair and Eric Molloy were the wing backs with the two Marios, Ilich and Barcia, in the midfield and then Nate Hailemariam got the nod alongside the returning Ross Allen and also Andy Bevin up topskees. Bevin who wore the armband too.
Opening stages and it was pretty pleasing to see Canterbury United really roughing things up, playing with energy and getting in between the lines on a couple attacks. For fifteen minutes they were easily the better team and this was culminated in one ultimate strike on the volley from Futa Nakamura, which cannoned off his boot and then double-cannoned back off the post. It was a moment that would linger on as the great what-if of this game. What if that shot had torn its way through the back of the net, putting the visitors up 1-0? What if?
Team Wellington got themselves right into it soon after, getting some purpose into their passing and that was highlighted by a couple moments involving Jack Henry-Sinclair bursting forwards from right wingback. One run straight down the middle where a softer touch might’ve allowed him to take a pop past the keeper and the other finding space down his flank to put in a wonderful cross to Ross Allen who drew a strong save out of Coey Turipa.
And then the goal came. A couple corners bringing a couple nervy moments, Mario Ilic’s flat delivery was a recurring ripper, and Roy Kayara got up high to nod in the decisive first strike. Not such a terrible bloke to have replacing your absent captain, old mate Roy. New Caledonian international. Kayara had a superb game, making a key defensive interception soon after before launching a miracle pass right onto the boot of Ross Allen something like 50 metres away, even Paul Scholes or Steven Gerrard woulda chucked that one in the youtube package, but Allen somehow stabbed it wide of the goal, a little off-balance. Bevin then had a volley blocked and two headers that might have led to something better and Allen tried an overhead kick that wasn’t quite directed as well as a low strike from the edge of the box that was saved.
Point being that Team Wellington were well and truly on top by now. Their 3-4-3 formation is such a useful one for a team like this, allowing them to cast a web over the pitch. There’s always someone free and there’s so little space for the opposition to work with when they get it right. The one weakness is that there’s only one wide player on each side but it’s also a fluid, evenly-distributed shape so you chuck your fullbacks forward on the overlap, which Canty weren’t really able to do, then the wide forwards just drift wide and pick you off. If not then, as happened here, a dude like Hailemariam will drop in behind to pick up the ball from the midfield and wreak havoc that way. He had a fine game, that guy. So did the Mario’s.
The Wellingtonians won a bunch of free kicks on the edge of the box. Not sure about the chaps kneeling in front of the defensive wall but the pressure was showing all the same. Team Wellington looking every bit like potential finalists. Still, it was only 1-0 at the break.
It was now a matter of what Canterbury could do to get themselves back into things and it appeared like set pieces were their best bet. Gary Ogilvie headed one over the top, which was a chance. Not a great lot of Stephen Hoyle on display either and that was another thing that needed to change, they had to get their top scorer involved. Having said that, if there was one Dragon looking like shifting the tides then it was Nakamura. He had another dangerous dig that went slightly off target, not long after Hailemariam had struck one straight at Turipa at the other end. There were shots in this one, don’t worry about that.
The game got scrappy in its last third as the Canterbury guys got desperate and a little impatient and yellow cards started popping up like toast in the toaster. James Pendrigh’s slicing challenge on Andy Bevin was the worst of them, old Andy looked like he wanted to start something afterwards. Both teams made subs, none really changed things. All pretty like for like.
Yet all the while it was still 1-0, Canterbury only a moment of brilliance away from forcing extra time. Team Welly could have - probably should have - killed it off a couple different times but failed to do so and it was in the aftermath of a Bevin penalty appeal that was turned down that the Dragons finally put it all together. Going down the field like they were going downhill, they found Stevie Hoyle up top who held off a couple defenders and fed the ball back to the edge of the area where Gary Ogilvie had made a great run, wide open for the strike… which he ballooned over.
Good but not quite good enough and that was the story of the game. Team Wellington held on to win it by a single goal and will take on Auckland City yet again in the final, looking for the three-peat. They also guarantee their return to the Oceania Champions League in the process, which resumes after the local season which means this probably won’t be the last time they play ACFC in the coming weeks.
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