2022 Men’s National League – Grand Final Review
They did it. Auckland City began the National League as favourites and they finished it as champions. Chuck it onto the pile alongside the Northern League, Oceania Champions League, and Chatham Cup titles that they’d already won this year. All four major trophies... as well as the National League minor premiership (or whatever we’re calling it). Little bit greedy of them, to be honest, but we’ll forgive that in honour of their ceaseless standards of excellence.
Things were rarely as smooth as they’d have hoped across the National League. Having been flirting with an undefeated year as recently as a couple of months ago, before losing to Auckland United in the last round of the Northern League (potentially taking their eye of the ball a week before a far more important Chatham Cup final), they often looked a bit clunky in their National League efforts, failing to put teams away like they usually do.
Only twice did they score three times in a game and never more than that. Wellington Olympic, on the other hand twice scored four, once got five, and even reached seven a fortnight ago. Five weeks into it ACFC were sitting outside the top two having just been dropped (again) by Auckland United and a couple weeks earlier needing a last-gasp equaliser to draw with Birkenhead. Of course, this is Auckland City we’re talking about so there was no need to panic. They simply won five games in a row including this grand final in response because that’s what they do: they win stuff.
It was a quirk in the rules that allowed ACFC to rock up to the final at Mount Smart Stadium as the minor premiers. They claimed the head to head split over Wellington Olympic thanks to a 2-1 victory in week one, although the goal difference split would’ve gone the other way had that been the chosen tiebreaker... not that it really matters because the final was the tiebreaker that counted. And despite that week one victory, Auckland City didn’t start the final as the form team. Wellington Olympic had scored ten more goals scored than ACFC with one fewer conceded. They’d absolutely blitzed their last couple of opponents and were pretty much at full strength for this final whereas City were missing a couple of their top soldiers.
What City had instead was big game pedigree and trophy-winning experience and in the end that pedigree and experience was the difference. Some timely goals and a gruelling defensive effort did the trick as City held on by the skin of their teeth to complete the quadruple. Four trophies and only four games that they didn’t win (out of 43 total matches). Doesn’t get much better than that. They won everything there was to win, once again setting the standard for all others to (try) emulate, and when it seemed they’d met their worthiest foe in this final contest... they defeated them too. A new National League concluded with a familiar champion. Doffed caps are in order. Respect to the champs.
As mentioned, things weren’t exactly ideal for Auckland City with the team naming. Emiliano Tade pulled up sore the day before and had to miss the game while Mario Ilich had already been out for a few weeks and didn’t recover in time. Conor Tracey started in goal. There was a back four of Jordan Vale on the right, Adam Mitchell and Sam Brotherton in the middle, and 39 year old Takuya Iwata on the left. Note that Vale has mostly played left back this season but Iwata’s return over the last couple weeks allowed Vale to revert to his more natural right side. Midfield saw Gerard Garriga Gibert and Cameron Howieson working with Joe Lee in a more attacking role ahead of them. Then it was Dylan Manickum and Liam Gillion on the wings outside Ryan De Vries. Still a formidable side. After all, this is Auckland City Football Club.
Wellington Olympic, on the other hand, made the trip north with pretty much everybody available. That meant one funky decision for Rupert Kemeys to make as he’s mostly rotated four central defenders within his back three. Justin Gulley and Ben Mata were dead-certs. Tam Dimairo then got the nod over Alex Palezevic for the final CB spot - first time that they’ve used the Gulley/Mata/Dimairo combo this National League. Elsewhere Scott Basalaj was in goal, naturally. Tor Davenport-Petersen and Nati Hailemariam partook in midfield activities. And the fantastic front five was exactly how everybody expected with Jack-Henry Sinclair and Jonty Roubos as advanced wing-backs and Jesse Randall and Kailan Gould playing off Gianni Bouzoukis up front.
The tactical match-up was always going to be fascinating. Auckland City love their slow burn possession whereas Olympic are quite direct and extremely quick in transition. The Greeks can also do the passing yarns themselves (case and point their first goal last week – and extended move almost direct from the kickoff in which every outfielder touched the ball) but generally speaking the more open the final was, the more it suited Olympic. The slower it was, the more it’d stifle Olympic.
Being a grand final and all, the slow stuff prevailed at first. It was the Greeks with a lot of possession but of it was just rotating around their back three against a non-existent City press. Conor Tracey did step out sharply to beat Roubos to a ball in behind from Gould while Howieson headed wide from a deep Vale cross at the other end. But genuine excitement was scarce... apart from a JHS nudge over the top towards Bouzoukis running channels. GB got in front of Brotherton but his lob over the advancing Tracey bounced just wide of the post.
Things began to pick up after that. Suddenly Auckland City’s press clicked into action with De Vries hurrying Mata one time and then a Howieson interception leading to a Lee shot on target, straight at Basalaj from the edge of the area. Meanwhile a brilliant touch from Sinclair controlling under tight attention from Iwata caused a yellow card for City’s veteran fullback... whose day was about to get much worse whem he fell hard on his shoulder competing for an aerial ball and would have to be replaced after only quarter of an hour.
Reid Drake was the man summoned in his place. That meant keeping a left-footer on the left side, though it meant taking a hefty risk considering Drake’s not a natural defender and he was gonna be tasked with duking it out against Jack-Henry Sinclair. Drake did start one game at fullback earlier this Natty League so it wasn’t fully unfamiliar.
What followed was Olympic’s best spell of the first half as they turned up the heat of the oven. Randall’s speed surging forward led him into a one-two with Bouzoukis to slice through that ACFC backline... only for his shot to come back off the inside of the far post. Randall then put his follow-up into the side-netting. Add that to the Bouzoukis chance earlier and Welly Oly had let two huge chances slide already. Can’t be doing that against Auckland City as many an example of anecdotal evidence can attest.
True to his nickname, Gould bulldogged through a couple challenges and pushed forward for Bouzoukis who couldn’t manage to pick out Randall... but this was the Olympic team that has thrilled all season with their rapid attacks. Turning it on for the big occasion. Except that somebody then let the air out of the balloon. City managed to gain control again by slowing things down and keeping numbers in the opposition half to disrupt the outlets. JHS did have an outside-of-the-boot effort blocked after some further Gould hustle but the real breakthrough instead happened a hundred meters away. And it happened in a completely unhinged manner.
Okay, so first of all De Vries and Manickum pressed up on the left wing and won the ball back. Perhaps a hint of offside about Manickum as he gathered up possession but was probably okay there (though his next intervention was definitely off, not that you can blame a lino for missing it). DM shaped up and slid back to RDV whose attempt at goal was heroically blocked by Dimairo. Body on the line. Yet Manickum swung at the seconds... and struck the post. Still the ball remained alive and Liam Gillion at poked out a toe before it was hacked away. But not in time to stop Gillion’s touch from crossing the line. Goal given. 32nd minute of the match and ACFC had the lead... after Olympic had failed to capitalise on their own chances.
The Greeks had another chance when Sinclair sent one down the channel for Bouzoukis who cut across for Gould... whose strong shot was well saved by Tracey down low. Then bang it was 2-0. Gerard Garriga took a return ball from Howieson stepping into the attacking third and there was nobody to track him as he kept on going. A massive hole opened up in the Olympic defence. Garriga picked his spot past Basalaj and it was as simple as that. The Navy Blues had doubled it. 40 minutes gone.
In fact they almost tripled it when Lee gassed through only for Hailemariam’s shoulder to take him off the ball in the nick of time. Those City overloads were proving troublesome, particularly down the left with Manickum. Brotherton headed over from a free kick - not particularly close but it could have been. Then it really should have been three when Lee burst through the offside trap, no flag, only to get caught in two minds between shooting or setting up a teammate, waiting too long to shoot and then doing so anyway despite Howieson begging for the ball in the middle. Still, Auckland City were threatening to run rampant.
But then came drama. Sinclair had his heels clipped by Reid Drake running down that wing yet again. Initially given as a yellow card though with JHS’s pace and the defence set as it was, Olympic weren’t out of line in suggesting that the foul had prevented a goal-scoring opportunity. There were defenders infield and maybe they could have helped cut down his angle but they weren’t going to stop him from getting into the area with only the keeper to beat. So the referee summoned the committee and together the officials all ratified a decision to upgrade the card to a red one. Off went Reid Drake in first half stoppage time (Gould slapped the free kick into Tracey’s arms and that was half-time).
Auckland City led 2-0 but now they were down to ten men. And also down two left backs. The first one got injured and his replacement got sent off. Rather than making another sub, Albert Riera chose to slide Cam Howieson to LB for the second half giving us a direct head to head between Howieson and Sinclair – probably the two premier kiwi players in the competition. But that also meant not having CH in midfield, thus Lee dropped even deeper alongside Garriga. The lead was established – much better to be 2-0 up and down to ten than 2-0 down and down to ten – but 45 minutes is a long time to hold on while undermanned.
Yet it was ACFC who looked brighter when the game resumed, thus it didn’t take long for Rupert Kemeys to get antsy and summon a 49th minute substitution: Connor Gaul replacing Roubos, with Randall moving out to left wing-back. City sat deep when out of possession. A back four and at least three midfielders behind the ball at all times ensuring there was no extra space where it mattered. Olympic ramped up their directness seeking those diagonal chips into the penalty box but to little avail. The City structure meant almost zero space behind or between the lines – the whole game was condensed into that one half, although City still had RDV lurking for counter-attacks and hold-ups.
Sam Mitrakas replaced Hailemariam after an hour. Olympic were bossing the ball but they needed to forge some better attacking moments. Gould was proving his team’s best instigator. The spaces in behind may have been shrunk into nothingness but Welly Olympic have also scored a lot of goals from crosses this season. Next thing you know... they’d scored another one. A Sinclair cross turned into his own net by Brotherton. The weight of pressure finally paying off, Wellington Olympic were ba-- oh no wait they flagged it offside.
If there were there such a thing as VAR in this league then first they’d be checking to see that Gould was actually beyond the last defender (he may have been, marginally). Then they’d also have to determine whether or not he’s interfering with play (he tried to but got nowhere near the ball – judgement call). Olympic fans will claim they were robbed. City fans will then claim that the red card decision wasn’t entirely cut and dry either. Neutrals will sit back and enjoy the spectacle. A grand final is like a good curry: you always need a little spice.
Even though it was disallowed, that ‘goal’ was a tipping point in the contest. Soon the chances did indeed flow for Olympic, such as when Bouzoukis held one up on the line and swivelled back to Gaul who blasted wide. With twenty to play City almost iced them on the break, a three on three counter ending up with Manickum but Mata vaulted himself over to win a legendary tackle. Challenge of the season right there. Outrageously good desperation defending. Bouzoukis then copped a slight head knock which led to a pause for drinks and discussion. Proceedings resumed and Bouzoukis sent a diagonal curler inwards where Davenport-Petersen launched a header on target but Tracey caught it safely.
Turns out TDP Was just getting warmed up. Soon he gathered the ball beyond the area on the right edge and went boom. Absolutely demolished that sucker into the net. A banger of a finish in the 77th minute and suddenly the Greeks had that crucial goal to put themselves back within range.
A lot of the second half had felt like it rested on how soon Olympic could score. If the goal came quickly then they’d probably romp away with the trophy. If it came too late or not at all then that City experience would see the Aucklanders through to their quadruple. As it happens, the goal came right in that sweet spot where there was enough time left to rally for the equaliser but also enough time gone that ACFC could see the finish line.
Turn that frenzy meter all the way up to eleven. Gaul almost repeated the dose with a blast from a similar spot to TDP which cannoned off the crossbar. Inches away from tying things up. On came Angus Kilkolly for RDV as Auckland City refreshed their counter attacking stocks. Meanwhile Gaul dragged a shot across goal which magicked into a mint cross for Randall, who latched onto it but Tracey made a great stop with his legs. Then Tracey slapped away the corner kick delivery. Then he also tipped over a close range Mata header from the next corner. A minute-long clinic in grand final goalkeeping right there.
Into the final ten minutes now. Frantic areas. Vale made a courageous block against a Randall volley. Gaul fizzed another one wide on the spin. City looked exhausted. Aidan Carey replaced Joe Lee in the middle. Howieson appeared to be cramping up. Howieson still managed to cut out a Randall switch off play towards JHS though. Gutsy effort from him all second half in an unfamiliar position against one of the trickiest individuals in the league.
The Greeks had no choice but to take the risk of committing numbers forward. That’s how Tam Dimairo happened to be in the attacking zone to compete for a header but it’s also how Dimairo was stuck out of position as Liam Gillion broke free on the counter. LG avoided Mata’s attempt to shove him over and halt his progress and fed Kilkolly ahead of him. Manickum was steaming along to AK’s left but Kilkolly was already in a shooting position so he merely stroked that thing into the bottom corner. Auckland City with the 88th minute clincher.
Or so it seemed... because almost immediately TDP got chopped down having angled in front of Brotherton as they challenged for a JHS cross into the box. Penalty to Wellington Olympic. Ben Mata did what Ben Mata does and scored it, the big man waiting patiently for the keeper’s tell and then precisely sliding it the other way. 3-2 with four more minutes of stoppage time to go. Surely not?
Crazier things have happened within the realms of Aotearoa domestic football... but usually not against Auckland City. Summoning up energy that didn’t seem possible, City stretched things out again. Gulley did brilliantly to recover after Gillion broke in behind, no foul as JG caught up to him in the box and won the ball back. However there was a foul, and a yellow card, for Gulley as he was forced to take down Manickum. Instances like that wound the clock down even further though time still remained for Bouzoukis to work some wonders taking the ball down on the run and turning and squaring... but there was nobody there for him in the middle. Mata also got a touch on a corner kick late on but not enough of a touch and it was cleared away.
Usually sporting games at Mount Smart Stadium end with a resounding buzzer. On this day the ref’s whistle was unaccompanied... although there was a fair bit of noise straight afterwards. Auckland City with the 3-2 victory. They can’t stop, won’t stop winning.
Cam Howieson praised his team’s “heart and courage” when speaking to the cameras afterwards. We’re used to seeing technical proficiency and mental professionalism get them through but this time Auckland City really had to dig deep into reserves that people often forget are there because they so seldom need them. Howieson epitomised that himself by putting in a shift at left-back for the second half.
Gerard Garriga Gibert was awarded the Steve Sumner Medal though he was only one of a number of candidates that could have justifiably gotten that thing. Conor Tracey must’ve come close (a penalty save might have clinched it). Howieson too. Dylan Manickum was excellent, he also won the Jack Batty Memorial medal in the Chatham Cup final so that could’ve been iconic from that fella. Maybe even Gillion too. This was a win that required many key contributors.
It was a grand final performance from ACFC. Made sure they didn’t do anything silly in the first fifteen. Survived a bit of pressure for the next spell. Capitalised (twice) when they got the chance. Readjusted after the red card. Did what they had to do defensively in the second spell, riding their luck at times but also making things as tough as possible whilst always keeping that outlet open for a third goal – which they eventually got. And when all that was said and done they found themselves lifting another trophy. Cam Howieson doesn’t even need to go to the gym, that guy gets his pecs and biceps going by hauling silverware every few months.
Wellington Olympic won’t be feeling too flash about now because that was a game they could have won. Three times they faced Auckland City this year and three times they lost – with the two National League defeats each being single-goal things in which they had a controversial goal disallowed (the Chatham Cup semi defeat was much more dominant from ACFC). But they had enough chances. Can’t deny it. Could have scored first and made this a very different scenario. Could have been a bit more clinical on the comeback in the second half too. They hit the post and the crossbar along the way. Tracey made a few sharps saves plus a couple too many efforts missed the target altogether. Fine margins... but fine margins decide grand finals. Ultimately Auckland City were a little bit better in the big moments and there ya go.
But the Greeks can also take heart from having proved not only in this game but across the entire National League that they’re every bit as good as the vaunted Auckland City fellas. They play equally pretty football. They have an equally talented squad. They may have lost this one but they’ll be back again next year, don’t even worry about that.
Just finally, NZ Football also maintained a long standing tradition when, during the presentation, it was announced that Birkenhead goalie Silvio Rodic had won the National League MVP award. Rodic wasn’t there to collect the trophy, you’d hope he was at least invited. But his selection maintains a proud streak of picking the wrong players to win these things.
There’s a reason for that. Assuming they’re still using the same format, what they do is get opposing coaches to vote for the best player on the other team (or an ordered top three, can’t remember exactly) and then tally up the votes over the course of a season. But the thing about coaches is they’re focused on their own teams. Not the other teams. They’d be the ideal people to survey if they were watching all the games impartially but that’s not their job and nor should it be. Hence there’s been a curious trend of goalkeepers winning this award – in fact this was the third season in a row that it’s happened.
Silvio Rodic had a solid season for Birkenhead and he’s an excellent goalie. No shade... but he wasn’t even a top three candidate on his own team. Dino Botica, Luke Jorgensen, and Corban Piper were all more influential for that club. Plus there were at least six players in this grand final more MVP-worthy. One more consequence of a flawed voting system.
The Niche Cache will instead take this opportunity to announce Jack-Henry Sinclair as the Rightful MVP. Sounds a bit Game of Thronesy with unofficial claims to the throne and all that but hey it’s gotta be done. Looking at the champs, Cam Howieson does put forward a solid case but alas a red card and a couple games rested counts against him. Emiliano Tade didn’t play enough either. It’s too hard to split Adam Mitchell and Sam Brotherton. Conor Tracey had too many quiet games where he wasn’t really tested. Casting the net further out Garbhan Coughlan (Cashmere Tech) and Kurtis Mogg (Auckland Utd) should be in contention. Same with Botica and Jorgensen at Birko and maybe even Eddie Wilkinson for Christchurch Utd.
But Wellington Olympic were the dominant force throughout the full season. Shrinking it down their guys... defenders Gulley and Mata each missed a few games and anyway the thrill of that team was their front five so it’s gotta be representative. Bouzoukis scored nine times, tied for Golden Boot with Coughlan. Jesse Randall actually had the best production with seven goals and nine assists (the latter a league-high) though he did a lot of that in flourishes and while he was the most productive player he didn’t always feel like the most valuable player. Kailan Gould is up there alongside Bouzoukis. Don’t think Roubos is quite on par with the others.
But nah Jack-Henry Sinclair is The Guy. Five goals and seven assists playing from right wing-back, covering heaps of ground and leaving carnage in his wake. No coincidence that he drew the red card foul in the final as he’s been doing that all year – there was a game against Auckland United in which three separate fellas were booked for fouling JHS. He’s the Rightful MVP. Put it in the books.
2022 – Official MVP: Silvio Rodic | Rightful MVP: Jack-Henry Sinclair
2021 – Official MVP: Pieter-Taco Bierema | Rightful MVP: Ollie Whyte
2020-21 – Official MVP: Alex Paulsen | Rightful MVP: Hamish Watson
2019-20 – Official MVP: Derek Tieku | Rightful MVP: Jack-Henry Sinclair
2018-19 – Official MVP: Maxime Olivieri | Rightful MVP: Callum McCowatt
Those awards range from wrong but justifiable (Paulsen and Tieku) to completely baffling (Olivieri). Luckily you’ve got Aotearoa’s top independent sports website to set the record straight, aye? Consider this a taster with the Teams of the Season to follow soon enough. Peace.
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