Jacobs rues late strike
Coach Stu Jacobs was left wondering whether his side would ever put Auckland away after its winless streak against its northern rivals ticked over to 11 matches.
Its something like 10 losses and a draw and thats the most disappointing thing because we know we should have won today, he said. We were very good today I thought, they were lucky and they probably got out of jail.
If Auckland did play their Monopoly card then their timing was perfect after South African Keryn Jordan latched onto countryman Grant Youngs pass to net the winner in the 94th minute.
By that point Auckland were down to 10 men after Chad Coombes had been sent off for a second yellow card and the seconds were ticking down on a likely trip to Newtown Park.
We slackened off defensively and let them score two pretty average goals, Jacobs said.
The third one we could have played a bit differently, they broke and crossed and Keryn Jordan scored on the far post. That was disappointing.
But Jacobs said he wasnt downbeat about returning next Saturday to battle for a place in the final against Waitakere United.
Weve played well enough here to take confidence we can beat them next week.
Indeed Team Wellington scored two goals of their own and came back strongly after conceding the first in the 17th minute when defender Sam Campbell stabbed home a loose ball from a corner.
The equaliser came almost immediately when Darren Cheriton scored his third goal of the season, putting a left-footer in from the edge of the penalty area, despite a desperate dive from Auckland gloveman Tamati Williams.
Young put Auckland up 2-0 in the 39th minute after a strong run from Bryan Little before Raf De Gregorio equalised in controversial fashion.
De Gregorios third goal of the season came after his freekick in the 68th minute caught Williams on the hop.
They werent [organised], Jacobs said. It was a freekick, the ref blew his whistle, we kicked it and we scored.
Williams protested that the whistle hadnt gone, but the referee issued him with a yellow card.
Auckland will be bolstered next week by the return from suspension of defenders Ben Sigmund and Greg Uhlmann.
Team Wellington nearly broke the bogey against Auckland with a 1-1 draw at Newtown Park last December before losing 2-0 in February in the return match.
Yesterdays loss means Team Wellington finished the season in third place on 47 points with a record of 15 wins, two draws and four losses.
Auckland finished with 50 points with 16 wins, two draws and three losses to finish second to Waitakere, 51 points with 16 wins, three draws and just two losses.
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Monday, April 7th, 2008 at 5:16 pm under