Soccer: Auckland City hit five past Waikato

Auckland's Andrew Milne gets to the ball ahead of Waikato's Maksim Manko. Photo / Photosport

Kiwitea St isn't quite the intimidating venue it once was for visiting teams but it was too much for a youthful Waikato United, beaten 5-1 by Auckland City yesterday.

Willy Gerdsen's side had been performing quite well this season, certainly better than the one which propped up the bottom of the table last term. But they were outclassed by an Auckland side starting to hit the sort of form that seemed improbable earlier in the season.

Yesterday they notched their fifth consecutive victory and extended to nine the number of games without defeat in all competitions. On top of that, they have scored an impressive 13 goals in their last three home games as their passing game has started to click.

It means the ASB Premiership table has a familiar look to it, with both Auckland sides perched comfortably on top. No team from outside Auckland has ever won the league and it's difficult to see that changing this time, despite the claims of Team Wellington.

City moved into second with yesterday's win, overtaking Wellington who were beaten 2-1 at home by runaway leaders Waitakere United.

Auckland have virtually given up on the prospect of catching Waitakere, whose only defeat of the season was last weekend's 1-0 loss to their cross-town rivals. But they are peaking at just the right time.

They won yesterday despite the absence of Ivan Vicelich and Adam Dickinson (both suspended) as well as James Pritchett (rested) and new Spanish recruit Manuel Exposito, whose international clearance has not yet come through from Fifa.

Auckland dominated from the outset, scoring as early as the 12th minute from a curling David Mulligan free-kick. They added four more in the second spell to Danko Koprivcic (2), Stu Kelly and Andrew Milne. Waikato pegged one back through Jason Hicks, but were never really in it.

At times they struggled to get hold of possession and, often when they did, gave it straight back to the home side. They had a better patch towards the end of the first half but rarely threatened Auckland goalkeeper Jacob Spoonley.

"We are disappointed with the performance as much as the result," Gerdsen said. "We are too young, too inexperienced against such a class side."

They still, though, have a chance of making the playoffs and will go close. Auckland, of course, have loftier goals.

The biggest problem co-coaches Aaron McFarland and Ramon Tribulietx now have is deciding who to leave out.

"It helped this week having Ivan and Dicko out," McFarland said. "Eleven players are going to love us but the rest will hate us. It's really tough."

Waitakere had some nervous moments towards the end of their match against Wellington yesterday, after Wiremu Patrick scored a contentious 89th-minute goal, but held on for their ninth win in 10 games. Roy Krishna and Dakota Lucas scored for Waitakere.