They caused some problems, were physical and had some sharp moments on attack, though paid the price for the ineffectual defending for all the goals, on each occasion unable to clear a long throw.
New Auckland FC signing Lachlan Brook was introduced in the last 20 minutes, while 17-year-old Luka Vicelich (son of All Whites great Ivan) also got his club debut off the bench.
Corica made only one change from the starting XI that beat Gold Coast Knights two weeks ago, with Hiroki Sakai moving to centre back to replace Nando Pijnaker, who didn’t travel due to an injury niggle.
In front of a crowd of almost 4000, goalkeeper Michael Woud was forced into a strong save at his near post after just 90 seconds, as the home side made a promising start. They were into it – and this was obviously a much greater challenge than the previous round. Francois went close – drawing a good stop from the keeper after a late run onto a Randall cross.
Randall opened the scoring seven minutes later, with an instinctive finish. The goal owed much to his quick reactions, a snapshot on the turn after Francis de Vries had latched on to an attempted clearance, following an Auckland throw-in.
Guillermo May was marginally offside – and put his shot wide anyway after being released by Francois – while a big deflection almost caught out Woud but spun wide of his far post after he had dived the other way just before halftime.
Auckland continued their dominance after the break, with centre back Dan Hall producing a daisy cutter from 20 metres, which the keeper could only parry away. Randall’s second goal just before the hour mark was a bit of a gift, as a defender’s attempted clearing header fell at his feet. But it was a reward for his alertness and anticipation, as he was lurking in the right place and tucked away from six yards.
Randall was close to completing his hat trick minutes later but was unable to push home a rebound from a Cameron Howieson shot. But the third goal arrived soon afterwards, with Francois steering his shot from the edge of the area, after another set piece. From there, the game opened up, and de Vries was unlucky to strike the post with an angled effort.
Corica emptied his bench, with Brook and Vicelich among five introduced while fellow substitute Liam Gillion went close in added time.
Auckland FC 3 (Jesse Randall 17’, 58’, Marlee Francois 69’)
South Melbourne 0
Halftime 1-0
Michael Burgess has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America’s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast.
