KEY POINTS:
Auckland City, who couldn't find the net in their O-League loss to Waitakere United midweek, rediscovered their shooting range to beat Canterbury United 4-1 and retain their six-point lead at the top of the New Zealand Football Championship.
Waitakere, who have a game in hand, kept the pressure on the leaders by beating Hawkes Bay United 1-0 in Napier, while third-placed Wellington beat Otago United 5-0 in Dunedin. Graham Little scored a hat-trick.
Nobody would have expected bottom-placed Canterbury to pose much of a threat to Auckland on the Croatian Cultural Society ground at Te Atatu on Saturday but with the score at 1-1 after 19 minutes and a fierce wind and driving rain hampering play, an upset seemed possible.
But goals in the 36th and 38th minutes extinguished the Canterbury threat and the few diehard fans who braved the elements relaxed.
Victory in Auckland City's 100th game since the club was formed three years ago was expected. The quality of the goals was a bonus. The first in the 12th minute saw Paul Urlovic nod on a freekick by Jeff Campbell for Riki van Steeden to score.
Big George Suri volleyed in the second from a Chad Coombes cross in the 36th minute and two minutes later Urlovic made the most of a defence-splitting pass by Ki Hyung Lee.
Urlovic completed the scoring early in the second spell with an unchallenged header from a cross by James Pritchett.
Canterbury's goal by Tom Lancaster in the 18th minute was surprisingly easy as the defence froze like possums in the headlights as the ball rolled invitingly across the goalmouth.
Auckland coach Colin Tuaa was delighted at the way his team responded to their midweek glitch.
"The four goals were of high quality, but I was disappointed we didn't convert more of the chances we created. Their goal was a result of some careless defending and I was ropeable at halftime."
Encouraging for Auckland was the sight of star striker Keryn Jordan playing 20 minutes off the bench, his first in the championship since an operation in late December.
Commins Menapi scored Waitakere's goal in the 36th minute after a classy move involving Jake Butler and Allan Pearce. Both sides had further chances in the blustery conditions and Jonathan Taylor should have equalised in the closing minutes.
But without experienced defenders Danny Hay and Jonathan Perry, Waitakere coped well despite travel weariness caused by O-League commitments in Tahiti and Auckland in the week before their Napier trip.
In the other game, in Palmerston North yesterday, Waikato beat YoungHeart Manawatu 1-0 thanks to a 56th-minute goal from new signing Rob Gwyther.
