Soccer: Posa's men seek derby points boost

Auckland City's Ivan Vicelich and Waitakere United's Benjamin Totori compete for the ball. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Waitakere and Auckland City are set to meet today in another of the classic knife-edge cross-town battles which provide the highlight of any domestic season.

But to give themselves a realistic chance, Waitakere United cannot have a repeat of last Sunday's NZFC clash at Kiwitea St where, within five minutes, they handed a decided advantage to Auckland City in having Martin Bullock sent off.

Already without the ever-lively Roy Krishna, the home side can ill afford any other slip-ups and ensure they retain their full complement for 90 minutes at Fred Taylor Park this afternoon if they are to take maximum points and get their O-League bid back on track.

Bullock will play. Coach Neil Emblen sees him as perhaps key to their chances.

"In those first five minutes it seemed Martin was going to cause problems," said Emblen. "If we can get more of the same - and for a lot longer - he could be influential.

"Despite losing, there was a lot of quality play with a pretty positive attitude. If we can show the same commitment I'm sure we will be in with a chance. I'm pretty excited."

Emblen is confident goalkeeper Danny Robinson will be fit despite being stretchered off late in last week's game. It is likely Allan Pearce will replace Krishna who serves the second of a two-match ban.

Youngsters Tim Myers, Ryan de Vries, Keegan Linderboom, Jason Hicks and Dakota Lucas give an exciting look to the Waitakere bench.

"It is a must-win game especially at home," said Emblen. "We definitely don't plan to see them leaving for the Club World Cup top of the O-League and the NZFC."

For City coach Paul Posa and his players there is plenty riding on this one both in terms of results and getting through unscathed.

Scheduled to fly out to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, Posa will want to take a positive result with him, but at the same time will not want any injury concerns.

Keryn Jordan, whose only appearance for City this season was a little over an hour in their first-up 5-0 win over AS Manu Ura, will be on the bench, with Posa keen to give him some game time before his departure on Monday.

Former Waitakere striker Daniel Koprivcic, who scored a hat-trick in that opening-round triumph, goes into today's game looking to further stretch his lead at the top of the golden boot.

In the other Group-A match, AS Manu Ura are home to AS Magenta, with Magenta looking for maximum points to keep any hopes alive. After two away wins, Fiji champions Lautoka are at home to Vanuatu's Tafea FC. A win for Lautoka would almost certainly seal group B.

O-LEAGUE
Round Three

WAITAKERE v AUCKLAND
Fred Taylor Park, Whenuapai Today 3pm Referee: Jamie Cross (NZ)

The game: Must-win for the hosts as they have already dropped points in Noumea. City won their NZFC clash six days ago and will take confidence from that. United have yet to really hit their straps at home this season. Here is the chance to do so.

The player: Benjamin Totori. The 23-year-old Solomon Islander is getting back to something like his best. With his make Roy Krishna out, Totori will have to do the running for Brent Fisher. At his best Totori will prove a real handful for the City defence.

The result: Auckland City are defending their O-League title and will want all three points here. If Waitakere can show something close to the game they turned on against YoungHeart Manawatu in the NZFC, they should get at least a point and possibly all three.