Soccer: Waitakere and City up where they belong

Neil Emblen, Waitakere United. Photo / Natalie Slade

Normal transmission has resumed at the top of the ASB Premiership with traditional front-runners Waitakere United and Auckland City back in the top two spots.

While City stormed home 5-1 to make it a miserable first trip to Kiwitea St for Willy Gerdsen's Waikato FC this season, Waitakere had to hold on as Team Wellington closed to 1-2 with a late goal at Newtown Park.

That loss, the second of the season to Waitakere, left Stu Jacobs' Wellington nine points out of the lead with four games to play while Auckland City, who crashed home four second half goals in claiming their sixth win of the season, are still six points back.

City's toughest games in the remaining four rounds will be against Team Wellington and Canterbury United but with both to be played at Kiwitea St.

Waitakere, who like City, have to juggle premiership games with O-League commitments, have three of their remaining games at home before wrapping up the regular season in Otago.

Waitakere coach Neil Emblen, who did not strip for the game, took satisfaction from his team's win which came on the back of a powerful Roy Krishna goal on the half hour and a second in the 66th minute from Dakota Lucas. The home team's reply came in the 89th minute with a questionable goal after a 25m Wiremu Patrick rocket hit the crossbar and bounced down.

"It was a good day for us," said Emblen. "It was good to bounce back from last week's poor performance. I felt we thoroughly deserved to win."

Both teams finished a player short after Mike Hester dispatched Zane Sole and Wellington's George Barbarouses after 69 minutes.

Jacobs was philosophical.

"I'm not sure we deserved a point. Maybe just," said Jacobs. "I don't think we were particularly good in the first half."

Waikato's worst fears were quickly realised at Kiwitea St when, just 12 minutes in the game, stand-in City captain David Mulligan stepped forward to line up a free kick. In a thrice the ball was nestled in the back of the Waikato goal untouched by boot or glove. It was an exact replica of his same two-goal trick in the opening game of the season.

The visitors battled bravely for the remainder of the first half but there was an air of inevitability about what was to come.

Three minutes into the second spell Daniel Koprivcic doubled City's lead. Inside 10 minutes he stretched it to three. Stu Kelly added a fourth and young James Milne a fifth after Jason Hicks had got one back for Waikato.

"I'm very happy, we keep improving every week," said co-coach Ramon Tribulietx.

Canterbury had a 3-2 away win over YoungHeart Manawatu yesterday while Otago and Hawkes Bay played out a scoreless draw.