North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
Tuesday, January 20th, 7pm
Written by Jonno Ross
What a time to be an AFC fan. We’re now spoilt with two AFC sides playing in two competitions, with the A-League men’s team and the OFC Pro League side. And how spoilt are we? Both sides are sitting top of their respective competitions, albeit that our OFC side has played just once so far. They’ll be looking to make it two wins from two tonight against Vanuatu United FC.
The OFC Pro League got underway on the weekend, with AFC playing their first-ever game in the competition against New Zealand’s other OFC entry, South Island United. The game was played at Eden Park.
Expectations were high for the AFC side, mainly because AFC have been in existence longer than their opponents. South Island United had never kicked a ball in a professional setting before. In saying that, neither had our team. However, with the likes and experience of Liam Gillion, Everton O’Leary, and Luka Vicelich – amongst a handful of other names who have trained and played together in the first team and reserves, our side were favourites to come away with three points.
Auckland FC didn’t disappoint. We were dominant for the entirety of the 90 minutes. Oscar Faulds opened the scoring in the first half, and after knocking on the door of South Island’s defence, they finally caved. Bailey Ferguson scored the second in the 84th minute, and four minutes later, Liam Gillion put the game out of reach, converting a penalty into the bottom left corner.
The lads will look to make it two from two tonight against Vanuatu United FC at North Harbour Stadium. Vanuatu can count themselves lucky to come away with a point in their 2-2 draw with Bula FC on Saturday afternoon. A goalkeeping error from Bula FC’s keeper in the 96th minute meant the honours were shared, but Bula FC had the better chances and will be kicking themselves that they couldn’t get the win.
Vanuatu will have to be on top of its game tonight. If they can convert their chances and play as well as they did in the closing stages of their last match, they might just be in with a shout. They’re the underdogs against a strong AFC outfit, but as we often see in football, the underdogs can always pull off an upset. It’s up to our boys to come out firing.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Liam Gillion is obviously a key player to watch. He’s not getting much game time with the A League men’s squad, so getting minutes and performing on top of his game in the OFC Pro League is a must. Steve Corica will be watching him closely, so the pressure is on him to be doing what he loves most – scoring goals.
Everton O’Leary has stepped up from AFC’s U23 reserves team. After starting on the weekend against South Island United, he’ll look to carry on his solid performance and continue to play well in a league which is a huge step up from what he’s used to in the Northern/National league. It’s our privilege to watch his development over the duration of the tournament.
We don’t know too much about the opposition players, so we can only look at Vanuatu United’s players who are performing. Watch out for Alex Saniel and William Cardona. Both scored against Bula FC on Saturday. Saniel opened the scoring in the 21st minute, and Cardona equalised in the 96th minute. He fired a shot towards goal, which went straight into the keeper’s hands, only to be fumbled into the net. A goal is a goal, no matter how the ball finds its way into the back of the net.
