McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, Australia
Saturday, March 14th, 7pm NZT
Written by Jonno Ross
After dropping two valuable points drawing with Perth Glory last weekend, this Saturday’s fixture against the high-flying Newcastle Jets looks like it could very much decide the winner of the Premier’s Plate.
Our draw against Perth Glory last weekend was disappointing to say the least – missed chances cost us once again, and settling for the point meant that the gap between first and second increased to five points.
This weekend’s game can be deemed as Auckland FC’s final. Sure, we have six games remaining, but a loss would see us fall eight points behind the box office Jets, making it near impossible to catch up.
Catching the league leaders is hard enough as it is without having an eight-point gap to close. The Jets are seemingly impossible to stop at the moment; they haven’t lost in ten games – a run that started on the 1st of January.
It’s up to us to beat them, and a draw isn’t an option – it’s now or never for Auckland FC.
We’re going to have to put in a better performance on Saturday evening. Against Perth last weekend, we let in two soft goals and didn’t put away the chances that were created. That’s arguably been our biggest problem all season – not being clinical in front of goal, which has cost us points and prevented us from building consistent results in the league.
Even though we’ve gone five games undefeated, we’ve won three of those and drawn twice. From here on out, we must win every game if we want to have any chance of lifting silverware for the second year running. Hopefully, it’s onwards and upwards from here, and it starts this weekend.
Newcastle Jets have weapons all over the park. Aside from the league’s second-top scorer, Lachlan Rose, they’ve had five different goal scorers across their last five matches. Rose himself has scored just twice in that stretch, a relatively quiet run for a player who’s been in strong form all season. Let’s hope for our sake, he’s not on form, come Saturday evening.
It’s a battle between first and second this Saturday. It’s Rose versus Cosgrove battling it out for the league’s Golden Boot. It’s a fight for the Premier’s Plate. Newcastle seem unstoppable at the moment, and it’s Auckland’s job to let them know that the title race isn’t over yet. This is going to be a nail-biter for both sets of fans.
COME ON AUCKLAND!
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Callan Elliot has made the most of his opportunity in the side, gaining valuable minutes while club captain Hiroki Sakai has been sidelined through injury. His consistently good performances for Auckland FC should be catching the eye of All White’s coach Darren Bazeley, and hopefully his performances are enough to get himself an All Whites call-up.
Sam Cosgrove keeps putting his critics on silent mode. He scored last weekend to put himself one goal clear of the golden boot race, and was unlucky to have a goal credited to the opposition keeper as an own goal. He saw his effort bounce off the inside of the post, off the Perth keeper’s foot and over the line. He’ll certainly be claiming the assist. Cozzee will hope he can get on the scoresheet this weekend against the Jets, after failing to score the last two times we’ve encountered them.
For Newcastle, Lachlan Bayliss is on fire at the moment. He has a knack for scoring important goals when the main goal scorers in his side aren’t quite firing. He’s scored five goals this season, and like Callan Elliot, will be wanting to keep up his form to earn himself an All Whites call-up.
