There’s a lot to unpack from today’s match against Auckland.
Firstly, our Starting XI was as expected. I was surprised that we had such a thin bench with only 2 outfield players. Apart from the first ten minutes of the first half, we actually played well and took a deserved first half lead. That first ten minutes in the first half was just awful from South. We were just shell shocked by that early goal after 23 seconds. Special call out to Swibel who held the ball well and created the opportunity for Leech to bury that goal and gives us the lead.
For some reason, we came out in the second half the same way we did as we started the first half. Auckland took the initiative and appplied tremendous pressure on the undermanned South team.
Problem was that we lacked a bench to freshen our team. Auckland made full use of their bench and brought on fresh legs to search for that third goal. We brought on Lackay, to play in Right Back shifted Painter-Andrews to Centre Back.
You could see the South players were suffering in the last 15 minutes. The red card could be argued changed the balance of the contest against us. With a team lacking significant quality, suffering from the humidity and down to 10 men, it was always going to be a struggle to hold on that 2-2 scoreline.
That Auckland third goal can only be described as comical and farcical. Our defending was practically nonexistent. You can’t give away such goals. At the end of the day, two poorly defended situations gave the win to Auckland.
I have to be fair and say that the team toiled and worked hard to be leading 2-1 with about half an hour left. Players like Inglese, Coveny, Menelaou, Pope, and Cocks didn’t stop running all day.
The quality of refereeing today was poor. That free kick called on Cocks in the second half was laughable, and stunned he missed that corner that Coveny had correctly won at the end of the first half. Sometimes the referee decisions just don’t go your way.
A full strength Starting XI would have won today.
