Waitakere United

Canterbury United

1

1

Benjamin Totori 13

Gareth Turnbull 70

by Bob Pearce at Douglas Field
nzfc.co.nz

Waitakere ears were ringing after their 1-1 home draw with bottom-placed Canterbury United at Douglas Field on Saturday.

Coach Chris Milicich stalked across the field to the dressing room and gave his team a piece of his mind after they had wasted a 1-0 halftime lead with a second-half performance that was the worst possible rehearsal for their World Club Cup campaign next week.

"I felt our second-half performance was a disgrace. We just let people walk past us. The first half we dominated and should have put three or four past them. I don't care that we've had three tough games in a week. You've got to defend properly.

"Nobody will miss out on the trip to Tokyo but some of them won't be playing. I just don't trust them."

It was no consolation that YoungHeart Manawatu and Auckland City also lost as Milicich counted the game as two points thrown away.

In fact, he was somewhat lucky to be rueing the loss of two points as it could have easily been three after Waitakere's dismal second spell. Canterbury had a string of reasonable chances that they couldn't convert, with striker Michael Fifii hard to contain but wayward in his shooting.

With a brisk breeze behind them in the first half Waitakere began much as they finished in their defeat of Auckland City midweek.

Canterbury were bunched in defence and offered little in attack.

It was no surprise when after 13 minutes  Benjamin Totori played a one-two with Daniel Koprivcic, rounded a defender and stroked the ball into the net. There were more chances for the home team as Adriano Pimenta at last began to show some of his Brazilian reputation.

But there were also worrying signs for Waitakere as the defence failed to clear a couple of promising Canterbury attacks and penalty box pinball could have produced a goal against the run of play.

Canterbury seemed to take heart from holding the champions at bay and they were the ones who made the running in the second half. Tom Lancaster shot just wide in the 67th minute and three minutes later the Southerners were level.

Goalie Richard Gillespie, hero of the win on Wednesday, failed to hold a shot and Gareth Turnbull was presented with the simplest of headers.

Fifii three times used his speed to split the Waitakere defence but he couldn't find the shot that would have deservedly won the match. Right at the death a wild kick by Gillespie fortunately fell safely when it could well have been very costly.

"I think we could be the more disappointed of the two sides," said Canterbury coach Korouch Monsef. "We were good value today. I was expecting we'd be more under the gun than we were.

"Michael Fifii plays very much off the cuff and he can be a real handful. It was a pity he didn't bring his finishing game."

Photos: Shane Wenzlick www.phototek.co.nz

Waitakere United

V

Auckland City

1 Richard Gillespie (GK)

1 Michael O'Keeffe (GK)

20 Jason Rowley (Hogg 61)

2 Dan Terris

2 Jonathan Perry

3 Matt Boyd

16 Neil Emblen

4 Bill Robinson

3 Aaron Scott

5 Andy Pitman

17 Jake Butler

7 Ryan Faichnie (Smith 65)

15 Chris Bale

8 Garry McDermott (Overton 78)

14 Jeff Campbell

9 Tom Lancaster

29 Adriano Pimenta (Pearce 68)

11 Gareth Turnbull (Wortelboer 88)

9 Benjamin Totori

12 Michael Fifii

13 Daniel Koprivcic (Ellensohn 74)

21 Ben Harris

Substitutes

Substitutes

22 Danny Robinson (RGK)

10 Jamie Smith

10 Allan Pearce

16 Nick Wortelboer

7 Daniel Ellensohn

19 Darren Overton

18 Ian Hogg

22 Chris Sinclair

12 Roy Krishna

=goal

=yellow card

=2 yellow cards

= red card

0 mins

Beautiful sunny day with temperatures in mid-20s

5 mins

All pressure from Waitakere as they make most of following wind

7 mins

Yellow card Jeff Campbell for dive in Canterbury penalty area

13 mins

GOAL! Totori plays one-two with Koprivcic, then rounds defender to score.

14 mins

Ref overlooks handball by Terris in penalty area.

20 mins

Cross by Totori finds Pimenta who volleys powerfully just wide

22 mins

Fifii clear but lobs over the bar as goalie advances

30 mins

Lancaster shot well saved by Gillespie

38 mins

Rowley's long ball volleyed by sprinting Totori, but wide

42 mins

Yellow card for Butler for tackle

44 mins

Pimenta shot well held by O'Keeffe. Brazilian follows up with nice passing interchange foiled by defence

45 mins

Halftime and only one goal after both sides squandered several chances

45 plus

No changes to either side at the break

50 mins

Scott fails to convert great chance as O'Keeffe dives at his feet to save

54 mins

Fifii clear but Gillespie just grabs ball as he lines up shot

59 mins

Emblen and Balle set up Koprivcic but his shot is weak

60 mins

Yellow card Pitman for shirt pull.

61 mins

Substitution Waitakere:Ian Hogg replaces Rowley

65 mins

Substitution Canterbury, Faichnie off, Jamie Smith on

67 mins

Lancaster bombs just wide, Canterbury pressing hard.

68 mins

Substitution Waitakere, Pearce on for Pimenta.

70 mins

GOAL! Gillespie fails to hold shot from Smith, simple header for Turnbull

72 mins

Fifii shot fisted over by Gillespie

74 mins

Yellow card Terris for tackle

74 mins

Substitution for Waitakere, Ellensohn for Koprivcic

78 mins

Substitution Canterbury Overton on for McDermott.

82 mins

Lancaster into side netting as Canterbury press forward.

86 mins

Fifii splits defence but shoots straight at goalie

88 mins

Substitution Canterbury Wortelboer replaces Turnbull

90 mins

Four minutes added time to play

91 mins

Wild kick by Gillespie fortunately falls safely.

 94 mins

Full time and Canterbury have grabbed a point deservedly on their second-half performance.