Waitakere booked a final berth after thrashing Canterbury United 5-2 at Christchurch’s ASB Football Park to claim a 5-3 aggregate win and join Wellington, who added to their 1-0 first leg home win with a 3-1 victory over Auckland City at Kiwitea Street to progress to the final 4-1 on aggregate.
The final, to be hosted by Waitakere, was scheduled for next Sunday but with the first leg of Auckland City’s O-League final now scheduled to take place in Auckland the same day, a move to Saturday or the following week is being investigated by New Zealand Football.
After last week’s 1-0 home loss to Canterbury, Waitakere took just 12 minutes of the return leg to level the aggregate scores with Ryan de Vries slipping past Tom Schwarz and Daniel Glozier before firing a superb shot past Adam Highfield.
Canterbury bounced back within two minutes when Aaron Clapham equalised and the Dragons snatched the lead when golden boot winner George Slefendorfas notched a goal on the half hour mark to give the home side what seemed a comfortable two-goal cushion.
But two Waitakere goals inside one minute just after the restart threw the semi-final wide open. Skipper Jake Butler started the fight back when he nodded home a Ross McKenzie free kick. Just seconds later Roy Krishna put the defending champions in front when he latched onto a short back pass by Mark Johnston to make it 3-2 on the day, and ahead on away goals with the aggregate scores tied at 3-3.
Krishna extended the lead when he smashed home a Sean Lovemore cross on 63 minutes before Canterbury were reduced to ten men when Mark Johnston was sent off for dissent with six minutes to go. The home side’s misery was completed when de Vries hit a fifth for the visitors to confirm their final berth and a 5-3 aggregate victory.
Canterbury’s defeat means Waitakere or Wellington will snare New Zealand’s second O-League spot for next season, with minor premiers Auckland claiming the other.
There was plenty of drama at Kiwitea Street. Trailing 1-0 after the first leg, Auckland fell further behind when Henry Fa’arodo pounced on a short David Mulligan back pass to fire home beyond a stranded Jacob Spoonley on 25 minutes of their semi-final with Wellington.
But while Wellington finished in the ascendancy in the first half, Auckland shifted gears in the second and pinned the visitors in their own half as they struck the post three times before Manel Exposito bundled home a close range header on 71 minutes.
Auckland’s joy was short lived though when Dakota Lucas scored with a tap in on 82 minutes with Exposito sent off by referee Chris Kerr after an altercation ensued following the goal. Lucas capped off a fine individual display with a second goal on full time to give Wellington a comfortable 4-1 aggregate win and a second final appearance in eight seasons.
Auckland’s season continues as they face two huge matches with Tahitian champions Tefana in the home-and-away O-League Final, the first leg of which is at Kiwitea Street, followed by a crunch second leg decider on May 12 in Papeete.
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand Football visit www.nzfootball.co.nz

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