IN the second round of the Leaders group, Auckland FC had an explosive start as they took on Bula FC at the Eden Park.
They controlled the possession early and went straight on the attack. Jonty Bidois scored the first goal in just seven minutes.
James Bayliss, Matthew Ellis and Emiliano Tade were swift and precise in moving the ball around for Auckland.
In the 30th minute Thomas Dunn appealed for a penalty for what looked to be an illegal tackle right in front of Auckland’s goal, but the VAR did not consider any foul play was involved.
The Bula boys found it hard to cope with the fast pace of the game as Everton O’Leary scored Auckland’s second goal before half-time.
Bula had some valuable opportunities to score but Maikah Dau was unable to convert and the better Auckland FC won 2 – 0.
With two losses in the Leaders Group, Bula FC will most likely drop to the semi-final playoffs and play against the winner of the Challengers group.
In the second match, South Melbourne FC were clinical against South Island United.
South Melbourne applied the early pressure as Thomas Giannakopoulos and Jacob Eliopoulos dictated play in the middle. They were looking to free up their prolific shooters Jordan Swibel and Arran Cocks.
Despite all the pressure, Ryan Feutz scored the first goal of the match to give South Island the lead.
Then, 22 minutes into the match, South Melbourne finally found their rhythm when Cocks scored a marvelous long range goal from the top left corner of the box.
Max Mikkola, Marco Jankovic and Jordan Swibel then followed suit to add three more goals to their comfortable lead.
At half-time, South Melbourne 4 South Island United 1.
Oliver Fay scored South Island’s second goal of the match.
South Melbourne did not score again but the damage was already and they held on to win 4-2.
