The Auckland City Post
Squad25 Nov 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Marco Rufer
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Auckland City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match20 Nov 2030
Auckland City march on in the cup
WaiBOP United are out and Auckland City go through, 3‑2 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings25 Nov 2030
Nobody could get near Orlando Thorpe
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match20 Nov 2030
Auckland City come from 2 down to beat WaiBOP United
At 2 goals adrift this was a formality, and the formality lasted right up until it did not. Auckland City found something the first half had given no notice of, and WaiBOP United could not hold what they had.
Player ratings25 Nov 2030
Tommy Stamatelopoulos scores twice — 9.83
Two goals and a mark of 9.83 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad25 Nov 2030
Logan Sambrook takes the match ball home
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings25 Nov 2030
What a way to start for Dane Lockyer — 7.24
0 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.24 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
Market25 Nov 2030
Logan Sambrook asks to leave Auckland City
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match23 Nov 2030
Auckland City cannot stop winning
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
In brief
- Squad A falling-out at Auckland City
- Player ratings Logan Sambrook was on a different afternoon to everybody else
- Match Tommy Stamatelopoulos sends Auckland City past Canterbury United