R19 vs Melbourne City | Sat 15th Feb | 7:00pm | Eden Park/SS7

Davila had to pull to back to someone. Ridiculous trying it himself 

Will take that, we haven't been at our best but City are a good team. Well done.

Piscopo injury not great; McCowatt will have to step up one of these days.

Hard earned win..well done

shark yea!!! we don't do things easy. But we do do them! COYN!!!

Bloody brilliant win! Some criticisms here and there but we defended fantastically well in that last half hour against a very good team.

I thought we were a lot better 2nd half. A bit more quality from the likes of McCowatt and we would've have a 2nd.

Sorry guys, our preseason friendly was moved to 5 pm and couldn't get back to Kingsland in time. But neither the crowd nor the team needed me :D

Thought Hooper was much better tonight than the last time he started.

Well exactly. One decent ball to find someone in position to shoot. Something we haven't managed before. 

McCowatt's first touch is very poor at times, he's gotta work harder at that if he wants to advance at this level.

But a pretty gritty performance especially defensively tonight. I think we are pretty tough mentally this season so far, which is a bit of a change from some past seasons.

Shame, you missed a good one. Crowd sounded really into it and cheered the boys home to the final whistle.

Rufer looked head and shoulders better in his few minutes. 

Sure! you think Ridenton is a top player

Clean sheet & and good win against a side that could've jumped well clear of us if the result had gone the other way. So in that context a vital result for us. Keeps the top sides (2nd - 5th) tightly packed and then there's a bit of a drop off after that.

At the very least, the result sets us up for a big match at home to the snakes next Friday. 

15,347 at Eden Park. Just a reminder

Almost double what it was the last time we were up there...

Good stuff no less though ?

Excellent football from both sides. Those who rubbish the A League are talking sharke. Phoenix a bit fortunate to win but this is by far and away the best squad theyve had. 

And still more than the Blues managed last night too ?

That's telling

I thought gary hooper must have put some work in on the old treadmill, looking a lot fitter

My three stand out points from this game: 

• Hooper's work rate was miles better this game, and his strength on the ball near the end was phenomenal, particularly to win us that corner late when it looked like we might start to be under the kosh. Regardless of whether he got the assist tonight he was fantastic.

• And despite seeing it week after week I'm still in awe of Devlin's aggression and tenacious energy when we don't have the ball - three times in the space of 30 seconds he cut the ball out when city were trying to counter with quick throw ins, in addition to ruining two of their short corner routines.  

• Cacace is a gun and will play in a top 5 league some day. 

Marinovic had a few dodgy moments tonight but made the saves. Cammy Devlin and Steinmann were terrific in midfield, it was a real tough battle in there. Piscopo did well. Gary Hooper what an excellent assist. Bally deserved the goal.

Many thanks to the ChCh Yellow Fever crew for welcoming my Danish friends to the game at Robbies tonight.  They were impressed with the quality of the game and said the A-League is underrated (mind you, that was based on that single experience).

They were also highly impressed with the quality of Tuatara Hazy IPA on tap at Robbies, but that's another story. 

COYN.

Great game. Awesome win for the Nix. Well played team.

Yep, you've described what $7.00 per pint beer is bound to taste like prefectly. 

Great game, apparently that's 7 home games on the trot undefeated. It's something to build on as we push to second.

thought Carcace was a little off tonight. Got caught turning a couple times and his options in the final third were a little off. Still a good game but not to his usual standard.

Devlin and Steinman were quality. How many tackles and toea to the ball to disrupt did they get in tonight.

That poor clearance from a City defender which went straight to him, in the box, with no defenders around him..and then his touch let him down. That sums him up at the moment. He's just not quite at this level for me; maybe he'll get there, maybe he won't.

Just quietly I thought Rufer had a good cameo too - made one absolutely vital tackle in the dying minutes.

Here are my thoughts....

Phoenix the better team. Deserved 1 goal win.

Great starting XI. Great possession football.

I love Piscopo - he's going to be such an asset on the wing for us the next few seasons as he will keep improving.

Also... Has anyone noticed...If we can win on Friday at home we will RISE TO SECOND on the ladder and there's a reasonable chance we'll hold it at the end of the round.

Good times

very funny that some people calling the TAHW sub stupid, he was huffing and puffing like an amateur player, does not have the legs to last 90!  coaching staff know that better than anyone.  

great win for the nix, I would say playoffs are all but guaranteed now

Did they get their shirts off?  Better weather in Welli then Denmark right now for that!!!

Really enjoyed that game.  Both teams played football, very few niggly fouls/dives.  Really pleased with the ref, we did not notice him at all which is a sign of a good ref in control.

Steph made some great saves but boy was his kicking dogsharke. Worse I've ever seen from a keeper at this level.

Piscopo is miles ahead of McCowatt.  

Wasn't a fan of signing McCowatt pre-season and watching him today felt validated in that view, he was poor, bad passes, misreading the game etc whereas Piscopo was very effective, I really hope his ankle is OK as he is key to us on the left there.

Am happy for Ball too, great team goal.  great vision and passing from Devlin, perfect cross from Hooper and sublime finish from Bally.

Devlin must be the A-League find of the season.  Easily the best young player in the league at the moment.  We really need to tie him down long-term.

So magic formula for Auckland is obviously -

Eden Park

February

Nix winning more than losing/being in finals contention

Shutting off one side of the ground, Clive Palmer style, also seems to work a treat for creating a real good atmosphere, when the crowd is smaller. Some 'learnings' for when that Auckland A League bid gets organised.

Nice W against a top team.  Thought we lost the tactical battle today, and weren't quick enough to change.  Deviln picking up between two centre backs leaving under constant high press, with them targeting De Vere when he received.  Steinman outnumbered constantly. This meant Davilla never seemed to get the ball.  Also, McCowat is AOK in my book...

Was that his game back in the Handa?..seems to me that he is just lacking touch most of the time and perhaps confidence to give it more of a go.

See!, told you all we would win.

Eden Park really should close off one side more often - for Rugby, Cricket etc. One of the worst places for atmosphere in the country when there is less than 20,000 - which is ridiculous.

Why not do it at the Cake Tin?

Type of game that we have to be happy with - beating 2nd on the table is something we'd struggle with in past seasons. Plus City had been on a similar run to us only 1 loss in 7 games before last night. Marinovic had some distribution issues, but I think our back four really didnt help him with a couple of those. We can always complain we dont shoot enough or create chances but at the end of the 90 we had the one that mattered and it was through our two imports who seem to be working really well together. The time needed for them to gel has been taken and they are clicking really well. 

1-0 is all we needed to do, I dont care how much we win buy as long as we get the 3 points.