Reigning champions Auckland City have successfully defended their National Youth League title, claiming a 5-0 win over Tasman United as other results went their way on the final weekend of action.

The Junior Navy Blues finished level on points with crosstown rivals Waitakere United but will lift the trophy again due to their superior goal difference while fellow Aucklanders Eastern Suburbs ended just a point further back in third.

Auckland City now have six titles to their name and have defended that crown for the second ever time, the current crop following in the footsteps of the side that claimed the honours in 2013 and 2014.

Coach Camilo Speranza was pleased to continue that legacy of success in his first season at the helm but felt the results were secondary to the manner in which they were attained.

“It’s been a pleasure and an honour to be at the forefront of this extraordinary group and to humbly collaborate in the development of those who are a part of it,” he said.

“I believe we can be satisfied with the overall performance but more important than the ‘what’ is the ‘how’. The legitimacy of the means used to reach the results is what matters the most. We started this season as a bunch of people and I believe we can now say we are a team. More important than the results is who we became at the end of the journey.”

City signed off on the season in fitting fashion by putting five unanswered goals past Tasman, who picked up the wooden spoon as the only side not to win a match. Maro Bonsu-Maro led the way with a remarkable four-goal haul while Bradley Wilson also got on the scoresheet.

That meant Waitakere then needed a seven-goal victory over Hamilton Wanderers to snatch the title away from the Junior Navy Blues and they did manage a win but couldn’t quite do enough. A double from Troy Christophers and further strikes to Jake Mechell, Tafara Chawira and Matt Wood gave them five goals but they also conceded three to Wanderers, for whom Hiroki Toyokawa, Bayley Foster and John Clout were all on target.

Eastern Suburbs and Southern United both also went into the final week with some hope of claiming the title but only Suburbs could hold up their end of the bargain with a narrow 1-0 win over Hawke’s Bay United. They had to wait a long time to earn the three points, Jayden Bos finally supplying the winner with only a few minutes remaining.

Southern were meanwhile held to a 2-2 draw in a South Island derby against Canterbury United after failing to hang on to their half-time lead. Southern’s Adam Hewson had scored either side of a Conor Clarke strike for Canterbury, who then equalised again in the second half through Declan Hickford.

In the only match not involving a title contender, Wellington Phoenix took full charge of the capital derby to win 3-0 over Team Wellington, who played the final quarter of an hour with only 10 men after the dismissal of goalkeeper Zachary Dean. The damage had been done well before then though as Oskar Van Hattum opened the scoring early on for the Phoenix before Benjamin Waine hit a double. The winning side also finished a man down after Henry Hamilton picked up a second yellow card late on.

For the final National Youth League table and other information please click here

National Youth League Match Week Nine

Team Wellington 0
Wellington Phoenix 3 (Oskar van Hattam 12’, Benjamin Waine 18’, 45+3’)
HT: 0-3

Hawke’s Bay United 0
Eastern Suburbs 1 (Jayden Bos 86’)
HT: 0-0

Southern United 2 (Adam Hewson 6’, 34’)
Canterbury United 2 (Conor Clarke 16’, Declan Hickford 61’)
HT: 2-1

Tasman United 0
Auckland City 5 (Bradley Wilson 17’, Maro Bonsu-Maro 23’, 43’, 79’, 90+1’)
HT: 0-3

Waitakere United 5 (Troy Christophers 2’, 20’, Jake Mechell 63’, Tafara Chawira 63’, Matt Wood 65’)
Hamilton Wanderers 3 (Hiroki Toyokawa 16’, Bayley Foster 26’, John Clout 79’)
HT: 2-2

Article added: Monday 17 December 2018