Speaker 1: Football Fever with News Talks MB's voice of Football Jason
Speaker 1: Paine and Bonny Jansen.
Speaker 2: Hello there and welcome into a fresh episode of Football Fever.
Speaker 2: I'm Jason Pine and Bonnie Jansen alongside Auckland FC are
Speaker 2: a thing. Their life has begun and what a way
Speaker 2: to start. How did you enjoy Saturday at go Media Stadium?
Speaker 3: Bonnie follow follow Aucklandsie that great night Bindy had I
Speaker 3: had to start. It's been in my head that that
Speaker 3: chant all weekend since the match. Just absolute scenes. I
Speaker 3: think that afternoon of football at Mount Smart I'm going
Speaker 3: to be remembering for a long time. Just yeah, goosebumps
Speaker 3: thinking back to it. What a spectacle it was.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the off field stuff is what I
Speaker 2: want to talk about first, because you know we can
Speaker 2: get to the game. Obviously in a very good performance
Speaker 2: to start for Auckland FC, but everything that was wrapped
Speaker 2: around the day. Again, you have to give a huge
Speaker 2: rap to this football club for the way they hype
Speaker 2: this up. They got the marketing machine going, they got
Speaker 2: everybody in behind it. They basically built it and the
Speaker 2: fans came a sell out at Mount Smart, just so
Speaker 2: much energy.
Speaker 1: I just thought the occasion was terrific.
Speaker 2: And you know, if you're watching that from the other
Speaker 2: side of the Tasman and looking at this new football
Speaker 2: club and thinking, Okay, how they're going to go, you know,
Speaker 2: you look at the people that turned up in the
Speaker 2: atmosphere that was created, just absolutely terrific.
Speaker 3: You're absolutely right, Piney, And I mean with millionaire owners
Speaker 3: like Bill Foley and investors like Ali Williams and a Mobray,
Speaker 3: Steven Adams, you know you kind of expect it's going
Speaker 3: to be something pretty special on opening match, but I
Speaker 3: don't think anyone quite anticipated how good it really was.
Speaker 3: And you know a lot of that you have to
Speaker 3: put down to the marketing, as you say, and the
Speaker 3: club really making a big fuss about this opening game,
Speaker 3: but also the fans. I think just the camaraderie and
Speaker 3: the hype from the before Gates opened. There were ques Piney,
Speaker 3: you probably wouldn't have seen from the commentary box, but
Speaker 3: ques to the Gates, which I've just never really seen
Speaker 3: at a sporting fixture in New Zealand for some time.
Speaker 3: And then you know in the Lily World Bar that's
Speaker 3: the neighboring bar at Mount Smart, you know, just absolutely
Speaker 3: packed us speaking with some mates that go there often
Speaker 3: for Warriors games and they said, there's never been lines
Speaker 3: like that for the bar. And obviously then when the
Speaker 3: gates opened, the port fans kind of all started gathering
Speaker 3: around the concourse and they were all singing their chance.
Speaker 3: I was at in amongst it, trying to learn, but
Speaker 3: learn from them, and that the drums were going and
Speaker 3: then the march happened, and that was about four point fifteen,
Speaker 3: I think around around then, as they went down between
Speaker 3: the West Stand and the South Stand down to Bay
Speaker 3: twenty two. So yeah, it was just from the start,
Speaker 3: you know, the build up obviously during the game twelfth Man,
Speaker 3: but right from the get go they were unreal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, description Yeah, we had a drone up in the
Speaker 2: sky coverage and so you were able to see what
Speaker 2: was happening around the ground. And yeah, just the the
Speaker 2: cues of people, the throngs of people heading to Mount
Speaker 2: Smart and you know, yes, I know this happens at
Speaker 2: Warriors games as well. Of course it doesn't, and you
Speaker 2: know they've got a very loyal and long standing fan base,
Speaker 2: but for that to happen on opening day of this
Speaker 2: football club's life, imagine those players walking out into that arena.
Speaker 2: You know, I know a lot of them have played
Speaker 2: big clubs before, but I mean as a show of
Speaker 2: support for a brand new football club. You know, if
Speaker 2: that's not going to inspire you to play well, I
Speaker 2: don't know what is just incredible And you have to
Speaker 2: give it to the port the active support. They came
Speaker 2: as advertised as you say, they stood and chanted for
Speaker 2: ninety minutes, and that's what football fandom is all about.
Speaker 2: I just cannot give a big enough rap to the
Speaker 2: fans of the team that turned up. Look, it was
Speaker 2: all brand new, of course, and you know it's a
Speaker 2: twelve or thirteen game home season. But if you went
Speaker 2: along on Saturday and I'd be going away saying when's
Speaker 2: the next game? When can I come back and do
Speaker 2: that again?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think that was a lot of messaging from kids,
Speaker 3: in particular to their parents. I also heard a lot
Speaker 3: of can we get a shirt? Can I get the
Speaker 3: home shirt? Can I get the away shirt? And that
Speaker 3: was one thing that really stood out to me was
Speaker 3: how many how many blue shirts people were already wearing.
Speaker 3: And you know that's that's before all the cues to
Speaker 3: the merch stands and before you know after all the
Speaker 3: salouts around Auckland. Spoke with Nick Becker after the game
Speaker 3: and he said, yeah, just you know, people have been
Speaker 3: struggling to get merched because it's been so popular. Definitely,
Speaker 3: you're going back one hundred percent. The whole game day experience.
Speaker 3: I think they nailed. They had the big blow up
Speaker 3: slide that I believe Ali Williams and Nick Becker wanted
Speaker 3: from the get go down the hill of the kind
Speaker 3: of north side of the park, and I was lucky
Speaker 3: enough to go down it before gates opened, which was
Speaker 3: which was pretty entertaining, but they were just ques. I
Speaker 3: spoke with someone in the office earlier and he said
Speaker 3: for the whole second half they were waiting in the
Speaker 3: line for that slide, but it wasn't an issue because
Speaker 3: he was parked up while his kids were in the line.
Speaker 3: He was just parked up on the hill and drawing
Speaker 3: a beer in the sun, watching the footy. So yeah,
Speaker 3: they've definitely nailed that gam to experience. You know, they
Speaker 3: were lucky with the weather. I'm not sure it'll be
Speaker 3: that lucky every week, hopefully it is. Another thing they
Speaker 3: nailed was the time of kickoff five pm. Perfect.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, just before we get onto the game itself.
Speaker 2: You've had a very busy day. By the sounds of it,
Speaker 2: you got very nice. I know you were there very
Speaker 2: early on. You were you were doing work for the
Speaker 2: Herald and for z B. You were sliding down the slide.
Speaker 2: By the sounds of things, you were, you were mixing
Speaker 2: with the fans, you were doing all that. But then
Speaker 2: I know then from the many messages I received from you,
Speaker 2: that you you then found your way into the corporate area,
Speaker 2: which I think was a good reward for you having
Speaker 2: done all that work. What was it like in What
Speaker 2: was it like in in the in the in the
Speaker 2: corporate area in terms of the buzz in there and
Speaker 2: and a few of the cleibes that you spotted, Yeah.
Speaker 3: It was definitely very cool in there. There were a
Speaker 3: lot of you know, people that were avid football fans,
Speaker 3: really excited, but also you know a lot of just celebritties.
Speaker 3: And the unknown first person I saw and I walked
Speaker 3: in was Lisa Carrington, obviously the Olympic gold medalist, A
Speaker 3: bunch of broadcasters like Samantha Hayes and Heather Duples, c Allen,
Speaker 3: Ali Williams is obviously there. Nick Becker Bill Foley and
Speaker 3: then of course the Prime Minister Christopher Luxen. So yeah,
Speaker 3: some very very big names, a lot of faces, which
Speaker 3: was cool.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you said, I'm just going to read and he
Speaker 1: has a message.
Speaker 2: One of the messages you sent to me Lisa Carrington,
Speaker 2: Arwen good and Beial, Carlos, Spencer, Hamish, Carter, Andy Ellis,
Speaker 2: Christopher Luxeon, Jeremy Wells, Samantha Hayes, Brody Kane.
Speaker 1: You just get on sending these names to me.
Speaker 3: Well, you asked for that pinting because I thought you
Speaker 3: were going to spit a few off on the commentary,
Speaker 3: so I was, you know, just wanting to keep you
Speaker 3: in the loop with what was going on in the stands.
Speaker 3: But no, it was it was awesome that yeah, really
Speaker 3: good vibes and as I say, the sun was shining.
Speaker 3: It was like just the perfect setup for footy.
Speaker 2: Tim Brown and Winston Read of course as well part
Speaker 2: of the ownership group, they were there, they featured on
Speaker 2: Sky's coverage and yeah, just just adding to the occasion.
Speaker 2: So yep, absolutely terrific. Let's talk about the game. I
Speaker 2: don't think it could have been better planned as far
Speaker 2: as the way the team played. They came out with energy,
Speaker 2: they came out with intent. I think they were a
Speaker 2: little bit there was a lot of adrenaline flowing through
Speaker 2: them in the first little while, a few nerves, but
Speaker 2: scoring a goal as they did after just eight minutes
Speaker 2: was the perfect start to the football club's life and
Speaker 2: own goal. That'll be a quiz question in years to come.
Speaker 2: Who scored the first goal for Auckland FC in.
Speaker 1: The A League.
Speaker 2: It's Harry van der Sag, the Brisbane raw defender, but
Speaker 2: set up with a really brilliant piece of work from
Speaker 2: from Logan Rogerson initial league Gazumo Mai and then Hiroki
Speaker 2: Sakai who crossed it across and Harry vander sak diverted
Speaker 2: it into his own net. What a way to start
Speaker 2: a goal inside eight minutes.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was pretty cool. And twenty four hours earlier
Speaker 3: we had been at the stadium for the pre match
Speaker 3: press conference and it was about that time on the
Speaker 3: clock and about the steminth eighth minute where they had
Speaker 3: had the scoreboard pre set to one nel Auckland City
Speaker 3: with almost that exact time, and so you know, twenty
Speaker 3: four hours later when they when they scored that goal
Speaker 3: in that minute, that was pretty special. Gmo may that pass.
Speaker 3: I just couldn't stop replaying that on the highlights, that
Speaker 3: kind of no look one touch pass out to Hiroki Saki,
Speaker 3: who was just incredible. Like you can see why they
Speaker 3: named him Skipper. The energy on the field was unmatched.
Speaker 2: And I just also thought it was just he's done
Speaker 2: a lot, right. He's been to three World Cups, He's
Speaker 2: played over seventy times for Japan, He's played in some
Speaker 2: big legs in Europe. But the delight and the joy
Speaker 2: and I'm pretty sure he's not making this up when
Speaker 2: he scored the goal and at the end of the
Speaker 2: game just showed you know that this does mean something
Speaker 2: to him. He's not here just to you know, to
Speaker 2: tick a box, and I don't think there was ever
Speaker 2: any suggestion that he was. But he was just delighted
Speaker 2: with the whole thing. He came to the he came
Speaker 2: to the postmatch press conference, and he was he.
Speaker 1: Was trying to claim the goal. He reckons he was.
Speaker 1: I said, oh, great cross, and he said, I we're shooting.
Speaker 1: And so I said, look at you trying to claim.
Speaker 2: The goal and he's here, and obviously they're in high
Speaker 2: spirits after the game but you're right, Saki terrific. I
Speaker 2: thought Louis Vastrautta, the Belgian midfielder, he is going to
Speaker 2: be a brilliant anchor for that team, sitting at the
Speaker 2: base of midfield. Juremo may agree had a really good game.
Speaker 2: Like I really liked Francis Devreese as well. I thought
Speaker 2: he got up and down really nicely, up and down
Speaker 2: the left and set up the second goal for Logan Rogerson.
Speaker 2: What a finish, by the way.
Speaker 3: Yeah, such a classy from from Logan. I agree with you.
Speaker 3: Franny was unreal. I don't know if he's saw he
Speaker 3: got a blood nose.
Speaker 1: Yeah, taught hanging out his nose for the last two minutes.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel like I've got a lot
Speaker 3: of memories of that happening with Franny playing back at
Speaker 3: Eastern Suburbs. But I thought as well, he worked really
Speaker 3: well with Liam Gillian, who I think Liam Gillian as
Speaker 3: well had a great game. He just you know, brought
Speaker 3: into the crowd in the atmosphere. He would have been nervous,
Speaker 3: you know, he's he's in Aucklander and he's only still young.
Speaker 3: But I am like pretty confident he's going to be
Speaker 3: you know, securing his spot in the All Whites pretty
Speaker 3: soon after that. I just think like, as the games
Speaker 3: go by, he's just only going to get better and better.
Speaker 2: We interviewed him on the Sky coverage after the game
Speaker 2: as well, and it was it was just I was
Speaker 2: watching him just before we chatted to him, and he's
Speaker 2: working as way along this line of fans to sign
Speaker 2: autographs and get selfies, and I thought to himself, you know,
Speaker 2: he must be thinking to himself, this is just incredible.
Speaker 2: You know, he's basically now you know, yes, he's been
Speaker 2: a good player. He could play domestically, you know for
Speaker 2: a couple of three years, but now he's a professional
Speaker 2: footballer and people were getting him to sign their you know,
Speaker 2: not even their not even their merch. I saw a
Speaker 2: couple of kids with just their just their normal hoodies
Speaker 2: and he was signing those, and yeah, just just just awesome.
Speaker 2: I thought, Yeah, thought Leam Gillian was good. In fact,
Speaker 2: I didn't think there was a bad player out there
Speaker 2: really for Auckland f C. They you know, they they
Speaker 2: were clearly all you know, really really amped up for
Speaker 2: the whole thing, even the subs who came on. Great
Speaker 2: to see Cam Howison get out there. I thought Jesse
Speaker 2: Randall came on and gave a good account of himself.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: It was just a really good all round, all round performance.
Speaker 2: So yeah, two nil three points in the bag to start.
Speaker 1: Next up.
Speaker 2: They're back at home, so we don't wait for very
Speaker 2: long to get back there Sydney FC. Someday there'll be
Speaker 2: a tough, tough game, but a derby of sorts for
Speaker 2: Steve Coricker and Terry mcflynn the team they used to
Speaker 2: play for in Coraricker's coach case used to coach four
Speaker 2: o'clock Sunday. What do you think, I mean, they're probably
Speaker 2: not going to get twenty five down again, but you'd
Speaker 2: have to hope they'd be sort of what round fifteen.
Speaker 3: Yeah, i'd hope at least ten thousand, especially you know,
Speaker 3: long weekend. I think the weather might be looking right. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I would say around that they as you talked about,
Speaker 3: they put on a great show and just going back
Speaker 3: to the fans, you know, they certainly brought into it
Speaker 3: as well, and it's one of those you know, you
Speaker 3: can now see it, you can be it, and I
Speaker 3: think that was the case for you know, the ones
Speaker 3: signing or asking for Liam Gillian's signature. Franny Devrees. I
Speaker 3: heard from Nick Becker again that he brought Bill Foley
Speaker 3: down to the changing room to meet the team and
Speaker 3: give a little speech post game. But some of the
Speaker 3: players had were stuck out on the field for two
Speaker 3: hours signing signatures and things like that. So I think
Speaker 3: the fans, you know, got the most out of the match.
Speaker 3: And yeah, there's there's no reason why they'll be coming
Speaker 3: back in the masses from next week.
Speaker 1: Absolutely all right, So sid THEFC come to town.
Speaker 2: That's four o'clock on Sunday, back at go Media Stadium.
Speaker 1: Football Fever, News Talk SIV SO.
Speaker 2: Then twenty four hours later or thereabouts, we were at
Speaker 2: Sky Stadium for the Wellington Phoenix's opener in the A
Speaker 2: League men's season. Western United were the visitors. Costa Barbarusa
Speaker 2: scored for the Phoenix just before halftime, Angus Thurgate equalizing
Speaker 2: for Western United in the second half and it ended
Speaker 2: one all with a share of the points for the Phoenix.
Speaker 2: Starting debuts for Nagasawa, a Shiga Ollaway Yemian goal and
Speaker 2: eighteen year old academy product Nathan Walker, who only found
Speaker 2: out I think on the day that he was playing
Speaker 2: because Sam Sutton had a tummy bug. Then we had
Speaker 2: seventeen year old Jaden Smith coming off the bench, the
Speaker 2: third youngest Phoenix player of all time.
Speaker 1: Compared to the hype and the hooplar of the day before.
Speaker 2: At Mount Smart, this was a little more understated on
Speaker 2: what was actually a beautiful day in Wellington yesterday. About
Speaker 2: this morning before recording, I think the Phoenix will probably
Speaker 2: look at this as two points dropped.
Speaker 1: I think they should have won this game.
Speaker 3: I think they'll be really disappointed, particularly off the back
Speaker 3: the last season, which you know was just amazing finishing
Speaker 3: top two. I think they'll be gutted. They looked the
Speaker 3: better team in the second half, maybe could have been better.
Speaker 3: They looked the better team in the first half, rather
Speaker 3: could have been better in the second half. And I
Speaker 3: think it was a sloppy goal to concede.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I just think they know you look at the
Speaker 2: goal and it is a really nice goal. Angus Thurgate
Speaker 2: is a I think he's west. He was Western United's
Speaker 2: best players today and the way he is involved in
Speaker 2: the build up. He nice little turn into space, a
Speaker 2: little pass into the path of Noah Boda Chie pulls
Speaker 2: it back. Olie Laval completely misses it, but Thurgate's following
Speaker 2: up and tracks across the area and just bangs this
Speaker 2: one into the bottom corner.
Speaker 1: It's a really good finish.
Speaker 2: Probably, you know, you look back and I'm sure they'll
Speaker 2: be looking at it this week. Could they have blocked
Speaker 2: the shot on the edge of the area or whatever
Speaker 2: it was. But the Phoenix had a couple of other
Speaker 2: really good chances. Cost I had hit the outside of
Speaker 2: the post with one when it was nil all early
Speaker 2: in the second half. He was one on one and
Speaker 2: tried to lob the keeper. Maybe he could have taken
Speaker 2: a lower shot at goal. Alex Ruth had a chance
Speaker 2: late on. I think they had the chances to win it.
Speaker 2: It's not catastrophic. It's one game and they take a
Speaker 2: point from it, and you know, the Phoenix done off
Speaker 2: and win their opening game, as you pointed out on
Speaker 2: the podcast last week. But I just think it's a
Speaker 2: it's an opportunity lost. Western United were not better than
Speaker 2: Wellington Phoenix. The Phoenix probably should have won that game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, And if anything, you know, they can take
Speaker 3: a lot of lessons from from that match. You know,
Speaker 3: they'll be just as disappointed as as chief. He will
Speaker 3: that you know that the players will know that that
Speaker 3: wasn't the best from them. Chief. He said afterwards that
Speaker 3: you know, you could tell that they haven't spent a
Speaker 3: lot of time together yet, but there was certainly a
Speaker 3: lot of promise. You know, Nathan Walker is as you
Speaker 3: mentioned Piney, I really thought he stood out for me.
Speaker 3: You know, he's clearly young and inexperience at this level.
Speaker 3: You know, a few kind of final touches and final
Speaker 3: execution could could improve on. But in terms of what
Speaker 3: he offered, and you know, just the energy he brought
Speaker 3: to the team, I thought it was really excited.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and there's other players to come back to, And
Speaker 2: that point was made afterwards. Marco Rojas Paulo retre two
Speaker 2: players who we haven't seen in round one. They're still
Speaker 2: to come back and I think those two in particular
Speaker 2: will have a massive impact when they do come back.
Speaker 2: As far as players who played well, Look, I thought
Speaker 2: cost I had a good game. You know, I mentioned
Speaker 2: the chances, so I thought he was again just showed.
Speaker 2: It's just three hundred and twenty fifth game of a
Speaker 2: league footballs. You know, he's been around. It seems like
Speaker 2: for ever ninety four goals in the A League now,
Speaker 2: so you'd have to think that if he continues along
Speaker 2: this route hill you know, in the first half of
Speaker 2: the season, he'll probably raise the bat wrong sport, I know,
Speaker 2: but he'll bring up the one hundred goals. And I
Speaker 2: thought Scott Wooton was just terrific in the heart of
Speaker 2: Wellington's defense, with you know, youngsters really all around him,
Speaker 2: Isaac Hughes, Matt Sheridan Walker himself. You know, I just
Speaker 2: thought Scott Wooton showed again that he's just a very
Speaker 2: composed and solid defender at this level. I think he's
Speaker 2: gonna be especially with Finn Serman having left the club now.
Speaker 2: I thought Scott Woughton had a good game too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, what did you make of the three at the back? Piney?
Speaker 1: I prefer it when they play back for.
Speaker 3: Do you think that was because Sam Sutton wasn't there
Speaker 3: That's why they switched to.
Speaker 2: That Maybe, But then I don't yeah, potentially, I don't know.
Speaker 2: I just like it better when they play back for.
Speaker 2: I just think it should be payin Wooton another center back,
Speaker 2: whether that's you know, Hughes or Sheridan or whoever, and
Speaker 2: then Sutton, I just think it's a much and you
Speaker 2: so maybe without Sutton they didn't necessarily have another option
Speaker 2: at left back, you know, Lucas Kelly Hill's not there either,
Speaker 2: so yeah, maybe they did it because of that, and
Speaker 2: it would have been perhaps hard for for Nathan Walker,
Speaker 2: who's not really a left back by trade, to have
Speaker 2: an A League debut as a left back. That would
Speaker 2: have been probably tough on the kid. So yeah, I
Speaker 2: don't think we'll see it as the regular formation this year.
Speaker 2: I think once Sam Sutton's fit and to me he
Speaker 2: was only sick. He actually got stitches in his knee,
Speaker 2: but that isn't the reason he missed the game. He
Speaker 2: either got food pausing or wake up yesterday morning for Nohow,
Speaker 2: I'm well, you know, chief is that he basically throwing
Speaker 2: up all night and so just wasn't able to come.
Speaker 2: So hopefully that's just a one week thing and we
Speaker 2: may see a back for in the next game against Perth.
Speaker 2: What what did you think of it?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think I completely agree. I'm not sure that's
Speaker 3: what they'll stick with, and you know, maybe they were
Speaker 3: just playing around with it. First game of the season
Speaker 3: it looked like as well. Auckland left C switched to
Speaker 3: a three at the back for the last fifteen to
Speaker 3: twenty minutes or so when they brought on Tommy Smith.
Speaker 3: So just probably early days, just a bit of trial
Speaker 3: an ear going on.
Speaker 2: Okay, So next time for Wellington Phoenix they get on
Speaker 2: the on the plane and head all the way over
Speaker 2: to Western Australia. Perth Glory away on Saturday night as
Speaker 2: their next game and then opening derby of the season
Speaker 2: which is going to be, yeah, going to be absolutely
Speaker 2: brilliant in Round three. Other Round one games the Central
Speaker 2: Coast Mariners and Melbourne Victory open on Friday night with
Speaker 2: a repeat of last year's Grand Final, a nilill draw.
Speaker 2: Auckland FC of course two nil winners over Brisbane. Melbourne
Speaker 2: City beat Newcastle one nil in the Sydney derby, another
Speaker 2: sellout Sydney FC getting there two one over West in Sydney.
Speaker 2: We had the Phoenix in Western United won all yesterday
Speaker 2: and then MacArthur six' one winners over Perth with Olie
Speaker 2: Sale and goal for Perth. The last five games for
Speaker 2: Perth Glory the last four games of last year they
Speaker 2: lost four to eight nil, four to three and seven
Speaker 2: to one. They've lost the opening game of this season
Speaker 2: six to one by Mike count Bonnie. That's twenty nine
Speaker 2: goals conceded in the last five games.
Speaker 3: Doesn't look good for Oli Sale, does it.
Speaker 2: I don't know whether he could have done much about
Speaker 2: some of the goals, but I mean, because you've got
Speaker 2: to defend as well, you know, and it's on MacArthur.
Speaker 2: You don't look at MacArthur go wow, that's an amazing
Speaker 2: attacking side six to one to open the.
Speaker 3: Season five mil a halftime as well. When I saw that,
Speaker 3: I was like, damn, we almost had Auckland f seed
Speaker 3: top of the table for the first week. But no, yeah,
Speaker 3: not not ideal as I mean, huge result. Great for MacArthur,
Speaker 3: who lost obviously a few players from all their scandals
Speaker 3: last year. So you're not a baudy fit.
Speaker 2: Yeap Macarth the top of the I did. I must
Speaker 2: go back to the Auckland game. The chant we are
Speaker 2: top of the league was great from the from the port.
Speaker 2: You know we've only had we've only had two games.
Speaker 2: But yeah, as I said to Jacob Spooney and commentary,
Speaker 2: it's actually correct. They are top of the League.
Speaker 3: I do just have to point out one more line
Speaker 3: and one of the chants Piney that I thought, might
Speaker 3: you know rile up some Wellington Phoenix fans, but it
Speaker 3: was the fire of the next is truly gone fall
Speaker 3: O follow Aucklandlefsie.
Speaker 1: Oh you're a convert. You're a convert. I can't wait
Speaker 1: for the derby.
Speaker 2: Let's have a look at Kiwi's playing around the world
Speaker 2: as far as the men are concerned. Great to see
Speaker 2: Finn Sermon get a long awaited MLS debut for Portland Timbers.
Speaker 2: They had a one old drawer with the Seattle Sounders.
Speaker 2: Finn was terrific and he got big raps from his
Speaker 2: coach Phil Neville. Portland are into the playoffs for the MLS.
Speaker 2: They'll play Vancouver in the first round. But yeah, he's
Speaker 2: had to wait and wait and wait some more Finn Sermon.
Speaker 2: Great to see that debut. And I've had a look
Speaker 2: at a couple of fan forums and they really like
Speaker 2: Finn Sermon. The fans of Portland Timber so great to
Speaker 2: see Minnesota United Michael Boxer and Charlotte Bill Tilham's team.
Speaker 2: They'll also be in the playoffs. We had a key
Speaker 2: we v KeyWe game in the Dutch out of the visy.
Speaker 2: Matt Garbot and Ryan Thomas neither got on the field actually,
Speaker 2: but nack Brada that's Matt Garbett's team betting pecks Waller
Speaker 2: two one. Andre DeJong set up a goal and scored
Speaker 2: another one the winner actually an extra time for Stellenbosch
Speaker 2: against AmaZulu, who we used to play for in the
Speaker 2: Knockout Cup in South Africa. And unfortunately ben Old is
Speaker 2: on crutches. I saw a couple of photos of this
Speaker 2: over the last twelve hours or so, injured after he
Speaker 2: got back from All White's duty. He'll miss or did
Speaker 2: miss this weekend's game and we'll undergo further tests this week.
Speaker 2: Not a great sight to see Ben Old hobbling around
Speaker 2: on crutches at Saint etti N. Hopefully it's not as
Speaker 2: bad as it as it appears. What about our women.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we had three kiwi's playing the same English Championship
Speaker 3: game Durham versus Sunderland. Hannah Blake scored Durham's only goal
Speaker 3: and Mickey Foster came off the bench. Katie Kitchen played
Speaker 3: the full ninety minutes for Sunderland, who won two to one. CJ.
Speaker 3: Bott played ninety minutes for Lisa in their one Neil
Speaker 3: win over Everton in the Super League in New Zealand
Speaker 3: under twenty internationals. So your Hearing made her bundes League
Speaker 3: debut for Potsdam. I think that very cool.
Speaker 2: Maya Hahn's team. You remember Maya Hahn who used to play. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I think that's the same team that Maya Hahn is
Speaker 2: and she shifted her allegiance to Germany having played I
Speaker 2: think age group internationals for New Zealand. She was out
Speaker 2: of OOLI Academy. I think that's Maya Han's team Potsdam. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I must admit I this completely escaped my intention attention
Speaker 2: until you pointed it out to me that saw A
Speaker 2: Hearing was even at Potsdam.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, I didn't even know she had left New Zealand.
Speaker 3: Actually she'd been playing I believe for Auckland United, switched
Speaker 3: from over from Northern Rovers, and yeah, she'd been such
Speaker 3: a good talent here in the domestic league. And then
Speaker 3: I just happened to be scrolling on Twitter and saw
Speaker 3: that she had made her debut, So yeah, I have
Speaker 3: to check in with her and Mayer. I know Maya
Speaker 3: very well. I played school football with her. So, yeah,
Speaker 3: that's not good to mean that I didn't know that.
Speaker 1: Where is Millie Clegg.
Speaker 3: Millie Clegg, she hasn't She hasn't played yet. I don't
Speaker 3: think she's made her debut for Racing Louisville sadly, but
Speaker 3: I just hope she does before the end of the season,
Speaker 3: which is coming up very soon. Yeah. I think Racing
Speaker 3: Louisville is still kind of it'll come down to the
Speaker 3: wire whether they'll make the playoffs in the NWSL or not.
Speaker 2: Okay, so it's more likely that they'll Yeah, that they'll
Speaker 2: stick with the tried and true. I guess Finn Sermon
Speaker 2: had to wait for a while, didn't he. So maybe
Speaker 2: it's the same with Millie Clegg. Would love to see
Speaker 2: her make her debut in Racing Louisville Colors at some stage.
Speaker 2: Just a quick mention of New Zealand at the Under
Speaker 2: seventeen Women's World Cup a draw with the hosts. The
Speaker 2: Dominican Republic won one during the week the goal was
Speaker 2: an own goal or in fact over the weekend this
Speaker 2: game was so what they play Ecuador in their final
Speaker 2: group game midday Wednesday. If they win, they progress to
Speaker 2: the quarterfinals.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they'd be pretty cool. And you know, remembering back,
Speaker 3: I can't even remember what year that was now, maybe
Speaker 3: twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen when we had that under seventeen
Speaker 3: women's team goal all the way to third. So how
Speaker 3: good would that be if we saw a repeat of that.
Speaker 3: But yeah, one all against the hosts.
Speaker 2: Not too bad, not too bad at all. So midday
Speaker 2: Wednesday against Ecuador and in the National League. Just something
Speaker 2: I wanted to point out was Saski A Vospa, the
Speaker 2: former Wellington Phoenix defender, scoring an absolute banger an added
Speaker 2: time for Auckland United to beat Western Springs.
Speaker 1: One. Have you seen this goal?
Speaker 3: Do they call it a worldy piney? Is that what
Speaker 3: they call one of those those goals?
Speaker 1: A worldy city?
Speaker 2: Yea, I've heard them referred to as worldies, bangers, an
Speaker 2: absolute cracker.
Speaker 1: You got to find the different words for it, but
Speaker 1: it's it's a terrific goal.
Speaker 3: Yeah, unreal from Saskia. She's solid for Auckland United and
Speaker 3: a good important result for them. You know, to get
Speaker 3: up over Western Springs are not not an easy task,
Speaker 3: so yeah, that'd be a good confidence booster heading into
Speaker 3: kind of the second half of the National League now yep.
Speaker 2: And the men also, we just have a quick look
Speaker 2: at the table Auckland City are top with ten points
Speaker 2: and then it's just a real cluster of teams. Coastal Spirit, Birkenhead,
Speaker 2: Western Springs, Napier City, Rovers, Wellington Olympic, cash Mere Tech
Speaker 2: all within two points of each other, and even the
Speaker 2: Phoenix Reserves and Eastern Suburbs have four Western Suburbs at
Speaker 2: the bottom with just a point from their first four games,
Speaker 2: so yeah, it could go anyway, and the same with
Speaker 2: the women. And I think this is what you want,
Speaker 2: don't you want a competitive a competitive league where you
Speaker 2: don't really know from from week to week who's going
Speaker 2: to do well. And you know, I actually ran into
Speaker 2: Katie Duncan, who's coaching Eastern Suburbs. They were flying down
Speaker 2: to Wellington to play the Phoenix Reserves yesterday had a
Speaker 2: good five mil winner. She said, yeah, it's a really
Speaker 2: really even league, that's what they're and she was singing
Speaker 2: the praises of Waterside Carori as well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no exactly, and I kind of like the length
Speaker 3: of it, you know, nine rounds and just you know,
Speaker 3: all or nothing. So yeah, it's good. Both men's and
Speaker 3: women's competitions are tight.
Speaker 1: As you say, all right, that is us on Football Fever.
Speaker 2: We are back next Monday with a new fresh edition
Speaker 2: of the podcast. So you'll be well, you'll be doing
Speaker 2: exactly the same things on Sunday at the Auckland FC game.
Speaker 2: Will you be sliding down the slide and getting into
Speaker 2: the corporate areas and joining the march or what?
Speaker 3: I'm hoping that I don't need to work and I
Speaker 3: can just enjoy it as a fan. Maybe I'll try
Speaker 3: and sneak into the to the south stand and you
Speaker 3: have a have a good proper listen of these chants,
Speaker 3: get involved, maybe sing a few more, and then I
Speaker 3: can report back on what the what the port atmosphere
Speaker 3: is really like throughout the game.
Speaker 2: Piny, what a great start to life for Auckland FC,
Speaker 2: winners in their first A League men's match and a
Speaker 2: terrific occasion at Mount Smart. We look forward to many
Speaker 2: more occasions like that across the summer months. We're back
Speaker 2: with a fresh edition of Football Fever next Monday.
Speaker 1: The f f F with Pony and Body