A second-minute penalty, slotted by Aaron Clapham, allowed Canterbury United to take a lead it would not relinquish yesterday at Forsyth Barr Stadium. Clapham added a second in the 30th minute before completing his hat-trick with a penalty in added time as Canterbury walked away with a 3-1 win. A late goal to Eric Molloy was too little and far too late for Southern as it languished in its second consecutive loss.
Southern coach Paul O’Reilly was disappointed and offered a blunt assessment of his team’s performance.
"I think we’ve been beaten by the better team today," he said.
"[We had a] poor start going down 1-0 on the penalty after 90 seconds.
"I thought they outplayed us for large spells in the first half and, to be honest, I thought all over they just looked a yard ahead of us.
"They’re going to be a decent side this year. I think they’re going to be hard to beat, but I didn’t think we performed today. That’s our fourth game as a group and I think it’s our worst performance."
The Southern attack never got going in the first half. While it made several forays into Canterbury territory, a handful of shots from outside the box was all it could came up with. Meanwhile, Canterbury looked far more threatening and the second goal had a feeling of inevitability to it. The defence had clung on up until that point, but some nice interplay put Clapham through, who made no mistake putting it past keeper Liam Little.
Southern looked more lively after the break and created its best chance midway through the half, putting Andy Mulligan in the clear up front. He was unable to finish, though, the Canterbury defence doing enough to force a corner, which Southern was unable to capitalise on.
O’Reilly said their defensive shape, particularly through the middle, would be a key work-on as the side looks ahead to its next match against Waitakere United in Auckland next week.
"Not a lot of positives today," O’Reilly said.
"We stuck at our task and we kept working, but we were sloppy all over and defensively, there were lots of gaps and lots of spaces they played through."
In other games, Auckland City dispatched a 10-man Tasman United 4-0, while Eastern Suburbs took a 1-0 win over Hawke’s Bay United. The Wellington Phoenix under-20s scored in the dying minutes to claim a 2-1 win over Team Wellington and Waitakere United claimed a 2-0 win over Hamilton Wanderers.
