Dwellers still in contention despite loss

Sports

LAE City Dwellers still have a chance for the semi-finals despite going down to Auckland City 2-1 on the second day of action for Group C at Mangere Centre Park, Auckland, New Zealand, yesterday.
Coach Peter Gunemba was lost for words after the heart-breaking loss but pleased with the strong challenge shown by his side against the region’s top club.
The race was thrown wide open for three teams after Western United secured a hard-earned 2-1 win against Malampa Revivors and Auckland City proved their dominance against the PNG side.
“I’m pleased with the men, especially our defence,” Gunemba said.
“We were played the defending champions and our performance  was commendable.
“We knew Auckland City were going to be the biggest obstacle but it’s over now so we’ll just concentrate on winning our last game.”
After the close result in their opening match against Western United, Auckland City coach Ramon Tribulietx was pleased to see a more dominant display against Lae, and thought his side was unlucky to only find the net twice in the 90 minutes of play.
“It was a very well-played game, we dominated from the start — similar to the other day — but maybe even more today,” he said.
“We created heaps of chances that, had we put more away, would have made it a more comfortable game, but I’m happy with that performance.
“We knew they are going to be very intense.
“They are very physically athletic and technically very good and they tried to capitalise the transition so we needed to make sure that we kept our ball circulating and I think we kept that in most parts of the game.”
The qualifier for the single spot in the semi-final will be determined when Lae City Dwellers face Western United before Auckland City take on Malampa Revivors in the final day of action in Group C for the OFC Champions League in Auckland on Saturday.