Southern United crashed to its fourth straight ASB Premiership loss to league leader Auckland City yesterday.
It was a gutsy effort by the bottom-of-the-table Southerners, who were locked at 1-1 with the hosts with 62 minutes on the clock.
But, much as in their previous two games, when they conceded a bunch of late goals to Wellington and Canterbury, Southern United could not stick with the opposition down the stretch.
The 3-1 loss means Southern United has not beaten Auckland City since the 2005-06 season, when it won in Auckland as Otago United.
‘‘You want to win every game, but I can't fault the effort the boys put in,'' Southern United coach Mike Fridge told the Otago Daily Times from Auckland after the match.
‘‘This is probably the hardest venue to come in the competition. The home of the champions; they have been to the world club championships.''
Auckland City dominated possession and territory for much of the game as Southern United sat back and looked to strike on the counter.
Southern United goalkeeper Tom Batty kept his team in the game with a couple of brilliant saves inside the first half-hour, but Auckland City's Emiliano Tade was not to be denied in the 37th minute.
He opened the scoring after Ryan de Vries' well-hit shot was palmed away by Batty, only for Micah Lea'alafa to feed Tade inside the box to fire home.
Southern United's surprise equaliser came early in the second half via Harley Rodeka, who plays his club football in Auckland during winter.
Defender Ross Howard found himself in space down the left-hand flank, before putting a nice ball into the box for Josh Stewart to toe through to Rodeka, who slammed the ball into the empty net.
But Tade scored his second 10min later, when he took advantage of some lazy marking inside the box, his powerful shot leaving Batty with no chance.
Clayton Lewis made it 3-1 in the 77th minute when he lashed a shot into the corner of the net from range.
‘‘We probably rode our luck a wee bit. We got it back to 1-1 and I think we gave them a bit of a scare,'' Fridge said.
‘‘There was a lot of tired legs out there. You have got to work against this team. Better teams than us have lost by more than two goals against Auckland City.
‘‘I just felt that the boys were fantastic. I can't fault them for their commitment and effort.''
Southern United went into the match without injured striker Sam French and midfielder Rhys Ruka. Midfielders Tom Connor and Morgan Day were also missing, due to work commitments.
Hamish Cotter (18), who helped the Southern youth team finish second in the national league last year, made his senior debut when he replaced Alexander Williams in the 75th minute.
The Dunedin-based team has a short turnaround before its next game, against WaiBOP United in Hamilton on Thursday night.
The team arrives back in Dunedin this morning and will train tomorrow night.
Southern Utd v Auckland
The scores
Auckland City 3
Emiliano Tade 37, 63, Clayton Lewis 77
Southern United 1
Harley Rodeka 53
Halftime: 1-0
