When Marlee Francois curled home an Olimpico in wet and windy Auckland on Sunday evening, he set the seal on what has been the best debut season from a team in A-League history.
Congratulations to all-conquering Auckland FC, who officially won the Premiers’ Plate without kicking a ball thanks to Melbourne City’s scoreless draw with Adelaide United on Saturday.
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That result meant the Black Knights couldn’t be overtaken at the top of the standings, so there was a party atmosphere inside a packed Go Media Stadium on Sunday – despite the inclement weather.
The majority of the 24,221 fans who braved the rain were rewarded just after the hour mark when Francois curled a spectacular corner in off the inside of the post, with a single goal enough to spark the celebrations for Steve Corica’s men.
The A-League newcomers have been the team to beat all season and having won the first piece of silverware in their history, they’ll be determined to do the double and ensure they’re ultimately crowned champions.
You won’t need to remind Corica of the importance of that.
He was in Sydney FC’s midfield when the Sky Blues finished the inaugural A-League season some seven points behind premiers Adelaide United, only for third-place finishers the Central Coast Mariners to knock the Reds out in the preliminary final.
It was Corica himself who scored the only goal against the Mariners in the grand final – and you can probably bet there aren’t too many Adelaide fans who look back on their maiden campaign with any real fondness.
That’s a fate Auckland will be desperate to avoid, but the real question is whether their dominance this season is good for the A-League Men?
Hiroki Sakai of Auckland FC celebrates with the Premier’s Plate (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Of course it is!
Not only have Auckland shown the rest of the A-League what can be accomplished with some solid recruiting and the backing of a city that has been behind them from minute one, but they’ve forced the rest of a competition that had gone stale to try and match their standards.
Yes, they have the backing of billionaire Bill Foley and his ownership group behind them, but aren’t they exactly the sort of investors we want in the A-Leagues?
While Wellington Phoenix came within a game of making the grand final under Giancarlo Italiano last season, there’s always been a sense – in Australia, at least – that the Phoenix were merely making up the numbers.
Now a club from New Zealand’s largest city have come in and thrown down the gauntlet.
They’ve already forced a reaction from the Phoenix on the back of a disappointing second season under Italiano, with the club announcing on Thursday they’d offered a new one-year deal, with an option for a second, to their popular head coach.
The Phoenix need to sort out their recruitment for next season – their cut-price crop of signings this season just didn’t work out, and they were painful to watch in Friday night’s 1-0 loss to Brisbane Roar on a cow paddock at Suncorp Stadium – but they’ll be boosted by the fact the All Whites have already qualified for next year’s World Cup.
And if there were ever any doubts of the fine margins in football, we saw it on Sunday night when Western United needed just a solitary early goal to down Sydney FC 1-0 in Tarneit.
At the start of the season, I tipped the Sky Blues to finish as premiers.
As things currently stand, they’re not even in the finals.
All of which sets up a monumental clash with Melbourne City at AAMI Park next Saturday.
The Sky Blues only need a point to leapfrog sixth-placed Adelaide United in the standings, after the Reds were forced to play three games inside eight days at the end of a long season – only to have the bye next week.
There are still some glaring inconsistencies in the fixture list.
But the most consistent thing this season has been Auckland FC.
Two defeats all season tells its own story, with Steve Corica’s men deserved premiers in a dominant inaugural campaign.
