\u201cI was talking with Jesse [Randall], we\u2019re both on free kicks and we were deciding on what would be best. With the way it was lined up and how far it was, we thought a left footer would be better for it and obviously it turned out alright.\u201d<\/p>\n
Auckland FC players celebrate Lachlan Brook’s special strike. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
It was perfectly struck, curling up and over the wall and into the far corner. Brook knew instantly it was a special strike. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how to describe it, but when you connect with the ball you always have a feeling and I felt as soon as I kicked it that it had a good chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brook, who ranked the effort in his top two or three career goals, has settled well in Auckland, after his move from the United States and has been an effective presence on the left flank. <\/p>\n
Sunday was a frustrating match, as Auckland never really got going. Brook\u2019s goal should have been a spark \u2013 coming against the run of play \u2013 but Brisbane continued to dominate the first half, eventually rewarded with Justin Vidic\u2019s goal in the second minute of added time. <\/p>\n
The second half was a tighter affair \u2013 and Auckland had some half chances \u2013 before a thunderous Francis de Vries free kick hit the cross bar in the dying minutes. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t create too much [but] I don\u2019t think that\u2019s what was missing,\u201d said Brook. \u201cJust [not] winning second balls, pretty much throughout the whole game. if you\u2019re second to the ball, you have to defend a lot more and that was the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coach Steve Corica agreed, saying they were outmuscled and outgunned by a physical Brisbane side. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a very flat performance,\u201d Corica said. \u201cI expected more. We just let ourselves down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corica was particularly disappointed with what he described as a costly Brisbane equaliser, coming just seconds before the halftime break. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at [their] goal we were just second to everything,\u201d he said. \u201cWe speak about second balls, putting pressure on the ball, keeping a high line and we didn\u2019t do any of that really and that was the cause of the goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Auckland striker Sam Cosgrove spent much of the first half in a running battle with the Brisbane central defenders, with various altercations which tested the referee\u2019s patience as he picked up a yellow card and incurred several other fouls. It\u2019s not the first time that the English forward has been seemingly distracted, while he had few opportunities to show his wares. However, Corica defended his import.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t single out any player, everyone performed badly,\u201d Corica said. \u201cIt\u2019s as simple as that. We were flat, it wasn\u2019t Sam, it wasn\u2019t anyone that came in. It was just an overall poor performance.\u201d<\/p>\n
If there were any mitigating factors, it was the list of injured and suspended players, along with Francis de Vries and Jesse Randall feeling the effects of their time away in the United States with the All Whites, which left Auckland FC more vulnerable than normal.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously there has been a lot this week,\u201d said Corica. \u201cSo maybe a point in the end is not bad but we don\u2019t want to use [those things] as excuses. The overall performance wasn\u2019t good enough and we expect more from our players. [But] being unbeaten is a real positive [and] I suppose when you play that badly that not losing is important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brook was also philosophical, ahead of Sunday\u2019s match with Newcastle Jets (3pm). <\/p>\n
\u201cFor us to come out with a draw when we feel like we\u2019ve played not at our best at all, [it\u2019s] a credit to how high we keep our standards. Obviously we\u2019re very disappointed … when we draw it still feels like a loss.\u201d<\/p>\n
Central defender Dan Hall will return from suspension next week, while vice captain Jake Brimmer, who dislocated his shoulder against the Phoenix, is also expected to be available. Hiroki Sakai (hamstring) and Logan Rogerson (suspension) remain sidelined. <\/p>\n
Michael Burgess<\/a> has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America\u2019s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI was talking with Jesse [Randall], we\u2019re both on free kicks and we were deciding on what would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[16891,8212,806,51,33283,65968,1320,23966,26845,1888,2082,49530,5267,18917,23739,101098,13631,111,139,5006,69,6777,213,1533,3603],"class_list":["post-151381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-able","tag-anyone","tag-as","tag-auckland","tag-blasts","tag-brook","tag-coach","tag-enough","tag-fc","tag-first","tag-for","tag-forget","tag-goal","tag-lachlan","tag-memorable","tag-neither","tag-never","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-not","tag-nz","tag-performance","tag-sports","tag-will","tag-witness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}