{"id":406938,"date":"2026-05-01T16:05:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T16:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/406938\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T16:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T16:05:09","slug":"auckland-fc-vs-melbourne-city-randall-plots-big-a-league-finals-impact-in-club-farewell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/406938\/","title":{"rendered":"Auckland FC vs Melbourne City: Randall plots big A-League finals impact in club farewell"},"content":{"rendered":"

But now he wants the best chapter yet, hoping for a bounce coming into the finals. Or maybe more than that \u2013 he is expecting one. By the high standards he has set, things have dipped recently, as he has gone seven matches without finding the net, since the 3-0 win over Melbourne City in late February<\/a>, the longest goal drought of his season. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still giving energy and creating a lot of chances but I guess it hasn\u2019t really clicked for me in the final third in terms of goal-scoring,\u201d Randall says. \u201c[But] it\u2019s normal. These things happen every now and then in football. I just stick to what I\u2019m doing, just keep working hard and nothing\u2019s changed on my end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Randall admits he probably hasn\u2019t been \u201cclinical enough\u201d at times, but it\u2019s more likely to be a variety of factors. As a team, Auckland have endured a flat patch, while he has undoubtedly missed the injured Francis de Vries over the past five matches, given their established combination on the left flank. He is also attracting increased attention from opposition clubs<\/a>, determined to analyse and negate his threats. But don\u2019t bet against a finals flurry. <\/p>\n

\u201cI hope so,\u201d says Randall. \u201cYou know what football\u2019s like. It just changes all the time. Sometimes it just doesn\u2019t fall the right way for you, you\u2019re not in the right position to score, and sometimes you can go a few games without it, but I\u2019m looking forward to the next game and hopefully the following few after that to really make a big impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AucklandAuckland FC’s Jesse Randall celebrates a winning goal. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

Randall is a key man for Auckland FC, as he showed last Sunday, with the sprint to the byline to squeeze a cross ahead of his marker in the final minute, which ultimately led to Guillermo May\u2019s dramatic equaliser in Sydney<\/a>. In the end that wasn\u2019t enough, as Auckland\u2019s playoff plans were turned upside down by Adelaide\u2019s stunning 99th-minute winner in Melbourne. It was a shock for the New Zealand team watching on in their Sydney hotel \u2013 \u201cthere were a lot of emotions\u201d \u2013 but Randall was quick to reset. <\/p>\n

\u201cI never assumed we were having a week off,\u201d Randall says. \u201cI knew it was a possibility, but as a player you take it week by week.\u201d<\/p>\n

For someone relatively young, Randall strikes as a mature, grounded type. That might reflect his long, unusual road to professional football compared to many peers, who were already in full-time environments when they were teenagers. His settled outlook has also helped him deal with the increased expectation on his shoulders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any more pressure on me, really,\u201d Randall says. \u201cI mean, there probably is, but I don\u2019t feel it. It\u2019s something I\u2019ve tried to learn to filter out over the years, as it\u2019s not necessarily helpful thinking and worrying about all the outside noise. That will always be there in football and it is something I\u2019ve learned to deal with. As long as I\u2019m ready when it comes to game time that\u2019s the most important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Randall didn\u2019t train on Thursday due to a groin niggle but is expected to play a big part in Saturday\u2019s match, given there is no second chance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big game,\u201d Randall says. \u201cA lot of us play for these big moments and big occasions and it\u2019s an exciting prospect to face Melbourne City, who won it last [season]. It\u2019s going to be a battle and everyone is up for it.\u201d<\/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":"But now he wants the best chapter yet, hoping for a bounce coming into the finals. Or maybe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[209542,27500,51,8834,2199,18836,2688,26845,49640,199916,23500,78,123,111,139,69,193626,147210,213,16674,3007],"class_list":["post-406938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-5pm","tag-aleague","tag-auckland","tag-big","tag-city","tag-club","tag-farewell","tag-fc","tag-finals","tag-gomedia","tag-impact","tag-in","tag-melbourne","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-plots","tag-randall","tag-sports","tag-stadium","tag-vs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406938","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=406938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}