By Michael Church
(Reuters) – Auckland FC coach Steve Corica wants the A-League newcomers to focus on maintaining their impressive early season form after guiding his side to a 2-0 victory over Wellington Phoenix on Saturday, the club’s third win in a row in their debut campaign.
The visitors took the points in the first-ever ‘Kiwi Clasico’ in front of a record crowd of more than 26,000 in Wellington to maintain their perfect start to the A-League season and sit on top of the standings after three games.
“We’ve put together a good team and we’ve started to show that,” former Sydney FC coach Corica said.
“I think we might have surprised a few people in the first three games but our job is to continue and being consistent is the main thing for me.
“There’s a lot more games to come and if we can do that for the rest of the season I’ll be very happy.”
The game was a meeting between first and second in the nascent league standings after both New Zealand-based clubs had emerged undefeated from their opening two matches of the season, with Auckland holding a two point lead over Wellington.
That gap has now increased to five points after Jake Brimmer’s late brace sealed a win that ensures Auckland retain the league’s only perfect record.
The former Melbourne Victory midfielder put his side in front in the 89th minute when he capitalised on an error by goalkeeper Josh Oluwayemi, who needlessly gave away possession in the penalty area as he tried to play out of defence.
Brimmer added the second six minutes into injury time when he forced Luis Toomey’s low cross over the line from close range.
“We’ve brought in great people that believe in the club and what’s happening in Auckland,” said Corica. “The supporters have got right behind us as well, which has been fantastic.
“Everyone’s working hard for each other. We’ve got a real strong bond together already and we go together in everything we do. We just have to continue, make sure we don’t get too carried away because it’s quite early in the season.
“I can’t ask for any more from them in three games, nine points, three clean sheets and scoring some good goals as well.”
Auckland will not play again until Nov. 24 when they face Macarthur FC in Sydney with the club due to have a bye week prior to the international window, with Corica keen to ensure his team do not lose momentum.
“We need to work hard in this little break here, if you take your foot off the pedal now it’s hard to come back,” he said. “We want to keep working hard.”
(Reporting by Michael Church; Editing by Michael Perry)
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