Auckland dominated possession without breaking Waitakere down and only looked defensively vulnerable from a few set pieces, while Waitakere battled hard in midfield but lacked a cutting edge up front.
Waitakere player-coach Brian Shelley took a gamble by starting Stoke under 21 striker Derice Richards who had only arrived in New Zealand at 7pm on Friday night, but his partnership with Adam Dickinson never looked like opening up a solid looking Auckland back four.
Despite Auckland also struggling to unlock the Waitakere defence, coach Ramon Tribulietx cut a relaxed figure as the clock ticked down, only making one change in the 84th minute, to bring on Browne.
The pacey Papua New Guinean youth international made an immediate impact, linking well with Emiliano Tade and Ryan DeVries to create a few late half-chances.
In the end, it took an uncharacteristic Auckland long ball to unlock the Waitakere defence, as player-coach Brian Shelley misjudged a defensive header, allowing Browne to sneak in behind.
"I'm glad Ramon put me on, I was dying to get out there," said Browne. "I didn't have much time to get into the game but the through ball from John was spot on, and it just worked out perfectly. The game was a bit dead for bits, but to come on and score the winner, I'm just very happy."
Shelley saw a lot of positives from the match, especially defensively where he said his side looked structurally sound.
"We're a new team, a new group of players and I thought that when they had it, we frustrated them quite a lot and dealt with most things they threw at us. We probably didn't create enough to win the game but I'm gutted we didn't take the point away.
"With five minutes to go we were just looking to hold what we had and take a point, I would have been pleased with that. But Auckland are a quality team and the know how to win games.
"It was still a hell of a difference from last season. They were able to open us up pretty easy last year in all the games, and it didn't happen today."
In today's other match Southern United collected their first points of the season, beating Canterbury United 1-0 in Christchurch.
