Soccer: City underline class as Wellington secure second

Minor premiers Auckland City have further emphasised their status as this season's finest side. Photo / Getty Images.

Minor premiers Auckland City have further emphasised their status as this season's finest side so far while Team Wellington have pipped Hawke's Bay United to second place on a day of one-sided encounters in the ASB Premiership.

Having already made sure of number one spot on the ladder, Auckland seemingly had little to play for on their Round 14 trip to Napier but you wouldn't have guessed it as they produced another polished performance to sweep aside Hawke's Bay 4-1.

That meant Wellington were able to leapfrog the Bay on goal difference after posting a hefty win of their own, 5-0 over WaiBOP United in Cambridge.

Auckland and Wellington will now go into the upcoming playoffs with their confidence levels sky high while Hawke's Bay coach Chris Greatholder will have to pick his charges up and look to prove that today's showing was no more than a blip in what has been an impressive campaign until now.

In a show of respect for the minor premiers, the Hawke's Bay players formed a guard of honour as Auckland entered the field at Bluewater Stadium and it appeared that the respect might have been taken a bit too far on the field in a disappointing first half for the hosts.

Golden boot leader Emiliano Tade tapped in on 35 minutes to give the visitors a half-time lead and they were very much in the box seat by the hour mark as Darren White fired a low shot home for his eighth goal of the season.

Auckland were awarded a penalty just a couple of minutes later and, with the chance to earn the golden boot very much at the forefront of Tade's mind, there was only ever likely to be one taker. The Argentinian made no mistake from the spot and completed a hat-trick in the 82nd minute by cutting inside from the right and coolly slotting past Richard Gillespie.

The trio of strikes takes Tade's tally to 12 and it will now take something special from Waitakere's Richie Cardozo or Canterbury's Aaron Clapham tomorrow to deny him the golden boot.

Captain Bill Robertson headed in a consolation for the Bay in added time but it wasn't enough to prevent Wellington edging ahead of them on the ladder and that pair will now meet in the semi-finals.

The capital men pulled off their rise in the rankings thanks largely to a four-goal haul in the second half against WaiBOP at John Kerkhof Park.

Youngster Joel Stevens put his side ahead in the 42nd minute and two goals in quick succession just before the hour made the points safe for Wellington. The talismanic Henry Fa'arodo, who went into the day also in the running for the golden boot, headed his ninth of the campaign on 57 minutes and another effort from Stevens was heavily deflected in for an own goal seconds later to make it three.

With no possibility of climbing the table, there was little motivation for WaiBOP to launch a stirring comeback and it never looked likely to materialise, Wellington substitutes Cameron Lindsay and Sam Mason-Smith making the most of their introductions to round off the scoring at 5-0.

There are now just two matches remaining in the regular season of the ASB Premiership today and both are of the hugely significant variety.

The wooden spoon will be on the line when Southern United welcome Wanderers SC to Rugby Park in Invercargill from 2pm while the playoff hopes of Waitakere United and Canterbury United will go on the line at Fred Taylor Park from 4pm.