Less than six months ago, Alex Paulsen walked off the pitch at Sky Stadium as a Wellington Phoenix hero.
Wellington had just been defeated 2-1 by Melbourne Victory at the venue in the 2024 Semi-Finals – a result that brought an end to the club’s best-ever season in Isuzu UTE A-League history. A season Paulsen played an integral role in making possible, as one of the club’s top performers.
On Saturday he returned to the venue in the colours of Auckland FC to a chorus of boos.
The former Phoenix favourite has become a main character in the A-Leagues’ newest rivalry since his transfer from Wellington to AFC Bournemouth, and his subsequent loan back to the Isuzu UTE A-League with Auckland, the competition’s newest club.
That rivalry had its first taste of on-field action in Round 3 when Auckland travelled to Sky Stadium to meet the Phoenix, and thanks to a late brace from substitute Jake Brimmer, Steve Corica’s side departed the ‘Cake Tin’ with all three points, to keep their perfect start to life in the Isuzu UTE A-League alive and claim bragging rights in the inaugural New Zealand derby.
Post-match, Corica dedicated the victory to Paulsen, and lauded the goalkeeper’s fellow squad members for helping him through the intensity of his return to face the ‘Nix.
“We wanted to win for him,” Corica said on Sky Sport NZ post-game.
“We knew he’d be under pressure, coming back here. He got a few boos but that’s to be expected I think, coming back to his old club.
“We worked extremely hard for him to keep a clean sheet. I’m really proud of that.
“The boys are fantastic, they get right behind him, but we all were. We knew he was going to have the pressure on him, we spoke to him about it, but he handled it really well.
“He’s a great lad, a great professional and he’s a fantastic goalkeeper.”
Corica added in his post-game press conference: “We spoke to him about that, it’s always going to be difficult. I’ve had that before myself – you know you’re going to get booed, which he did, but the boys really stuck up with him, for him, to keep another clean sheet for the team.
“He knew what he was going to be in for here, and obviously he’s very pleased as well.”
Wellington produced just one shot on target against Auckland on Saturday and that one chance was dealt with astutely by Paulsen to deny Kosta Barbarouses a first-half opener from a promising position.
Hideki Ishige missed a gilt-edged chance to put the Phoenix ahead in the second half, missing the target from an unmarked header inside the six-yard box and the inaccurate effort proved costly as Brimmer came off the bench to score the first two goals in New Zealand Derby history and secure victory for the visitors.
REACTION: ‘This will be the biggest derby in the league’: Auckland hero blown away by first-ever NZ Derby
