Football: Auckland FC draw 1-1 in semifinal first leg against Adelaide in the City of Sails

Auckland FC could not completely capitalise on home advantage in the first leg of the A-League semifinals against Adelaide United with a 1-1 draw on Saturday night.

Back at home for the second week in a row, after surviving an elimination final last week, Auckland goalkeeper Michael Woud was once again one of the heroes early in the match.

Woud made three crucial saves in the first 13 minutes to keep Auckland in the game as both teams were not shy to shoot as the rain came down.

Lachie Brook opened the scoring for Auckland when he found the back of the net with a strike from the top of the box into the bottom corner in the 24th minute as he capitalised on a teammates miss-hit.

Both teams had several more attempts on goal but Auckland took the 1-0 lead into halftime.

Two injuries in the first 10 minutes of the second half rocked Auckland, with Guillermo May going off with a lower leg injury followed quickly after by Cam Howieson who was struck on the face.

Adelaide levelled the score just after the hour mark through Harry Crawford.

Auckland and Adelaide have now played out draws in four of their five matches across two seasons.

With a short turnaround the second semifinal is in Adelaide on Friday.

See how the match unfolded here:

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