The Socceroos convincingly retained the Soccer Ashes at GoMedia Mt. Smart Stadium on September 9, seeing off the All Whites 3-1 in front of a partisan 18,213-strong crowd to record a 4-1 aggregate win, having prevailed by a solitary goal in Canberra four days earlier. As in Australia's capital, New Zealand began brightly in Auckland against an Australian side sporting six changes from that which started the first leg of this revived trans-Tasman showdown following the unearthing, in 2023, of this treasured footballing taonga, which had last been at stake nearly seventy years prior, at which point it disappeared. Since its rediscovery, the nations have met in London in a one-off affair in October 2023, but this is the first instance since the revival of the Soccer Ashes rivalry that the trophy has been contested on both sides of the Tasman. The All Whites certainly had their eyes on the prize, with Chris Wood the first to threaten as he looked to capitalise upon Francis de Vries' ball over the top in the eighth minute. Paul Izzo swiftly dashed out of his penalty area to avert the danger, but the respite was brevity personified. For Darren Bazeley's charges threatened again a minute later, Ben Old inspiring an attack which culminated in Sarpreet Singh's shot being blocked by Alessandro Circati. And a further raid, in the eleventh minute, saw Wood heading Tim Payne's cross back across goal to Ryan Thomas, who, under pressure from Milos Degenek, directed a looping header goalwards which Izzo grabbed beneath his crossbar. Australia produced their first attack of note in the seventeenth minute, captain Circati releasing Mohamed Toure down the right. Despite the presence of Finn Surman and de Vries, the striker managed to pick out Connor Metcalfe with his cross, the striker being thwarted in the act of shooting by Tyler Bindon. A testy period soon followed, during which both teams saw players booked, but this spell was concluded in fine style by the All Whites, as they produced the move of the match thus far in the 28th minute. One-touch football can unlock even the most miserly of defences, and Australia found their lock being picked in style by an enterprising interchange of passes which saw de Vries, Thomas, Old, Singh and Wood prise open the Socceroos defence, only for the skipper's shot to be smothered by Izzo - far and away the best move of the match thus far. The All Whites had penalty claims turned away by Scottish referee Don Robertson on the half-hour when Nestory Irankunda appeared to use his arm to control the ball in the act of clearing it. It came in the middle of a spell of solid pressure from the home team, but they failed to create an end product in the form of clear-cut chances, unlike their opponents … In the 33rd minute, Max Crocombe pulled off a fabulous save, seemingly reaching backwards to claw out a Kye Rowles header from a Metcalfe cross. But when the Socceroos next attacked, three minutes later, they were celebrating the opening goal. Metcalfe secured possession in the centre circle and threaded the ball through for Toure, who got the better of Bindon before tucking home beyond Crocombe, a goal which literally silenced Mt Smart Stadium, save for the odd attendee or three who bluffed their way through Customs in order to grace the ground with their presence! Not satisfied with one goal, Australia threatened again two minutes later, this time via a Rowles free-kick from wide on the left. He delivered it to a spot eight yards out from goal, and the resulting half-clearance fell invitingly to Aiden O'Neill, who executed a Thiago Alcantara-like volley from twenty yards which briefly skimmed the turf before careering narrowly past Crocombe's right-hand post. The All Whites looked to respond in kind before the interval. From the resulting goal-kick, Old fed Singh - a lovely turn - on the left, which saw the playmaker scampering clear before crossing towards Wood. The retreating figure of O'Neill diverted the delivery against his own crossbar, off which the ball rebounded to the incoming figure of Tim Payne. His stooping header was destined for the back of the net until the recovering Izzo stuck up an arm to divert the ball over the bar. De Vries' resulting corner was cleared to Old, who miscued his volley, while with half-time imminent, Singh went for glory with a long-range free-kick. If he'd been taking a penalty for the NZ Warriors rugby league team, whose home ground this is, the flags would have been raised acknowledging two points … alas, this was for the Soccer Ashes, and a wild shot didn't go down well with the natives in the circumstances.

Three minutes after the resumption of play, Old, de Vries and Singh combined neatly on the left, with Old's cross finding its way to Thomas. He controlled the ball, then unleashed a twenty yard volley which Izzo could only parry towards Wood, who was unable to capitalise on the rebound. Back came Australia, Circati delivering a cross which Toure headed straight at Crocombe. But when the Socceroos next attacked, in the 54th minute, they were celebrating their second goal of the game. It was a fabulous solo effort from Irankunde, who latched onto a clearance on halfway before racing through the inside right channel, goalward-bound. He outpaced de Vries before skipping past Bindon and firing across Crocombe into the far corner of the net - 2-0. It was the first of three goals in a frantic six-minute spell, the next one of which had home fans rejoicing. The All Whites had to be the next team to score, but given fifteen years had passed since they had last done so against Australia, the prospects weren't great. Score they did, however, Wood becoming just the sixth All Whites goalscorer against Australia in their 23 clashes since 1990 when deftly flicking the ball beyond Izzo, after Singh and de Vries had combined on the left. At 2-1, it was game on again, but only for three minutes. For Australia restored their two-goal advantage on the hour, Irankunda and Metcalfe combining to pick out Toure, who stood up Surman before bursting past the defender and squeezing the ball under the advancing figure of Crocombe. Just two minutes later, Australia thought they had a fourth goal, but Toure was denied his hat-trick after a Video Assistant Referee check deemed Lewis Miller to have been in an offside position when pulling the ball back from the by-line. Cue a string of substitutions which broke up the rhythm of the game, as did another VAR check, this time for a foul by Bindon on Irankunda in the centre circle which saw referee Robertson brandishing the red card in the 71st minute. Young Mr Bindon was mightily relieved that this VAR intervention saw the red card rescinded, replaced instead by the sixth yellow card of his fledgling All Whites career, this his nineteenth appearance for the national team since his debut in October 2023. Thirteen minutes from time, Irankunda nearly struck his second goal of the game with an effort even more audacious than his fifty yard solo effort which broke the deadlock. The Socceroos earned a free-kick some forty yards out from goal - too far out for a shot, thought many, but they were made to think again by the talented youngster, whose stunning strike screamed goalwards, crashing off the underside of the bar before bouncing to safety. The All Whites responded by introducing their own "next best thing" in the shape of seventeen-year-old Luke Brooke-Smith, the second-youngest player to represent the senior national side since Ceri Evans made his debut in October 1980 aged seventeen years and two weeks. All White number 645 showed some enterprising touches in his brief time on the park, during which time the Australians butchered a great chance to strike again. Martin Boyle led the charge before feeding Irankunda, who crossed the ball straight to Surman when the Socceroos had a man over on attack. They were convincing victors, however, the 3-1 scoreline on the night a little flattering from the All Whites' perspective, given Irankunda's close call and VAR's denial of Toure's hat-trick. The natives have played well in recent fixtures, but not so on this occasion. The Socceroos were the better side, and deservedly retained the Soccer Ashes. The result served to emphasise the depth of talent Australia can call upon - their own Premier League player, Aston Villa's Joe Gauci, came off the bench in the dying minutes to replace Izzo in goal. All Whites captain Chris Wood, meanwhile, left the field halfway through the second spell in order to catch the midnight flight back to England, in time for Nottingham Forest's visit to Arsenal this weekend - it may be a wee while before he and his New Zealand team-mates grace these shores again, maybe not even before the World Cup Finals! All Whites:     Crocombe; Payne (Elliot, 67), Surman, Bindon (booked, 71), de Vries (booked, 79 (Rufer, 80)); Singh (booked, 20 (Brooke-Smith, 80)), Bell, Thomas (McCowatt, 67); Just, Wood (Randall, 67), Old (Rogerson, 67) Australia:     Izzo (Gauci, 86); Circati, Degenek, Burgess; Miller (Bos, 64), O'Neill, Balard (Yazbek, 64), Rowles; Metcalfe (booked, 24 (Hrustic, 86)), Toure (Boyle, 75), Irankunda (Milanovic, 86) Referee:     Don Robertson (Scotland)