When Auckland were 2-0 up after twenty-two minutes of this enthralling ASB National Women's Youth League Northern Conference encounter with Waikato-Bay of Plenty on 30 October, you would have been considered certifiable if you had thought they would need a last-gasp equaliser to escape with a point from this Bill McKinlay Park encounter. But that is precisely what they did with thirty seconds of stoppage time remaining to earn a 4-4 draw in a riveting encounter from which, in all honesty, Waikato-BOP deserved greater reward. Make no mistake, it was a fortuitous draw for Auckland, who squandered a two-goal lead and also benefited greatly from some decisions by referee Renee Silvester which were baffling, to say the least. By her standards, this was far from being the official's finest hour-and-a-half. Frankly, she had the proverbial shocker! Most players, when they have such games, are able to get by with a little help from their friends, as that legendary Beatles' track goes. But for goalkeepers and referees, there is no hiding place - the spotlight spares no flaws! So it was for Silvester in this game. She allowed a few rather robust challenges to go unpunished, but ultimately it was a tale of two penalties in this match for which the official will be most remembered - one which was given but perhaps shouldn't have been, half-an-hour after one wasn't given for as clear-cut a professional foul as you're ever likely to see! About which, more later. For before the fun and games came a first half full of twists and turns. Auckland set the tone straight away, Briony Fisher breaking up an attack before picking out Rebecca Tegg, whose deft back-heel allowed Martine Puketapu to dash down the left before cutting inside past two opponents and thrashing a shot narrowly past Naomi-Beth Carter's left-hand upright, a mere 28 seconds after the game had kicked off! Within ninety seconds, Wai-BOP had responded, Holly Patterson and Olivia Chance combining to set up Tessa Leong for a chance which the young striker blazed over the bar from twenty yards. Chance stung the gloves of former Waikato and New Zealand custodian Rebecca Rolls in the sixth minute, then forced a superb reflex save from the former NZ wicket-keeper after a stirring attack sparked by Kate Carlton and featuring Gaby Rotteveel, Patterson's cross-field run and pass to Chance, and an initial cross from the winger which was blocked by Fisher. Auckland had already suffered an injury setback by this time - Maia Jackman departed the fray just eleven minutes into the contest. She was joined on the sidelines by captain Tessa Berger on the half-hour, by which time the home team were bossing the game on the scoreboard. Daisy Cleverley's drive had flown narrowly wide just shy of the quarter hour mark, prompting a Wai-BOP goal-kick which Naomi-Beth Carter cleared downfield - not very convincingly, it must be said. Rebecca Tegg didn't mind one iota - she was the recipient of the ball, and promptly belted it back with interest - 1-0 Auckland, from all of forty yards to boot! After Rotteveel and Kylie Jens had combined to set up Leong for another chance which she spurned in similar fashion to her first shot in the match, Auckland doubled their advantage in the 22nd minute. Fisher sparked the move, threading the ball through to Puketapu, who played it inside to Tayla Hetherington. She evaded one challenge, then another, before sending a twenty-five yarder soaring over the diving figure of Carter and into the net - 2-0. Wai-BOP's players were looking at each other and effectively saying, "What the blazes is going on here? We're playing well, yet we're two goals down. What do we do now?" The answer was to keep on doing what they'd be doing well to this point, for with the formidable talents of Chance, Patterson and Sarah McLaughlin in full cry, no deficit can be considered unrecoverable. Indeed, the first- and last-mentioned combined in the 24th minute, Rolls saving with her legs from McLaughlin as the visitors sought a swift response to the second goal. And after Carter's gloves had been stung by Fisher from twenty-five yards, Libby Williams drilled a shot into the side-netting as Patterson and McLaughlin teamed up, the former doing so despite the constant presence of the tenacious Rachel Head. In the 36th minute, Patterson retrieved a Chance cross and set up McLaughlin for a shot she normally unleashes with her eyes closed. On this occasion, it flew high, wide and far from handsomely over the target, unlike the lifeline Wai-BOP grabbed on the stroke of the half-time whistle via an unlikely source. Kate Loye delivered a corner to the far post which found Rotteveel arriving to head the ball goalwards. Rolls produced a super parried save to thwart the effort, but in the middle of the ensuing scramble, the diminutive but dynamic figure of Kate Carlton emerged to prod the ball home via the far post - 2-1, game on! In the second half, it certainly was! Just eighty seconds after the resumption, Auckland came desperately close to restoring their two-goal advantage through Tegg, who latched onto the ball won by Tina Kolose in a tackle before lashing a twenty-five yarder narrowly across the face of goal and beyond the diving figure of Carter. Cue referee Silvester's first major indiscretion of the afternoon, four minutes into the second spell. All was calm as Rolls gathered the ball inside her penalty area and played it across the face of goal towards Fisher ... only to look on in horror as McLaughlin stepped in with a gaping goal in front of her. She was odds on to score, and should have done, even if she was struggling to control the bouncing ball on this occasion. But she didn't, due largely to the fact that Fisher, who had raced back to provide some semblance of cover, did so with interest, bundling McLaughlin over in as clear-cut a case of a professional foul that you're ever likely to see. Not only was it a penalty begging to be awarded, but it was also red card country for Fisher. Incredibly, unbelievably, she escaped without so much as a

Olivia Chance (WBOP) and Courteney Van Lieshout (Akld) tussle for possession Holly Patterson (WBOP) gets away from Tayla Hetherington (Akld) Kate Loye (WBOP) in full flight, watched by Lucy Carter (Akld) Daisy Cleverley (Akld) Sarah McLaughlin (WBOP) Rebecca Rolls (Akld) Libby Williams (WBOP) Martine Puketapu (Akld)

warning, referee Silvester indicating play was to continue, and no penalty would be awarded in McLaughlin's favour, much to the midfielder's undisguised disbelief. She wasn't alone. All around the ground, those present were saying the same thing - "Penalty, surely?" And "She's got to go". Then a combination of disbelieving head-shaking, and looks of complete bafflement were evident as play continued. Surely there must be some mistake here? Well, yes, there was, but it was now too late to do anything about it. So a seething Wai-BOP combination - you could hardly blame them! - set about trying to get back on level terms via alternative means. Rotteveel rattled the side-netting with a header from a Patterson corner to the far post in the 52nd minute, to which Auckland responded through Puketapu, who dashed onto a Cleverley through ball only to be thwarted by the advancing figure of Carter as she charged out of her area to counter the approaching threat. On the hour, Auckland's defence dozed off, allowing McLaughlin to dart through onto a Patterson pass unchallenged. The mercurial midfielder rounded Rolls and rolled the ball goalwards, only for Fisher to frustrate the Football Fern once more, this time with a goal-line clearance. Four minutes later, Rolls superbly denied Chance at point-blank range in a one-on-one situation after Loye's work around the edge of the penalty area had created the opening for the gifted flank player. The attack also floored the formidable figure of Fisher, Auckland's defensive lynchpin having picked up an ankle injury which required treatment, but only after she had dragged herself off the canvas and lined up Jens in a ball-and-all tackle. The resulting throw-in eventually landed at McLaughlin's feet some thirty yards out from goal. Still seething from the penalty debacle, she channeled her frustrations in the best possible manner, and fair battered the ball beyond Rolls into the net - 2-2, after 65 minutes. Only the offside flag prevented Leong from giving Wai-BOP the lead for the first time in the game two minutes later, while after Fisher had cleaned out Jens at the expense of a corner, Chance went desperately close from the resulting corner. McLaughlin's free-kick to the far post in the 72nd minute revealed Rolls had lost none of her command of a penalty area - she flew through the massed ranks to pluck the ball from the skies without fear or favour. A terrific piece of goalkeeping. Auckland had largely fizzled out as an attacking force by now, but a Lucy Carter shot which Carter grabbed, followed by a superb piece of defending by Carlton which thwarted Puketapu's progress on the edge of the area reminded all-comers that it wasn't all one-way traffic. Still, when Wai-BOP hit the front with thirteen minutes to go, it wasn't hard to sense that the three points were theirs for the taking - their performance merited such a haul. The goal was made by McLaughlin's awareness and off-the-ball movement - she ghosted into yards of space on the right and was perfectly placed to exploit the opportunity when Jens picked her out with a raking cross-field pass. "Macca" tore into the penalty area before delivering a low cross to the near post which Leong stole in to nick past Rolls and hand Waikato-Bay of Plenty a 3-2 lead, a strike which Patterson looked to consolidate seconds later with a twenty-yarder which Auckland's 'keeper saved low to her left. Rolls launched the ball upfield, finding Tegg with her clearance. The striker had become more subdued as the game wore on, but cometh the hour, etc.. Latching onto the ball, Tegg tore at the Wai-BOP rearguard, powering through challenges before, upon entering the area, going down under one from Rotteveel which appeared to take the ball cleanly from the striker's toes. Referee Silvester thought otherwise, however - penalty. And given the bewildering non-decision concerning the challenge by Fisher on McLaughlin thirty minutes earlier, you can imagine what the Wai-BOP contingent thought of this latest call. Carter told the official in words of one syllable exactly what she thought about her latest call, and duly received the yellow card, but all this after having fished the ball out of her net, given Tegg's equaliser from the spot sent the 'keeper the wrong way to set up a grandstand finish - 3-3. Having won it once, Wai-BOP set about winning the match again in the time which remained. And after Cleverley had stung the gloves of Carter with a shot, they looked to have done just that two minutes from time. Jens' surging run from midfield was the catalyst for the visitors taking the lead once more. Chance, meanwhile, was running with the ball, and slipped it to Leong who touched it into the stride of the hard-running fullback. Jens' finish was delightful, and Wai-BOP thought the game was in the bag. But no! The three minute board had been shown to indicate the amount of stoppage time to be played, and we were in the final sixty seconds of it when Auckland launched a desperate last-gasp attack. Hetherington, Steph Eaton and Cleverly all featured, with the last-mentioned touching the ball into the stride of Courteney Van Lieshout, who had stormed up in support as an overlapping fullback. One with a fulminating finish in her armoury, for she fair lashed the ball high inside Carter's near post with just thirty seconds left on the clock. Indeed, there was hardly time for Wai-BOP to kick off, referee Silvester's final whistle bringing an at times rugged, at times controversial and at times exciting encounter to a thrilling close with honours even, although given the key decisions in this match, it has to be said that Auckland's share of the spoils from this 4-4 draw has to rank on the fortuitous side of the equation. Auckland:     Rolls; Van Lieshout, Fisher, Berger (Kolose, 30), Head; Cleverley, Carter, Hetherington (Eaton, 79); Jackman (Wood, 11), Tegg (Nakhid-Schuster, 83), Puketapu Wai-BOP:     Carter (booked, 81); Williams, Carlton, Boden, Jens; Loye, Rotteveel, McLaughlin; Patterson, Leong, Chance Referee:     Renee Silvester