Capital Soccer clinched third place in the inaugural National Women’s Soccer League at Taharoto Park on November 17, as they overcame closest rivals United Soccer in a remarkable nine-goal thriller, 5-4 the final score. The strong gusts of wind blasting downfield from the clubrooms end of the pitch dominated the direction of play for all but the last ten minutes of the match, with United cancelling out Capital’s three first half goals inside the first twenty minutes of the second spell, before succumbing to two late strikes from the visitors, one of which they managed to redress. Having waited over four hours between arriving at the airport and kicking a ball in anger, Capital were itching to vent their pent-up energy by the time 2pm rolled round, and with the prevailing Wellington breeze (!!) at their backs, they hit the ground running. A misplaced pass by Catherine Porteous in the third minute gifted possession to the ever-lively Nicky Smith, who swiftly slipped player-coach Wendi Henderson through with just Rachel Howard to beat. The striker did so, but her effort lacked accuracy. Within three minutes, Smith had created further chaos, Monika Gut homing in on her cross. Howard blocked at the young midfielder’s feet, but Gut regathered the ball and played it back to Toni Chapman, whose rasping thirty-yard rocket screamed past the stranded Howard, only to cannon to safety off the ‘keeper’s right-hand post. Henderson miscued a volley in the twelfth minute, a disappointing conclusion to a fine left flank move in which she starred, with assistance from the well-performed Rebecca O’Neill - a perceptive back-heel - and, inevitably, Smith - perpetual motion personified. The Capital attacks kept coming, with Chapman thundering another thirty-yard effort against the crossbar soon after. But every once in a while, United hinted that the visitors weren’t going to have it all their own way, such as in the eighteenth minute, when Gillian Thurlow’s clever flick deceived Alexandra Hansen and created space for herself on the right. Liz O’Meara got on the end of Thurlow’s cross, but she found herself with nowhere to go, the reason being an outstanding display of man-marking by Nicola Morrison, the quality of her performance being such that the league’s leading goalscorer never enjoyed the merest hint of a chance to score from open play all day long. After Howard’s flying save low to her right to thwart a Henderson volley, Smith took on three opponents on the half-hour before setting up her SWANZ team-mate for another long-range effort. Henderson’s shot flew wide on this occasion, but such was Capital’s momentum by this time that the arrival of a goal wasn’t a question of if, but when. A strong run from midfield by Jenifer Patterson presented Smith with a chance to take on the United defence once more. From twenty-five yards, she let fly, and found the back of the net in the 32nd minute, largely due to Howard being too late in getting down to cover the shot - by the former SWANZ goalkeeper’s own high standards, this was one she will want to forget in a big hurry. Which makes a near-repeat performance four minutes later almost impossible to explain. After saving a rising drive from Patterson, Howard was again beaten by a low Smith drive from the edge of the penalty area, after the goalscorer had worked an opening with Andrea Scott. O’Neill and Henderson set up Smith for another rasping drive soon afterwards, the ball clearing the crossbar on this occasion, while Scott and Henderson combined to present Bria Sargent with a shooting chance in the 39th minute, the defender being left to rue her misfortune after the crossbar intervened yet again!! Morrison joined in the downfield procession four minutes later, her strong header forward allowing Smith to unleash a snap-shot which caught the unsuspecting Howard unawares. The goalkeeper did just enough to paw the ball to safety on this occasion, but in stoppage time at the end of the first half, she was found wanting again. Smith was delving into her box of tricks at every opportunity, this time inside the United penalty area. After jinking and turning, a subtle back-heel created space for Henderson to let fly from the edge of the area, the ball flying inside Howard’s near post seconds before the half-time whistle. Such was the strength of the wind, would a 3-0 lead be enough for the Wellington-based combination? Within seventeen seconds of the second half starting, there was more than just a gentle hint that it might not be. For that was the time it took Thurlow to intercept a pass from Capital’s kick-off, surge downfield and let fly from twenty yards, only to see the ball crash off the far post to safety. It was all the incentive United needed, but their initial efforts in the half were foundering on the rock-like Morrison, who, as well as keeping O’Meara in her back pocket, was now being called upon to cover for some of her team-mates, who were quite content with spending life on attack in the first spell, but were found wanting when it came to performing their second half defensive duties. Sure enough, a goal came, half-time substitute Zoe Thompson’s 57th minute near post header, following an O’Meara corner, finding the mark through a crowded goalmouth.

That was the catalyst for an all-court-press by United, who poured forward from the kick-off and promptly scored again. Sarah Gibbs - one player whose will to win and never-say-die attitude this writer greatly appreciates - led the charge, only to see the pace taken off her shot by Capital’s hitherto inactive goalkeeper, Pam Yates. Thurlow was poised to pounce, but Sargent arrested that opening, only for her clearance to fall at the feet of Gibbs once more. She made no mistake this time - 3-2, and, given the situation facing United called for the rolling-up of sleeves and getting stuck in, a most apt goalscorer to boot. Hansen blocked a Thurlow effort on the hour, following a clever free-kick routine featuring Gibbs, but come the 65th minute, it was 3-3, and all on for young and old alike. Thompson’s pace was causing Capital concern aplenty, and on this occasion, the young goal-getter proved too quick for Sargent, who sent the striker crashing to earth in the penalty area. Referee Sam Tompsett didn’t hesitate, and up stepped O’Meara to slam home the equaliser, her eighth goal of the season, a tally which secured her the inaugural National Women’s Soccer League Golden Boot trophy. And still they pressed for more. Porteous let fly fifteen minutes from time after more Gibbs-sourced havoc - the ball kept on flying. Thompson maintained a yard’s advantage on Morrison all the way down the right flank before unleashing a shot two minutes later - Yates grabbed the ball greedily. Eleven minutes from time, and only the offside flag against the prowling Thurlow denied United from taking the lead, Yates having dropped a teasing Jennie Cross cross after Thompson’s electric burst down the left had engineered the opening. The wind, by now, was dropping, and changing direction. So did the match. Suddenly, Capital had a second wind, and how they made it count! Four minutes from time, Smith rampaged down the right and picked out O’Neill with a cross which the unmarked midfielder thrashed past the exposed Howard for a goal the scorer’s performance fully merited. That made it 4-3, and within a minute, Capital were celebrating again, substitute Angela Goodridge heading home past a flat-footed Howard after the visitors had stormed forward straight from the kick-off. United weren’t despondent, however. Urged on by Gibbs, they kept on coming, and in the ninetieth minute, substitute Stephanie Stevens swept forward before sliding a pass into Thompson’s path. The striker rounded Hansen before drilling home under the diving Yates to reduce Capital’s advantage to 5-4. Surely they couldn’t score another equaliser? Alas, for United, time won the race, although Capital were denied a sixth goal before the end, Howard thwarting a Scott drive after a neat one-two with Smith. Perhaps 5-4 was an appropriate scoreline for this game to finish on, given it was Capital’s fifth straight win of the campaign, having lost their opening two matches against the top two place-getters. Their stars - Smith, Henderson and Morrison - continue to shine brightly, while on this performance, O’Neill looks destined to join them in receiving higher honours. The tidy blend of youth and experience that makes up United, meanwhile, won their first four games to find themselves on top of the pile after Labour Weekend, only to lose their way against the traditional powers of the women’s game in this country. Of those three reversals, the first, against eventual champions Auckland-Manukau, is the only one in which they were a distinct second-best on the park, perhaps due in part to absence that day of the driving force that is Gibbs. The dedication to the cause shown each week by the likes of the evergreen Thurlow and Whangarei-based Cross is a fine example for the younger members of the side, of whom Thompson, Stevens and man-marking defender Rebecca Simpson, as well as Gibbs, boast potential aplenty for the future, one of the outstanding aspects of the game the inaugural National Women’s Soccer League has been able to highlight. United:        Howard; Porteous, Simpson, Ebbett (Stevens, 27), Whittle; Kendall, Cross, Donze (Thompson, 46), Gibbs; Thurlow, O’Meara Capital:    Yates; Hansen, Sargent, Morrison; Scott, O’Neill, Patterson, Chapman (Goodridge, 76), Gut; Henderson, Smith Referee:    Sam Tompsett Nicola Morrison