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01/08/07
Percival Takes Full Advantage As Suburbs Go MIA
by Jeremy Ruane
A four-goal haul from Ria Percival inspired an at times rampant Lynn-Avon United to hand Eastern Suburbs a 7-2 thrashing at Bill McKinlay Park on August 1, keeping alive the victors' mathematical prospects of landing the Northern Premier Women's League title.
With the ground made playable due to day-long spiking work, necessary to drain away the surface water following recent rainfall, United brought their “A” game to the party. Some Suburbs players, on the other hand, were missing in action from the word go - simply not an option when taking on a team like Lynn-Avon, against whom nothing less than your best is ever going to be good enough.
United were still bristling from the clubs' National Women's Knockout Cup clash a month ago, which saw Suburbs end the holders' five-year reign in the competition. They had some unfinished business to attend to following that encounter, and the East Aucklanders were made to pay in spades.
Yet they could have been a goal up inside the first three minutes. Michele Cox may be in the twilight years of her highly distinguished career, but she remains a class act, and was by some distance Suburbs' best performer in this contest.
Her interception of a Sarah Gregorius cross saw the ball instantly played wide to Flora McLeod, who sent Melanie Gooch sprinting through. She got the better of Terry McCahill, only to gift possession to the venerable defender. McCahill's surprise was only surpassed by her wayward clearance - straight to Rebecca Tegg, of all people. The striker directed her fifteen yard effort at Yvonne Vale.
Lynn-Avon soon got into her stride. Gregorius - her best display for a wee while - teamed up with Hayley Moorwood and Pip Meo to reward Percival's diagonal run off the right flank. The speedster swerved past a challenge before lashing a left-foot drive on the run into the hoardings.
Three minutes later, Jenny Carlisle played the ball down the line for Meo, who outpaced Sandee Hui before touching the ball into the path of Gregorius. Ginny Tan saved her near post effort, and launched a counter-attack which saw Marlies Oostdam pick out the forward-charging McLeod. She played the ball through for Tegg, but Vale, anticipating the danger, raced off her line swiftly to save at the striker's feet.
United opened the scoring in the tenth minute. Katie Hoyle picked out Petria Rennie overlapping down the left, and the pony-tailed fullback produced a peach of a cross for Percival, whose finish surpassed the delivery's quality - a flying left-foot volley which smashed into the bottom far corner of the net, despite Tan getting a hand to the ball en route.
Referee Wayne Scott - he, too, excelled - played a great advantage for Suburbs two minutes later, when Hoyle inadvertently handled the ball. Cox quickly commandeered possession, and linked with Oostdam and Rebecca Brown to present Tegg with a shooting chance, made possible by Dana Humby's misjudgement.
As the goal-laden scoreline suggests, neither defensive unit should be proud of their efforts in this match. The lone exception to this assessment is Vale - “The Comeback Kid” proved equal to Tegg's attempt on this occasion.
It was 2-0 in the fourteenth minute. Humby's driven free-kick ricocheted off Carlisle to the feet of the similarly unmarked Rainbow, who, from six yards, couldn't miss, and didn't - an early reward for her solid display in this match.
Within seconds, Humby had picked out Percival rampaging down the right with a raking crossfield ball. The game's opening scorer made a bee-line for goal, and did everything right leading up to her shot, which zipped past the advancing figure of Tan but just past the far post as well.
Half-way through the first half, Vale grabbed a shot on the run by Gooch, after the striker had sprinted past Humby to get on the end of a Tegg pass, the move having been instigated by Allysha Johnson.
United's response was swift, Hoyle's drive being blocked by Oostdam, with the rebound falling to Gregorius. Tan saved this twenty-five yard effort, but was rendered helpless in the 27th minute, as United extended their advantage still further.
Moorwood - another good game - and Gregorius combined to send Percival spearing through Suburbs' seemingly supine rearguard. The seventeen-year-old was on fire in this match, and swept past Tan before tucking the ball home from the tightest of angles - another classy finish.
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This blow saw some Suburbs' heads dropping, something which Hoyle was keen to exploit just seconds later. She linked with Percival and Meo to present Gregorius with the chance to unleash a low cross-shot towards the target. It missed the far post by inches.
Unperturbed, United raided again on the half-hour, this time with far greater success. Percival loomed large on the left this time, and made good progress until Janet Groves intervened. The ball ricocheted off her and fell perfectly into the path of Hoyle, who fair hammered a screamer into the top far corner of the net, via the underside of the crossbar from twenty yards.
4-0, then, and Suburbs looking decidedly shell-shocked at the idea of Lynn-Avon being all over them like a rash! So much so, in fact, that all-comers were looking to join in the fun and get their name on the score-sheet - even club newcomer Meo, who was thwarted when Tan raced off her line to clear the ball off her toes soon after the goal.
The scoreline-challenged side rallied before half-time, creating a couple of openings of their own. Brown and Tegg sent Gooch scurrying into the penalty area, where Vale prevailed at the feet of the incoming striker, while a slaloming run from Tegg, which saw her sweep past Carlisle, Rainbow and McCahill, culminated in a low cross for Gooch which Humby thwarted with a timely clearance.
Suburbs coach, Chris Milicich, was understandably far from impressed with his under-performing charges at half-time, and said as much with a few well-chosen words before emerging from the dressing room less than two minutes later.
It had the desired effect, for within ninety seconds of the resumption, Suburbs had reduced the deficit. Oostdam's cross from the left was missed by both Humby and McCahill, something which McLeod didn't object to at all. It left her ten yards out with just Vale to beat - 4-1.
Talk about the proverbial red rag to a bull! Straight from the kick-off, Moorwood took charge, substitute Lily Somerfield coming across to challenge. Beyond her, however, Gregorius was making a tightly angled run amid defenders, and it was this which had caught the playmaker's eye.
A “thread the needle” pass was required, but Moorwood made it look easy - a peach of a ball, which curled around Somerfield and in between Brown and Groves to land perfectly in the stride of Gregorius as she raced into the penalty area.
Drawing Tan out of goal, she rolled the ball inside for Percival, steaming in at full pace from the right. From point-blank range, she completed the third hat-trick of her Lynn-Avon career, and second of the season - 5-1.
Once Gregorius had been denied by a vital challenge from Johnson, and the increasingly frustrated figure of Tegg had rattled the hoardings after taking on both Humby and McCahill, Percival powered down the right once more, in the 57th minute.
After skipping past the lunging figure of Johnson, she clipped a shot across the advancing figure of Tan. The ball hit the far post and bounced out for the incoming figure of Gregorius to turn home. But Hui appeared from nowhere to deny the NZ U-20 international, whose performance deserved a goal.
It wasn't to be, however. Moorwood and Percival combined to create an opening for her just after the hour mark, but Gregorius still had plenty to do - Hui and Groves stood in her path. Albeit briefly, however, as the striker opted to shoot from twenty-five yards, her effort narrowly clearing the crossbar.
In the 65th minute, Gregorius featured again, racing down the right before surging into the penalty area and setting up Sam Selwyn. The substitute slipped at the vital moment, giving Tan her easiest save of the night.
The goalkeeper's clearance landed at Cox's feet, and she played the ball into Tegg, who held the ball up well in the face of strong challenges from Humby and McCahill before cheekily back-heeling the ball into the path of the flying figure of Gooch. Carlisle's block tackle put paid to that opportunity.
The seed had been sewn in Cox's mind, however, and within seconds, she had another chance to create some mayhem in the heart of Lynn-Avon's defence. Spotting Tegg on the charge ahead of her, Cox unveiled a gem of a thirty-yard pass which arced perfectly into the striker's stride. One stride later, Vale was on the scene, and blocked Tegg's first effort. But Suburbs' leading markswoman wasn't to be denied, and turned home the rebound
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to reduce the deficit once more - 5-2.
Straight from the kick-off, Gregorius chased down a lost cause and almost gained reward with a curling effort after leaving in her wake the tiring figure of Brown - no surprise, really, given the U-17 international had played for her school just three hours before this match, although she wasn't alone on that score.
One must ask why these scholars didn't sit out the less significant school fixture, given they had club commitments to fulfil on the same day. The welfare of the player is at all times paramount, and on the rare occasions when the club v. school issue arises in women's football, the fixture of greater significance and scope (i.e. club football) must always take priority.
As well, the individual mustn't be afraid to say `No' to playing for their school in such circumstances, nor should they face any reprisals for doing so. Avoiding the premature burn-out of our potential future stars is something in which we all have a role to play - for their own well-being, and for that of the game as a whole.
Like Brown, Percival is another school-goer, but unlike Brown, she was full of running throughout this match, and full of goals as well. Her fourth - Lynn-Avon's sixth - of the game materialised in the 71st minute, after Rainbow and Hoyle had combined to good effect.
Percival raced down the right into the gaping holes once occupied by tiring Suburbs defenders, and on receipt of Hoyle's pass, lashed a first-time drive across the stranded figure of Tan into the far corner of the net - 6-2, and more goals looking likely.
Inside the next four minutes, two chances materialised. Moorwood's finish was awful, and contrasted starkly with that of Selwyn, who was picked out by Humby's defence-splitting pass from deep.
At least the substitute's effort forced Tan to scramble across her goal to ensure the ball flashed past the post - that of the midfielder, seconds beforehand, ended nearer the corner flag than the target!
Moorwood was involved again soon after, scythed down by the only nasty tackle in the entire match as Johnson allowed her frustrations to get the better of her with a late lunge. The defender copped an icy look from the international for her efforts, not to mention a reminder from the referee that this challenge contrasted markedly with the spirit in which the game had been played, and no more would be tolerated.
Johnson took her medicine, and Suburbs were subjected to further punishment from Lynn-Avon, who piled on the pressure in the last ten minutes. The outcome of the late tackle was a free-kick, which Humby played square to Percival. Tan parried her shot, but Gregorius, upon gathering the rebound, was forced to play the ball wide to Hoyle.
Her hanging cross was missed completely by Tan as it came out of the lights. Suburbs scrambled the ball away, but only as far as Humby, who was still loitering with intent following her set-piece. She let fly from distance, only for Groves to block the effort. The rebound fell to Selwyn, who should have done better with the goal at her mercy.
Four minutes from time, Hoyle swooped on a loose ball just inside her own half and set sail down the left flank. Three opponents later, and with Gregorius, Selwyn, Moorwood and Percival all racing towards the target, she undid all her good work by directing a low cross straight at Tan.
Still they pressed, Moorwood leading the charge a minute later, this time down the right. Gregorius was the target of her well-weighted cross, but the striker had to bow to the presence of Tan, who plucked the ball off her opponent's head superbly.
Lynn-Avon weren't finished, though, and with two minutes left on the clock, Hoyle broke clear on the right, this time, and fired in a cross. Groves completely muffed it, gifting Moorwood her first goal of the season, United's seventh, on a night Suburbs - Cox excepted - went missing in action, much to four-goal heroine Percival's delight.
Suburbs: Tan; Glenton (Somerfield, 37), Groves, Hui, Johnson; McLeod, Cox, Oostdam (Newman, 72), Brown; Gooch, Tegg (Fuller, 79)
Lynn-Avon: Vale; Carlisle, Humby, McCahill, Rennie; Moorwood, Rainbow, Hoyle; Percival, Meo (Selwyn, 46), Gregorius
Referee: Wayne Scott
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