In a classic clash of good "young'uns" and experienced "young'uns" at Ken Maunder Park on August 12, the vibrancy of Lynn-Avon United's youngsters ultimately proved too much for Eastern Suburbs to handle, with the visitors, who led 2-1 at half-time, ultimately succumbing 6-2 to guarantee their conquerors a top-three finish. The first twenty minutes of this Lotto Northern Premier Women's League encounter were action-packed, and that's putting it mildly. United began like the proverbial house on fire, and could have scored three times inside the opening nine minutes. Poor clearances from young Suburbs goalkeeper Dani Bradley were directly responsible for the first two opportunities, the first of which Catherine Bott strode onto in the third minute of play. She hit an absolute piledriver which had goal written all over it until Bradley made amends by tipping it onto the crossbar, but four minutes later the 'keeper lapsed again, directing a Jess Verdon back-pass straight to Megan Lee. With the goal gaping invitingly, the Young Ferns star steered a lazily struck side-footed twenty-yarder past the left-hand upright, much to Bradley's relief, of which there was little for the young custodian, as two minutes later, Kate Seatter sent Lee racing away down the left. She got to the by-line before pulling the ball back behind India Fremaux to Bott. Lisa Kemp appeared from nowhere to block her first attempt, but Bott was onto the rebound in an instant and fired goalwards once more, this time from a tighter angle. Marlies Oostdam cleared off the line this time, Suburbs somehow surviving again. And they made Lynn-Avon pay for their profligacy just minutes later. Amanda Rasch took a free-kick on half-way in the fourteenth minute which zoomed into the Lynn-Avon goalmouth. It wasn't cleared by the United defence, and the ball landed invitingly in the vicinity of Rebecca Tegg, eight yards out from goal. That the striker was facing away from the target mattered not to Suburbs' goalscoring machine, who improvised brilliantly to open the scoring with a cheeky back-heeled effort - 1-0 Suburbs. For all of fifty seconds. For Lynn-Avon roamed downfield straight from the kick-off until, when twenty-five yards out, Daisy Cleverley let rip. Poor Bradley's inauspicious start got decidedly worse as she went to catch the shot above her head, only to let the ball slip through her hands and crash into the net behind her - 1-1. Anything you can do … back came Suburbs, straight from the kick-off themselves. Tegg played a lovely ball into the stride of Melanie Gooch, who found herself face-to-face with an old Auckland colleague of many years standing. So depleted were United's resources for this match that they had to call in two players from the reserves to occupy the substitutes' bench just ten minutes prior to kick-off, having already raided the "ressies"' stocks for another of their outfielders to play in a position she made her own for club, province and country in days when most of her team-mates in this match were barely in nappies. Yvonne Vale has no plans to make a comeback twixt the sticks. But with Jess Reddaway on Junior Ferns' duty in Japan, United called upon their long-serving number one to roll back the years on this occasion. She certainly showed she has lost none of the attributes which earned her thirteen caps for her country and sixty appearances for Auckland's "A Team" between 1990 and 2007, as witnessed in this amazing thirty-second spell of sustained Suburbs attacking. Vale was off her line in a flash to block Gooch's effort on this occasion, and was helped out by Dana Humby in like fashion, as Flora McLeod looked to turn home the rebound. Gooch latched onto this ricochet, and raced off down the left, getting to the by-line - did the whole of the ball go over it? - before cutting inside and letting fly again. And again, there was Vale, blocking imperiously at her near post. And again, there was McLeod, looking to turn home the rebound. Seatter stepped in to deny her this time, the rebound flying away towards Raima Harding, who struck a stinging first-time drive. But charging towards it, yet again, was Vale, her parried save allowing Rachel Head to clear the ball, this time to safety. And the outlet for that clearance was Lee, who raced away down the left once more before scything inside and letting fly. Bradley, inspired by her opposite number's exploits, produced a fine fingertip save to conclude this breathtaking burst of attacking impetus. Albeit temporarily. For in the 21st minute, Cleverley, on receipt of a pass from Head, turned into trouble, with a capital T! Tegg swiftly stripped her young rival of the ball, swivelled into a couple of yards of space and promptly unleashed a twenty-five yard firecracker which flew beyond the flailing fingertips of Vale, only to crash against the base of the 'keeper's right-hand post. Remarkably, this brought an end to this mesmerising phase of attacking endeavour from both sides - it was no surprise that each team wanted to catch their collective breath, because this writer can assure you it was the devil's own job simply keeping tabs on what unfolded! Blink and you'd miss something!! A less maniacally-paced phase of the match ensued,

Megan Lee - four-goal haul Danielle Bradley Marlies Oostdam Yvonne Vale Hannah Carlsen Chloe Wilson Catherine Bott leaves Chelsey Wood in her wake

until another burst of mayhem commenced in the 33rd minute when Tegg sent Gooch surging through once more. Instantly, Vale raced off her line again, this time her presence proving suffice to put the striker off her stride. United counter-attacked through Head, who linked with Ellie Jeurissen to send Lee lumbering down the left at pace once more. This time, her shot took a wicked deflection which left Bradley beaten all ends up, but racing back to save the day once more was the indefatigable figure of Kemp, who cleared off the line by the far post. That clearance saw the ball head downfield, but Seatter sent it back into Suburbs' half, towards Jeurissen. Verdon, through sheer willpower, managed to get around her opponent and head the ball down for McLeod, who instantly released Tegg. She engineered some space in which to shoot from twenty yards, and an unerring left-foot drive arrowed past the diving figure of Vale into the bottom left-hand corner of the net - 2-1 Suburbs. And very nearly 3-1 with three minutes left in the half. Chelsey Wood pounced on a loose ball in the middle of Lynn-Avon's half and from thirty yards fair battered the ball towards the top corner of the net. Vale launched herself to her right and pulled off a superb flying save to prevent the midfielder from celebrating a rare goal - a terrific stop! The second half was almost a carbon copy of the first the way it began - Lynn-Avon came out all guns blazing, and just four minutes into the action, the hard-working Fremaux combined with Cleverley for the benefit of Bott, whose swerving twenty-yarder was tipped to safety by Bradley. Seven minutes later, Oostdam got away with a trip on Bott near the by-line, one of the few occasions in the match when referee Steve Peeters' calls raised an eyebrow. By and large, the official contributed to a great game with his willingness to let two teams intent on playing football get on with the task with nary a hint of malice in evidence, save for a couple of flying tackles from McLeod which, thankfully, didn't connect. Lynn-Avon levelled the scores with a super move in the 61st minute, and its instigator was the game's oldest "young'un". Instead of hoisting the ball downfield to launch another attack, Vale saw Bott in space on the right and threw the ball into the midfielder's stride. Instantly, she surged forward, before linking with Cleverley, who brought Hannah Carlsen into the action. She played in Head, who had raced up to join the attack, and her slide-rule pass into the stride of Lee allowed the speedster to slot home past the advancing figure of Bradley - 2-2. Soon after, Suburbs began to wilt, the evidence being the increasingly influential figure of Carlsen, who, having been well contained by Dayna Manak during the first half, effectively grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and lifted Lynn-Avon's performance accordingly. Their more experienced opponents had no answer to this additional injection of youthful exuberance, and with only one substitute to call upon - Suburbs, too, were missing a host of players, with four of their squad on Junior Ferns' duty in Japan - their cause was soon a losing one. After the flying figure of Fremaux had narrowly failed to direct Bott's bullet-like cross on target in the 72nd minute, Carlsen broke Suburbs' stubborn resistance with a quite beautifully weighted lobbed twenty-yard pass onto the chest of Lee, who controlled the ball deftly before steering it home beyond the stranded figure of Bradley in the 75th minute - a touch of class which richly merited the reward to which it contributed. 3-2 became 4-2 five minutes later, and there was now no way back for Suburbs. Chloe Wilson played the ball forward to Bott, who fed Carlsen. Her defence-splitting pass sent Lee racing through to tuck home her hat-trick goal a split-second before colliding with the fast-approaching figure of Bradley. Both players were fine, Bradley proving the fact with a fine save to deny Carlsen two minutes later. The midfielder, despite being under pressure from Wood, somehow found a way to deliver an angled pass in between Oostdam and Kemp which allowed Bott to burst onto the ball and send another whipped cross zooming across the bows of the incoming figure of Fremaux on the far post. An 85th minute corner for Lynn-Avon saw Lee whip the ball into the danger zone from a decidedly treacherous quadrant - it was as challenging just to maintain your footing as it was to deliver quality. Lee achieved both objectives, much to Jeurissen's delight, her header looping over all-comers and under the bar - 5-2. There was still time for the coup de grace to be administered, and it was Bott, whose performance merited a goal, who was the supplier on this occasion. Her early ball forward released Lee through Suburbs' rearguard, the speedster outpacing Rasch before battering the ball beyond Bradley to wrap up a come-from-behind 6-2 win for Lynn-Avon, who assured themselves of a top-three finish with this triumph. Lynn-Avon:     Vale; Wilson, Humby, Seatter, Head; Bott, Cleverley, Carlsen, Jeurissen (Coleman, 87); Fremaux (Poata, 88), Lee Suburbs:     Bradley; Verdon, Rasch, Oostdam, Kemp; Manak, Wood, Tegg;  Harding, McLeod (Crichton, 69), Gooch Referee:     Steve Peeters