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20/05/07
Gritty Glenfield Run Lynn-Avon Mighty Close
by Jeremy Ruane
Lynn-Avon United were forced to dig deep into their resolves of character at Ken Maunder Park on May 20, as they rallied twice to overcome a gritty Glenfield Rovers combination 3-2 in an intriguing Northern Premier Women's League sixth round encounter.
While both sides were missing injury-hit internationals from their ranks, the starting line-ups suggested the home team should have far too many guns for their opposition, who turned up with just twelve players for this match.
One spectator, on seeing this, wasted little time in declaring Lynn-Avon would prevail 6-0 … it took just eight minutes for said spectator to begin looking for the nearest worm-hole!
United began with a scintillating raid straight from the kick-off, a one-touch interchange between Emma Kete, Rebecca Parkinson, Katie Hoyle and Hayley Moorwood, whose slide-rule through ball for the charging Kete would have reached its intended target had Ashleigh Cox not hurtled off her line to save at the striker's feet just ten seconds after referee Tiana Kairua - not her most consistent performance - had blown her whistle to start the game.
Glenfield's response was prompted by a Lynn-Avon foul some ten yards inside their own half, and forty yards out from goal on the angle. With the sun behind her, Bridgette Armstrong hoisted the ball towards the target.
Erin Nayler, deputising for the injured Stephanie Puckrin, came racing out but misjudged the trajectory of the delivery as she looked into the sun, the ball arcing over her and into the net to the delight of the goalscorer and her team-mates.
The confidence the visitors gained from taking the early lead against opponents whom they've never beaten coursed through their performance for the rest of the half. Quite simply, Rovers didn't allow Lynn-Avon's galaxy of internationals a moment's peace - the home team found themselves subjected to the footballing equivalent of basketball's all-court press!
Try as they did, United struggled to break the shackles. And before they had a chance to do so, a rare slip by Terry McCahill presented Anna Barlow with a great opportunity to double Rovers' lead. But she shot straight at Nayler in the tenth minute.
When Lynn-Avon did get it right, it was a result of swift, short passing manoeuvres, such as that between Kete and Parkinson on the quarter hour. Their neat one-two saw the former charge into the penalty area and let fly, Cox eventually gathering the ball in at the third attempt.
Nine minutes later, Ria Percival and Kete combined to send Parkinson through on goal with just Cox to beat, but the striker toe-poked her effort at the grateful goalkeeper, who was soon called upon once more.
This time, a nice move involving Jenny Carlisle, Kete and Percival saw the last-mentioned skip past a challenge before picking out Parkinson with her cross. The striker deserved better fate than to mis-time her volley, the ball looping gently into Cox's gloves.
A stinging effort from Dana Humby in the 27th minute gave Rovers' former Lynn-Avon custodian greater cause for concern, after the defender had linked with Hoyle on the right. But it just wasn't happening for the home team, and with Barlow and Jen Kendall toiling tirelessly in midfield to stifle much of United's creativity at source, an upset was on the cards.
Three minutes before half-time, however, fate dealt Rovers a cruel blow. Sarah Gregorius, who had been exceptionally well contained by Therese Saito, suddenly found some daylight in which to work, and she galloped down the left at pace before hurdling Michele Hogg's challenge and whipping in a cross to the near post, Kete her intended target.
The ball never reached the striker, but it ended up in the net, much to the chagrin of Alice Bresnahan, who had tracked Kete's run and cut out the cross, only to divert it past the wrong-footed figure of Cox for an equaliser Lynn-Avon scarcely deserved.
As it was, Rovers could have gone to the break having regained the lead. Lisa Kemp loped down the left and fired in a delicious cross to the near post, where Natalie Donze - she ran herself to a stand-still for the cause in this match - was arriving at pace.
Her header beat Nayler all ends up but cannoned off the upright, with Lauren Mathis unable to turn home the rebound. Lynn-Avon failed to clear, however, and Barlow almost made them pay, her effort brilliantly saved by Nayler, who recovered well to get across to turn the ball onto the far post and to safety.
A stumble by Cox just two minutes into the second spell almost spelt disaster for Glenfield, as Kete, Parkinson and Petria Rennie combined to present Gregorius with a shooting chance. Her curling twenty-five yarder arced narrowly past the far post with Cox, who lost her footing as she came out to grab the ball, momentarily prone.
This aside, the pattern of the first half continued, Rovers' terrier-like tactics frustrating Lynn-Avon at every turn. In the 54th minute, Humby was caught in possession by Donze, who scampered down the left and somehow wriggled between McCahill and half-time substitute Vicki Rainbow before unleashing a shot which Nayler saved at her near post.
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 Anna Barlow (Glenfield) and Hayley Moorwood (LAU) contest possession
 Emma Kete (LAU)
 Jen Kendall (Glenfield)
 Petria Rennie (LAU)
 Therese Saito (Glenfield) heads the ball as Sarah Gregorius (LAU) takes evasive action
 Jenny Carlisle (LAU) clears her lines
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A stumble by Cox just two minutes into the second spell almost spelt disaster for Glenfield, as Kete, Parkinson and Petria Rennie combined to present Gregorius with a shooting chance. Her curling twenty-five yarder arced narrowly past the far post with Cox, who lost her footing as she came out to grab the ball, momentarily prone.
This aside, the pattern of the first half continued, Rovers' terrier-like tactics frustrating Lynn-Avon at every turn. In the 54th minute, Humby was caught in possession by Donze, who scampered down the left and somehow wriggled between McCahill and half-time substitute Vicki Rainbow before unleashing a shot which Nayler saved at her near post.
Four minutes later, the visitors were in front for the second time in the game. Again, an Armstrong free-kick proved the source of their joy, although this time it was Barlow's powerful header which prompted the celebrations, the goal due reward for the scorer's industry and zeal throughout this contest.
Rovers' Achilles heel was soon to be exposed, however - their lack of fitness. Having run their socks off for an hour, they started to tire, and Lynn-Avon, sensing their opponents' short-comings, moved ruthlessly through the gears in an effort to exploit them.
In the 64th minute, the cavalry charge commenced. Sam Selwyn's super ball to the left flank sent Rennie racing deep into Rovers' half, the fullback then checking inside before picking out Hoyle. She got the better of Saito before lashing a low driven cross across the face of goal which left Cox well beaten. Unfortunately for United, it was a foot too far in front of Percival, sliding in on the far post.
Seven minutes later, Rennie and Gregorius combined on the right to pick out Percival in the penalty area. Her ten-yard effort was a goal for all money until Cox produced a stunning reflex save to turn the ball to safety.
Percival appeared to be on a personal crusade to level the scores in this match, for twice in the next four minutes, she had opportunities to do so. Hoyle's pass presented her with the first opportunity to do so, but Cox saved well at her feet.
The `keeper didn't have a prayer on the second occasion, however, Moorwood's defence-splitting pass allowing Gregorius to exploit her pace to the full in the 75th minute. Her cross found Percival lurking with intent, and her fifteen-yard drive crashed off the crossbar to seeming safety.
Rovers failed to ensure the danger was averted swiftly enough, however, for within seconds, Kete had swooped on the ball some twenty-five yards out, from where she smashed home a scorching drive into the top right-hand corner of Cox's net - 2-2, and how!
Glenfield was, by now, the footballing equivalent of a prize-fighter who had boxed himself to a standstill and was now on the ropes taking some withering punishment from the more experienced title-holder.
Kete's 76th minute hammer blow had brought them to their knees, but they had dragged themselves off the canvas to bravely soldier on in the hope of claiming a points decision at the finish.
They withstood further punishment in the 82nd minute, as Selwyn and Gregorius combined for Kete's benefit. Cox and Hogg combined to thwart the striker's progress, four minutes before a Humby corner produced an almighty goalmouth scramble, in which Kete was highly prominent.
Saito blocked a piledriver from the striker, who was forced to play the ball back to Selwyn. She sliced her shot across the face of goal, Rovers' reaction that of a team relieved to have survived another raid.
Their hoped-for goal-kick never materialised, however, for Percival, soon to depart the fray with an injury, chased a lost cause and gathered the ball before picking out McCahill in the penalty area. United's defensive stalwart rammed the ball into the roof of the net from eight yards to the undisguised delight and relief of her colleagues.
The punched-out prize-fighter had been lowered to the canvas once more, supposedly out for the count this time. But Rovers rose once more - they still had one last final flurry of punches to throw before the final bell tolled.
And throw them they did, with all their might. In stoppage time, Sophie Stevenson sparked one last attack with a pass which released Donze down the left. Getting in behind Jill Gilmore, the striker fired in a cross to the near post, where Kendall leapt high to beat Nayler in the air.
The ball looped over the `keeper and was heading for the back of the net when a desperate recovery run by Gregorius saw her head the ball off the line and to safety, an effort which clinched a hard-earned 3-2 win for Lynn-Avon. But they had been run mighty close by a Glenfield side which, until they ran out of steam, were well worthy of the three points themselves, and were certainly deserving of one.
LAU: Nayler; Carlisle (Rainbow, 46), Humby, McCahill, Rennie; Percival (Gilmore, 90), Moorwood, Hoyle, Gregorius; Kete, Parkinson (Selwyn, 52)
Rovers: Cox; Porteous, Hogg, Bresnahan; Saito, Armstrong, Kendall, Barlow, Kemp; Mathis (Stevenson, 46), Donze
Referee: Tiana Kairua
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