New Zealand's U-17 women's squad, the Young Ferns, took their first steps on the road towards qualifying for and being competitive at the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals in Trinidad & Tobago with a solid 4-1 victory over Waikato-Bay of Plenty in the opening 2009 Lion Foundation National Women's League Northern Conference fixture on Labour Day. The pace and bounce of the North Harbour Stadium Tigerturf, which fooled players from both sides who are so used to the response from playing on natural grass, was directly responsible for the game's opening goal, scored after just five minutes. Kate Loye, who, in tandem with Young Ferns captain Katie Bowen, bossed midfield throughout this contest, charged down a clearance by WBOP goalkeeper Amanda Wilshier, and Hannah Wong was onto the rebound in a flash, getting to the by-line before pulling the ball back. Wai-BOP's defence failed to clear the danger, their attempt to do so bouncing over the bemused figure of Wilshier. Mary Fraser couldn't believe her good fortune, and pounced on the dropping ball before gleefully tucking it into the empty net. The provincial combination was shell-shocked by this horror start, and the Young Ferns looked to twist the knife within seconds. Holly Patterson sent Wong racing through the inside right channel, and her stinging drive was turned round the post by Wilshier, under whom Wong fired a low drive into the side-netting two minutes later, on receipt of a pass from Loye. Waikato-Bay of Plenty's goalkeeper was called into action again in the fourteenth minute to turn a rasping Olivia Chance drive to safety, but she was given no chance in the 21st minute by a scintillating six-player raid which produced the goal of the game. Bowen gathered the ball on halfway and played it back to Kate Carlton, who combined with Chance to link with Loye. She swept the ball wide to Patterson, whose measured clipped cross to the near post found Wong arriving bang on cue, and she fair buried the ball beyond Wilshier's despairing dive - 2-0, a cracking goal! Sharp-eyed observers will have noted that three of those involved in the build-up to that goal would have been an integral part of Waikato-BOP's National League squad were they not on Young Ferns' duty - such is the burden facing the federation team, who are heavily reliant on their players with Northern Premier Women's League experience. Among this contingent is Jessica Rollings, who, in the 31st minute, let rip a twenty-five yard piledriver of a free-kick which Young Ferns goalkeeper Bernadette Anderson found too hot to handle at the first time of asking. She grabbed it at the second attempt, and promptly sparked a counter-attack which saw both Loye and Wong sting the gloves of Wilshier inside the next ninety seconds with rasping twenty yard drives. Five minutes later, Kerri Gerrits and Rebecca Wall worked their way downfield deep into Young Ferns' territory, their interchange of passes exposing gaps which NZ coach Dave Edmondson will be keen to ensure are covered up by the time his squad takes to the world stage. On this occasion, Carlton's timely tackle spared the U-17s blushes, and sparked a counter-attack which culminated in Loye sending Morris racing through the Wai-BOP rearguard with just Wilshier to beat. Sadly for the scorer, she spurned a glorious chance, softly chipping the ball straight at the relieved goalkeeper - a poor finish. Wilshier made a far more accomplished save five minutes before half-time, Chance and Loye having combined to play Patterson in on the right. Her drive fizzed low to the `keeper's right, but Wilshier, with the ball seemingly past her, managed to retrieve the situation with a solid smothered stop. Back came the visitors, Gerrits and Brogan Mathieson prising open the Young Ferns' left flank which prompted Tessa McPherson to race across and execute a no-nonsense challenge in the penalty area, at the expense of a corner. Katherine Robinson whipped in a beauty to the near post, but McPherson rose well to head clear the last threat of another first half goal. After Chance had gone close with a twenty-five yarder just ninety seconds into the second spell, Waikato-BOP proved a far more resilient combination, countering Bowen and Loye's midfield dominance via the introduction of half-time substitute Caitlin Whitford. The Young Ferns' duo were much more subdued as a result, and the visitors enjoyed a wee spell when they

Kate Loye challenged by Brogan Mathieson Nicole Stratford heads clear from Rachel Head Kate Carlton challenges Kerri Gerrits Jessica Rollings gets to grips with Sivitha Boyce Jane Barnett plays the ball away from Alex Shadbolt

had the better of the exchanges, forcing a couple of saves from Anderson as a result. Robinson sparked the first opportunity, combining with Naomi Courtney-Tennent and Mathieson to present Gerrits with a 53rd minute shot on the turn which Anderson grabbed greedily, in much the same fashion that she dealt with another attempt from the same player four minutes later. On the hour mark, Bowen managed to shake off the shackles in which she'd temporarily been placed by Wai-BOP's half-time adjustments to send a clever chipped effort narrowly over the bar, and she followed that up four minutes later with a powerful fifty yard surge downfield before linking with substitute Jane Barnett. Her teasing cross picked out the head of Fraser, whose deft header was grabbed by Wilshier, the first time she had been called upon in this half, a measure of Wai-BOP's improvement since the interval. Another was a stunning 67th minute goal which halved the deficit. Wai-BOP's very own “R&R” combination, Rollings and Robinson, linked on the left, with the latter firing in a viciously angled cross from the halfway line. The Young Ferns failed to deal with it, and how they were punished - Anderson had barely moved a muscle when Gerrits' twenty yard screamer crashed into the back of the net! 2-1 - game on! And it should have been 2-2 five minutes later, Alex Shadbolt directing her unchallenged header, from Robinson's pinpoint corner, over the bar. The resulting goal-kick saw Sivitha Boyce cleverly evade Rollings' challenge with some deft footwork on halfway, from where she lofted the ball towards the Wai-BOP penalty area. Chance was the beneficiary, but Wilshier was equal to it, tipping the effort onto the bar. Chance is often followed by fortune, and it certainly was the case for the Young Ferns on this occasion, the ball rebounding off the bar and ricocheting off the retreating goalkeeper into the net - 3-1, with seventeen minutes left. It was a body blow from which Waikato-Bay of Plenty never recovered. But for a fine tackle by the impressively performed Nicole Stratford three minutes later, Chance would have increased the Young Ferns' advantage still further, which would have been due reward for the enterprise shown by Loye and Barnett in engineering the opening. Five minutes from time, a mazy run from Rollings was brought to a crude conclusion some thirty-five yards from goal. Referee Wayne Scott awarded the free-kick, and the victim of the foul picked herself up, dusted herself down and fair hammered the set-piece goalwards. Anderson knew very little about what happened next, but she somehow tipped Rollings' rocket onto the bar, from which the Young Ferns scrambled clear the last threat posed by Wai-BOP. The U-17s weren't content with the 3-1 scoreline, however, and in stoppage time increased their advantage still further. Loye, Wong and Barnett combined neatly down the right, with the last-mentioned's low cross an invitation for Grace Parkinson to score. The substitute duly obliged, and another, Rebecca Burrows, instigated another raid before the final whistle, inviting Barnett to deliver a hanging cross which lured Wilshier off her line. Wong fearlessly leapt in ahead of her, and deserved better than to see her brave headed attempt, the final act of note in the match, flash past the post. 4-1 was the Young Ferns' lot, however, a solid start to their National Women's League campaign, but one which gives coach Edmondson plenty to work on ahead of their principle target, the Oceania U-17 Women's World Cup qualifying tournament in April. Waikato-Bay of Plenty also have plenty to work on, with coach Nicola Demaine severely hampered by the limited resources available to her, given the absence of the federation's Young Ferns contingent, and Football Ferns starlet Sarah McLaughlin. But their improved second half showing, at least until the freakish third goal found the net, is something on which they can look to build before they next take to the park. Young Ferns:     Anderson; Boyce, McPherson, Carlton, Head; Patterson (Barnett, 61), Bowen, Loye, Chance (Burrows, 78); Wong, Fraser (Parkinson, 70) Waikato-BOP:     Wilshier; Stratford, Williams, Shadbolt, Robinson; Mathieson, O'Connell (Whitford, 46), Courtney-Tennent, Rollings; Wall, Gerrits Referee:     Wayne Scott