An absolutely stunning goal from Rosie White forty seconds into stoppage time allowed Three Kings United to eke out a 1-0 win over a Claudelands Rovers combination which deserved at least a share of the points from this enthralling Lotto Northern Premier Women’s League encounter at Keith Hay Park on August 1. Prior to this latest addition to White’s growing catalogue of "Golazos" - about this one, more later, the patrons who braved the elements witnessed a cracking encounter between two teams hell-bent on playing entertaining football. Three Kings started like the proverbial house on fire - White sent one whistling across the face of Rovers’ goal inside the first sixty seconds. The visitors responded in the fifth minute through Sarah McLaughlin - a trademark curling twenty-five yarder which served as a range-finder for what was to follow. Aroon Clansey’s resulting goal kick picked out Chelsey Wood, who sent White rampaging down the right at pace. She clipped a delightfully weighted cross to the far post where Claudia Crasborn was arriving on cue. So was Nicole Stratford, and the pair were both temporarily dazed after clashing heads. As they slumped to the ground, the ball fell kindly for Emma Kete, but she was unable to capitalise on the opening, her miss-hit shot being grabbed on the line by Rovers’ ‘keeper, Naomi-Beth Carter. Her clearance downfield picked out McLaughlin, who, thirty yards out from goal, unleashed a dipping effort which had Clansey back-pedalling furiously. She then leapt up and tipped the ball over the bar just as it was about to drop under it - a brilliant save, and by no means the only denial of such quality the game’s star turn would produce in this match. United eventually got the better of the early exchanges, but a lot of their good work was undone by Kete frequently falling foul of the offside trap - it wasn’t her best game by a long chalk. There was some impressive defensive work taking place too, with United’s Tessa Berger and Rovers’ Kate Carlton and birthday girl Alex Shadbolt all catching the eye with timely interventions to thwart promising attacks. Gradually, Rovers wrestled the initiative back from their opponents, Grace Parkinson getting through a tower of work in the centre of the park to ensure McLaughlin and Holly Patterson could strut their stuff to great effect. The pair combined in the eighteenth minute, "Macca" sending the speedster away down the right in pursuit of a sumptuous pass. McLaughlin then stormed forward anticipating a return pass, and when it arrived she hit it first time on the run, only to groan in despair as Clansey produced another fine fingertip save, this time turning the ball round the post. Kate Loye’s resulting corner was headed out by Berger to Patterson, whose twenty yard screamer careered through a crowded goalmouth and just past the post as Rovers began to flex their muscles. United weren’t done with, however. Wood won the ball in midfield and played it to Sarah Gregorius, who sent White scampering clear through the inside right channel. With Kete steaming up in support beyond the far post, the youngster shot at goal, but failed to beat Carter at her near post. After Hannah Wong had sent a twenty-yarder flying past the post on the half-hour - Gregorius’ stray pass, which created the opening, was symptomatic of United’s play during this spell. Another such mistake, by Kete, allowed Parkinson to let rip with a bar-clearing sizzler two minutes later, while the fact Rovers were well on top was soon confirmed with three McLaughlin shots - including a free-kick - from distance in seven minutes, all of which captured Clansey’s attention as they zoomed towards the target. Amid this trio of pot-shots, Loye let rip with a twenty-five yarder, after Parkinson and Patterson had combined down the right, and the latter’s cross towards Wong had been partially cleared by Berger to the slender midfielder. Loye’s shot packed punch aplenty, however, but so did Clansey’s save - another round the post job seven minutes before half-time. Still Rovers pressed, four minutes later. A delicious first-time lay-off by Wong sent McLaughlin clear on the left, from where she curled a first-time ball in behind the defence into Patterson’s stride as she dashed between defenders. She couldn’t get the better of Clansey, however, the ‘keeper saving with her legs this time round. On the stroke of half-time, referee Anna-Marie Keighley waved away strong penalty claims from Claudelands players. Parkinson sent Patterson down the right once more, and her cross had the incoming Wong as its target. The striker clipped the heels of the retreating figure of Berger, however, prompting the defender to handle the ball - cue the claims, and the referee’s clear response - "Play on!" The second half saw some initial arm-wrestling once again, but this time United got the upper hand in the exchanges and maintained their grip on proceedings. Kylie Jens blocked a goal-bound White shot at close quarters following a slick 51st minute interchange between Wood and Crasborn.

Aroon Clansey (TKU) at full stretch to grab a cross Kylie Jens (Rovers) clears from Claudia Crasborn (TKU) Kristy Hill (TKU) rises high to head clear Holly Patterson (Rovers) Chelsey Wood (TKU) Sarah McLaughlin (Rovers)

Two minutes later, Carter had to race off her line to clear the danger as Kete came hurtling through in pursuit of a raking Clansey clearance, while the ‘keeper smothered another shot from White soon after, Gregorius’ hard work presenting the striker with a chance which, if the ball had been spilled, Crasborn was poised to punish. Carter’s were a safe pair of hands, however, and proved to be again in the 66th minute. After Crasborn had grazed the far post with a vicious in-swinging corner, she teamed up with substitute Annalie Longo - not a bad option to have on the bench! - to send Libby Williams scurrying to the by-line. The overlapping fullback’s cross targeted the incoming figures of White and Kete, but Carter firmly punched the ball to safety to afford herself a brief respite before the next attack headed her way. Four minutes later, it materialised. Steph Skilton - another substitute - worked a one-two with Longo just outside the Rovers penalty area, which allowed the Young Ferns striker to whip in a cross. Carter fumbled it, but Kete was unable to capitalise due to the timely intervention of Shadbolt. Seventeen minutes from time, Rovers finally launched a counter-attack which didn’t founder on the anticipation of the rock-steady Hannah Rishworth. Patterson released McLaughlin with a delicious through ball which invited the Football Fern to dash on, round Clansey and open the scoring. Instead, "Macca" shot early at the advancing goalkeeper, who parried the shot and quickly regathered the ball to avert the danger. No question, McLaughlin should have done much better. After Carter had smothered a Skilton shot, Gregorius and Kete prised open Rovers’ rearguard in the 79th minute of this vibrant encounter, the latter the beneficiary of the former’s pass. Kete turned into space and set off apace before smashing a low drive which Carter fumbled, only to recover at the feet of the incoming figure of White - a vital save. Two White shots in as many minutes soon after required the goalkeeper’s intervention to prevent the net from bulging, with Carter’s clearance from the second effort eventually finding its way to McLaughlin in the 82nd minute. She sent Patterson powering down the right, from where she picked out Loye on the far post. The midfielder drilled her shot across the face of goal, much to Clansey’s undisguised relief. Three minutes later, McLaughlin intercepted a Longo pass and instantly sent Patterson prowling down the right once more. This time, she went to the by-line before pulling the ball across for the incoming figure of Katherine Robinson on the far post. The substitute’s run was tracked superbly by Kristy Hill, who made a desperate but successful tackle to avert the danger. Cue a Three Kings thrust, which culminated in a White corner and a goalmouth scramble of manic proportions. Kete was right in the thick of it, and was desperately unlucky to see one piledriver slam straight into Carlton, before Hill forced Carter into producing a scrambling save by her left-hand upright four minutes from time. Three minutes later, Rovers thought they’d won it. Patterson stormed through the inside right channel once more on receipt of a McLaughlin pass, and did everything right as she looked to beat Clansey with a curling effort inside her near post. The ‘keeper had other ideas, however - cue a Loye corner thanks to another tip-round-the-post save. It was a beauty, right in the zone. Berger headed the ball out to McLaughlin, who sprayed the ball wide to Parkinson. She dashed to the by-line before uncorking a hanging cross which arced over all-comers bar one - Gregorius was perfectly placed to head off the line by the far post. Three Kings scrambled the danger clear, and launched a counter-attack of their own as the game entered stoppage time. Kete led the charge, and steamed down the right before crossing towards Skilton. Stratford stepped in to clear … The ball was dropping some thirty yards from goal on the angle when White, who had been covering the near post for Loye’s corner, arrived on the scene. In full stride, she met the ball perfectly on the volley, and it simply soared into the top near corner of Carter’s net - a quite magnificent strike which deserved to grace a stage far greater than this. Rovers were stunned, but in the time remaining threw everything at Three Kings in pursuit of an equaliser. Loye and Patterson both went close before McLaughlin, with the last kick of the game, launched a twenty-five yarder at the target. Clansey greedily grabbed it, her saves having done enough to earn Three Kings a point against their fellow National Women’s Knockout Cup semi-finalists. It took something just a little bit special - another White "Golazo" - to clinch all three. Three Kings:     Clansey; Berger, Rishworth, Williams (Cox, 76); Hill, Mathews (Longo, 62), Wood, Gregorius; Kete, White, Crasborn (Skilton, 68) Claudelands:     Carter; Stratford, Carlton, Shadbolt, Jens; Patterson, Parkinson, Nixon, Loye, McLaughlin; Wong (Robinson, 62) Referee:     Anna-Marie Keighley