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02/07/06
Three Kings Prevail In Battle Of Beaten Finalists
by Jeremy Ruane
The respective beaten finalists in the 2004 and 2005 SWANZ Knockout Cup Finals, Three Kings United and Eastern Suburbs, locked horns at Madills Farm on July 2 in a bid to make the last eight of the 2006 competition, and served up a closely fought encounter which was decided in the visitors' favour deep in injury time.
United prevailed 2-1 at the end of an absorbing match between two teams whose contrasting styles of play made this a compelling encounter to observe, Suburbs' productive passing game countered by Three Kings' more direct approach, which saw them creating the greater number of goalscoring opportunities.
A month ago, these teams fought out a 2-2 affair, so with a victor required at the conclusion of this match, the gloves were off from the very first whistle blown by referee Pat Barrett, whose man-management in this clash was outstanding.
Suburbs contrived the first openings in the match, and could very easily have been two goals to the good before the ten-minute mark had elapsed. Sandee Hui intercepted a Kristy Hill pass and fed the ball into Natalie Davies' path.
She burst between two opponents before sending Flora McLeod into the penalty area at pace. But she pulled her eighth minute effort well wide of the far post, prompting a goal-kick which Jenny Bindon played short to Maia Jackman.
United's captain surged out of defence, only to be superbly dispossessed by Marlies Oostdam. Down the left she surged before crossing for Melanie Gooch, who had just Bindon to beat with the goal at her mercy. But the speedster's shot was a tame one, much to the relief of a goalkeeper who was recovering from the removal of kidney stones during the week.
The visitors' first threat came in the sixteenth minute, a grasscutter from Hill which troubled Ginny Tan little. The goalkeeper sent the ball downfield, and within seconds, Rebecca Tegg was on the prowl, scything inside one challenge before letting fly from twenty yards. Jackman, who had a strong game at the heart of United's defence, blocked the effort to safety.
After this, United settled down, and they swiftly began to dominate proceedings for a short spell. Betsy Hassett sent a probing ball forward which allowed Zoe Thompson to utilise her pace advantage over Janet Groves and charge towards goal.
Tan came hurtling out and came off worse in the inevitable collision, which saw the ball run through to the charging figure of Emma Kete. But from a wide angle, she could not direct the ball towards the target, thanks largely to the covering run of Lily Somerfield.
While Tan recovered following her heavy landing, Kete and Thompson combined neatly on the right, the latter laying the ball off in fine fashion into the path of Annalie Longo. From twenty-five yards, she let fly with an effort which zinged past the far upright.
That Tan was back in full harness was evidenced by her save at the feet of Kete in the 25th minute, as the striker looked to latch onto a Jackman ball forward. Four minutes later, she plucked a Sarah Gibbs effort from the skies after Suburbs failed to clear an Abby Erceg corner.
Tan instantly launched a counter-attack which saw the charging figure of Tegg tackled in timely fashion by Jackman, whose good work was instantly undone by Emma Harrison as the defender bundled over Gooch.
Referee Barrett didn't hesitate to award a free-kick some twenty-five yards out from goal, and immediately Oostdam's eyes took on saucer-like proportions at the prospect of opening the scoring.
She unleashed a screamer which Bindon managed to save right on the line, parrying the first effort but recovering quickly to snaffle the rebound before the ball had fully crossed the line - referee's assistant, Tiana Kairua, was well placed to make the decision, and admitted it was “very close” soon afterwards.
This triggered a Suburbs spell, but Jackman was in defiant mood, and foiled many a potential threat to Three Kings' goal with her interventions. It was her defensive side-kick, Erceg, who was next to threaten, however, with a gem of a corner delivered in the fortieth minute.
The ball was met by the charging figure of Hill, who came through the crowd to direct a downward header at the target. The ball bounced up and hit the crossbar, much to the relief of Suburbs' defence, who scrambled clear.
But within three minutes, they were under more pressure, again a result of an Erceg corner after Vicki Chong had come across to deny Thompson, the striker having caught Somerfield in possession as she dribbled out of defence.
Erceg's delivery this time flew right into the zone, dropping near the far post where Thompson was arriving. That she couldn't bundle the ball home was due to the bravery of Tan, who grabbed the ball and held on for dear life as Thompson's momentum sent her tumbling over the falling `keeper and the line on which she landed.
The pattern of the first spell continued into the
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 Zoe Thompson (TKU)
 Vicki Chong (ESubs) edges out Emma Kete (TKU)
 Maia Jackman (TKU) in full flight, pursued by Rebecca Tegg (ESubs)
 Marlies Oostdam (ESubs)
 Grace Vincent (ESubs)
 Jenny Bindon (TKU) saves on the half-hour
 Melanie Gooch (ESubs) and Abby Erceg (TKU)
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second, with Suburbs first to threaten. Bindon saved at the feet of Gooch as she pursued a Grace Vincent pass, before Three Kings opted to change tactics, prompted by an ankle injury to Gibbs.
Roseanne Cox replaced her, while United coach Barrie Barmes opted to replace the ineffective Longo with Maggie Lankshear, only for referee Barrett to prevent the substitute from coming on when it was discovered her shirt number didn't match that on the team card - a minor technicality, true, but one which could well have caused problems afterwards had there been a refusal to sign team cards due to incorrect information contained thereon.
With Longo off the park, United were reduced to ten players for five minutes while some improvisations were made to Lankshear's shirt number. Meantime, Suburbs looked to take full advantage, only for Bindon to swat away an Oostdam free-kick heading towards the top far corner of the net.
Full numbers restored, United pressed once more, with Jackman hoisting the ball forward in the 64th minute. Groves failed to clear the danger, but Kete couldn't capitalise, shooting straight at Tan.
The striker didn't have too long to wait to make amends, however. In the 66th minute, the deadlock was broken thanks largely to the individual brilliance of Thompson. Gathering the ball near half-way, she jinked through two challenges before accelerating forward and slipping the ball through Suburbs' offside trap for Kete to latch onto.
She rounded the advancing figure of Tan before firing home the opening goal as Groves lunged despairingly at the NZ U-20 international in an attempt to thwart the danger.
As Suburbs reeled from this setback, the visitors sought a second goal. Petria Rennie combined with Hassett to feed Thompson down the right. She picked out substitute Rebecca Sowden with her cross, and the midfielder's first-time twenty-yarder flashed a yard wide of Tan's left-hand post.
Back came the home team, Tegg chasing down Oostdam's crossfield ball, only for Harrison to intervene. The ball spilled loose to McLeod, who blazed over the bar to prompt a Bindon goal-kick which swiftly saw United on attack once more.
Kete slipped Thompson through, and the striker poked her shot past Tan as the goalkeeper hurtled off her line. But the custodian had done enough to force an inaccurate effort this time round.
Suburbs' retort, fifteen minutes from time, saw the scores levelled. While United bemoaned the lack of a call for an infringement on Harrison, the tiring figure of Erceg clumsily felled Gooch in the penalty area, giving referee Barrett no option. Oostdam didn't allow Bindon one either, battering the ball home to set up a grandstand finish, with extra time now a distinct possibility in this tie between two well-matched teams.
The home team looked to apply the coup de grace nine minutes from time, only for Bindon to deny Gooch as she homed in on Oostdam's free-kick. The goalkeeper then sparked a counter-attack, which featured a one-two between Hassett and Kete. The former galloped down the flank and into the penalty area, where her prospects were curtailed by a splendidly timed tackle from Somerfield.
The ebb and flow of the game continued, and did so well into stoppage time, injuries and the wrong shirt number debacle all contributing to a whopping eight minutes' extra entertainment for the gathered throngs to savour on a gloriously sunny Auckland afternoon.
Plenty of time, then, for a heart-breaking goal to be celebrated and suffered in equal measure. It came in the 93rd minute of running time.
Three Kings had threatened with a similar move earlier in the half, but on this occasion, Kete's through ball sent Thompson spearing through the heart of Suburbs' defence. The striker coolly rounded the advancing Tan and rolled the ball home into an empty net before exploding with joy, her team-mates quickly engulfing their trusty number nine.
As United celebrated, Suburbs' spirits visibly slumped, the sight of the ball in their net so late in the game akin to a knife in the heart. And as they reeled, United looked to twist the blade, straight from the kick-off. Hassett sent Thompson racing down the right, and she scythed into the box before crossing to the far post, where Cox arrived to send a shot into the side-netting.
It was the last act of a match which, while not outstanding in terms of the quality of football produced - the uneven nature of the much-used pitch certainly contributed in that regard - nonetheless lived up to its `tie of the round' billing, its dramatic nature encapsulated by the twist in the tail which decided its destiny.
Suburbs: Tan; Hui, Groves, Chong (Glenton, 90), Somerfield; Gooch, Vincent, Davies, Oostdam; McLeod, Tegg (booked, 67)
Three Kings: Bindon; Rennie, Jackman, Erceg, Harrison; Kete, Longo (Sowden, 56), Hill (Lankshear, 69 (booked, 77)), Hassett, Gibbs (Cox, 52); Thompson
Referee: Pat Barrett
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