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16/08/00
Jackman Leads The Charge As Suburbs Put To Sword
by Jeremy Ruane
Maia Jackman notched a couple of personal goalscoring milestones at Bill McKinlay Park on August 16, as Three Kings United confirmed their sixth consecutive appearance in the final of the Auckland Premier Women’s Knockout Shield when overwhelming Eastern Suburbs 12-0 in the semi-final.
For the fifth year in a row, they will meet Lynn-Avon United, who overcame Ellerslie 4-1, with goals from Rebecca Parkinson (2), Patrice Bourke and a solo effort from Amanda Crawford, who set up the other three strikes to secure the trophy holders’ berth in the August 30 showdown.
But the spotlight belonged to Jackman, who was in rampant mood as she struck the first double hat-trick of her career, and scored her fiftieth goal for her club in the process.
Erin Martin spurned the first chance of the semi-final, firing well over the crossbar in the fifth minute after doing all the hard work in weaving her way past four opponents. Two minutes later, she teamed up with Simone Ferrara to create Jackman’s first opening. Her header was blocked, but Ferrara, following up, crashed home the rebound, only for the goal to be disallowed for a foul by Jackman.
Jackman and Caroline Crittenden both fired narrowly wide of Ginny Tan’s right-hand upright in the next six minutes, before Crittenden broke the deadlock with a thumping eighteen yard drive in the eighteenth minute, running onto a pass from Jackman and letting fly with a first-time shot.
A minute later, United scored a second, a superbly crafted goal instigated by Helen Exler’s ball forward to Crittenden. The overlapping run of Anne-Marie Scott was rewarded with an inviting pass into her path, which she swept across first time.
The marauding figure of Jackman hurtled onto the cross, and from fifteen yards she sent a bullet-like header ripping into the bottom left-hand corner of Tan’s goal - one of the best goals of the evening, without a doubt.
Ferrara - she had a whale of a game! - produced a brilliant piece of skill to leave two Suburbs players standing in the 21st minute, before unselfishly laying the ball back for Kim Rowney. Her shot deflected wide, and following Crittenden’s corner, Tan saved a piledriver from Ferrara.
A deep cross from Jackman a minute later picked out Ferrara, who swept past her opponent before setting up Rowney once more. Tan turned this shot round the post, and watched with relief as Martin’s powerful header flew past the post, following Ferrara’s corner.
Martin came closer still two minutes later, heading an Exler free-kick against the upright. No-one followed in on this occasion, but no-one needed to on the half-hour, as Jackman rounded off a mazy run past four opponents with a firecracker into the bottom corner from twenty yards - 3-0.
Martin twice went close soon after, Tan turning the second effort round the post, while Tarah Cox headed Ferrara’s resulting corner wide of the mark in the 34th minute. Cox it was who went close again a minute later, after another fine build-up featuring Crittenden and the full-of-running Ferrara. Jackman overran her first-time cross, but Cox was following up, only to see her shot deflected for a corner.
Crittenden took it, and picked out the head of Martin. Her looping header arced in under the crossbar - 4-0 ... for all of two minutes. Another free-flowing move featuring Ferrara, Martin, Crittenden, Stacey O’Hara and Scott came to an end with the ball nestling in the back of the net, Jackman finding the target for the fiftieth time in her career with Eden and Three Kings.
A minute before the interval, United contrived a move which richly deserved a goal. Crittenden and Martin linked up with Ferrara, who swept a superb first-time pass into the feet of Jackman. She evaded one challenge, then saw her shot blocked. Ferrara was unable to reach the rebound, allowing Suburbs to clear the danger, albeit temporarily.
For the ball arrived at Scott’s feet, and she instinctively threaded through a measured pass to Jackman, lurking on the left-hand edge of the penalty area, from where she hammered home her fourth goal of the evening, Three Kings’ sixth, to bring the first half to a close.
Michelle Hodge came out of goal for the second spell - Helen Exler donned the gloves - and took up an attacking position alongside Martin. Crittenden it was, however, who fired United’s first shot in anger in this spell, Tan parrying her twenty-yard effort, and recovering quickly to save as Martin and Jackman homed in on the loose ball in the 42nd minute.
After Jackman had just failed to get on the end of a Martin cross two minutes later, the reigning Auckland Player of the Year plundered her fifth goal of the game in the 45th minute, rifling the ball into the roof of the net from close range on the far post, following a Crittenden corner to the near post, where O’Hara turned a defender before sweeping a low cross into the danger zone.
United were relentless in their search for goals. Ferrara has yet to get one this season, but it certainly hasn’t been for the want of trying on her part! Tan thwarted her on this occasion, as the perennial cup finalists continued to attack from all angles.
In the fiftieth minute, Cox, now performing the sweeping duties in defence, swept the ball forward to Jackman, who turned to find available to her the best part of fifteen yards into which she could run unchallenged - Suburbs seemed to be quaking any time the SWANZ international got near the ball!
As the cover eventually approached, the goal-getter slipped a lovely pass through to Martin, who powered past two defenders before slamming a shot past Tan and in off the inside of the far post - 8-0.
Within a minute, the US U-20 international had completed her first hat-trick for the club, executing a hip-turn volley in style to beat Tan, who could only paw the ball onto her right-hand post, off which the ball bounced in. O’Hara and Scott were responsible for the creative duties in United’s ninth goal of the evening.
Three Kings went off the boil for a brief spell, but Suburbs’ captain, Megan Parlane, sparked them back into life in the 65th minute, by lashing a twenty-yard drive narrowly past Exler’s right-hand post.
That was akin to enticing a bull with a red rag, for United stormed straight back up the other end of the park to hit double figures for the first time this season. Emma Lothian sparked the raid, feeding Martin, who, in turn, steered the ball to Jackman, who gathered it near the left-hand corner flag.
From there, she powered past a couple of challenges before firing over a cross meant for Hodge. Before the makeshift striker could pounce, in stepped a defender to do the deed for her, Tan beaten all ends up by her team-mate’s header.
Two minutes later, Jackman scored what is unquestionably one of the best goals of her career. Gathering the ball just inside Suburbs’ half, she set off at pace towards the Regional Three team’s goal, careering past challenge after challenge in the process. Within seconds, she had scythed into Suburbs’ penalty area, where she lured Tan out of goal before coolly slipping the ball past the advancing ’keeper - 11-0, and what a way to round off a double hat-trick!
What’s more, she still wasn’t satisfied! Twice more she went close to finding the target in the next six minutes, before sparking the move which led to the final goal of the evening, four minutes from time.
A sharp one-two with Crittenden saw Jackman charging towards goal once more down the left. Crittenden stayed up in support, and was rewarded with a pass which she instantly steered into Martin’s path.
Two challenges later, she lined up the shot, and hammered the ball through the legs of Tan into the far corner to bring about the final 12-0 scoreline, which O’Hara could have turned into a baker’s dozen - that would have gone down well with Player of the Day sponsors, Baker’s Delight Mt. Eden! - had she not glanced her header of Martin’s last-minute free-kick wide of the mark.
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