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26/07/06
Three Kings Take Charge Of Title Race
by Jeremy Ruane
Three Kings United took a giant step towards claiming their first Northern Premier Women's League title in seven years at Albie Turner Field on July 26, humbling third-placed Eastern Suburbs 4-0 to open up a three-point lead at the top of the table.
The sizable win has also allowed them to improve, to nine, their goal difference advantage over reigning champions Lynn-Avon United, who Three Kings play in the last game of a season in which the title-holders are bidding to win a record seventh consecutive crown.
Maia Jackman and company are as keen as mustard to end that monopoly, with Three Kings' captain instrumental in her team's opening attack of a match which they largely dominated at the expense of a Suburbs side playing their second game in four days against a more highly placed team on the league table.
Rebecca Sowden and Emma Kete combined to put Jackman in on the right, and after beating an opponent she whipped in a low cross which both Kete and Zoe Thompson homed in on. The latter eventually got a shot in, but it was tame, much to Ginny Tan's relief.
Suburbs' `keeper was pleased to see another Three Kings raid come to nought six minutes later. A lovely flowing move from left flank to right featured Betsy Hassett, Hannah Rishworth, Thompson, Annalie Longo and Sowden, who played the ball across to Jackman. Her angled cross flew just too far in front of the incoming figure of Thompson, as she homed in on the far post in search of a goal.
This sparked Suburbs into life, with Rebecca Tegg releasing Flora McLeod down the left flank. But despite her best efforts, she couldn't outpace Petria Rennie, who made up the ground well to execute a well-timed tackle before McLeod could whip in a cross.
Back came United, Abby Erceg leading the charge with a surging run out of defence. She released Thompson down the left, the striker scything inside before drilling a low cross in behind Kete for the incoming figure of Jackman. Janet Groves read the danger, however, and cleared her lines well, sparking a Suburbs counter-attack.
Grace Vincent led it, and released Melanie Gooch down the right with a peach of a pass which fell perfectly into the path of the fleet-footed striker. She charged towards goal before letting fly with a rasping dipping drive which clipped the angle of bar and post on its way over.
United responded by opening the scoring in the 22nd minute, a goal inspired by the wonderful understanding which Hassett and Longo have developed over time. They played a delightful one-two to open Suburbs' defence up on this occasion, with Longo racing round to deliver a delicious low cross to the near post, where Thompson was arriving on cue.
Her finish was artful, the ball deftly clipped over the
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advancing figure of Tan into the far corner of the net to give Three Kings the lead, a goal which, you sensed, would prove a bridge too far for Suburbs, and the springboard to the victory United eagerly sought.
And, after a fairly even fifteen-minute spell in which chances to score were at a premium, so it proved, the only highlight of note in this period being a great chance contrived by Jackman for Hassett. Tan bravely blocked the youngster's effort, recovering quickly to gather the rebound in the 27th minute.
Eleven minutes later, Three Kings stepped up the pressure. Erceg fired in a corner which Groves headed clear, but only as far as Longo. A touch set up Sowden for a swerving twenty-five yarder, which Tan saved well low to her right.
She was found wanting five minutes later, however, as United doubled their advantage in the shadows of the half-time whistle. A McLeod cross was cleared by Erceg to Thompson, whose deft glancing header into the path of Sowden allowed the midfielder to play a first-time ball forward for Kete to latch onto.
The striker outpaced Marlies Oostdam before luring Tan out of goal and firing past her into the far corner of the net, the goalkeeper having got her angles all wrong to leave Kete a gaping target at which to aim.
Down 2-0, Suburbs needed something special to get them out of the hole in which they found themselves, but after their exertions in Sunday's clash with Lynn-Avon, they had nothing left in the tank. And against a team with their tails up and a sniff of silverware in their nostrils, that's not a good way to be!
Three Kings wasted little time in taking charge of proceedings, a situation which left Oostdam increasingly frustrated, as she virtually single-handedly tried to stave off the inevitable as team-mates tired around her.
Only a stunning fingertip save from Tan denied Jackman as she launched the second half in style with a twenty-five yarder in the 47th minute. Seven minutes later, United's captain was in again, only for Groves to block her shot. Hassett pounced on the rebound and fired in a low cross which Thompson just failed to turn home on the far post.
Rishworth and Hassett then teamed up to engineer an opening which both Kete and Thompson spurned in the 58th minute, while six minutes later, Tan saved well at point-blank range from Kristy Hill, who had swooped to pounce on an Erceg corner.
Suburbs were wilting under Three Kings' regular raids, many of which featured impressive approach play, only to be undone by an inaccurate final ball into the danger zone. In the 71st minute, Jackman led the charge once more, surging forward before picking out Longo.
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She checked inside and lashed a shot over Tan, only for the crossbar to come to Suburbs' aid. Jackman came hurtling in to capitalise on the rebound, only for her eagerness to get the better of her on this occasion.
Suburbs mounted a rare attack with fifteen minutes remaining. Gooch hared in off the left flank and played in McLeod, who had just Jenny Bindon to beat as she homed in on goal. The `keeper narrowed the angle well, forcing McLeod to shoot wide of the target - a key miss, as a goal at this point would have made for a grandstand finish.
Instead, it served to spur United on. Eight minutes from time, Sowden released Kete down the right, and her cross for Thompson was plucked off the striker's head by Tan.
The `keeper rode her luck again two minutes later, again at Thompson's expense, as the striker rattled the crossbar with her header after she had been picked out by the overlapping figure of Rennie, who had raced into the attack on receipt of a Sowden pass.
The resulting goal-kick was a poor one, however, and Suburbs were made to pay dearly by Longo, who drilled home unerringly into the corner of the net after being picked out by Thompson in the 85th minute.
Suburbs kept plugging away, Tegg twice going close in the 83rd and 88th minutes after dispossessing Longo and Hill respectively. But Bindon proved equal to her efforts on both occasions, and from the latter, launched the ball forward to Sowden, whose deft flick sent Kete scurrying clear of the spreadeagled Suburbs rearguard.
They couldn't keep pace, and Kete took great delight in blasting the ball over Tan into the top far corner of the net in the 89th minute - 4-0, United's fiftieth league goal of the campaign.
There was still time to pursue a fifth goal in this match, Hill leading the charge with a neat piece of skill to cheekily evade Vincent's clutches. Kete and Thompson were next to savour the sphere, before the latter pulled it back looking for Hill to arrive on cue. She did, but found no ball due to Groves' intervention, the game's last action of note.
It certainly wasn't the way Suburbs wanted to mark the birthday of coach Sue Taylor, nor the last match New Zealand international Oostdam will play as a 28-year-old. But neither milestone was of little concern to Three Kings, whose 4-0 triumph in this encounter has left them in complete control of their championship destiny.
Three Kings: Bindon; Rennie, Erceg, Hill; Jackman, Sowden, Rishworth, Longo, Hassett; Kete, Thompson
Suburbs: Tan; Somerfield, Groves, Chong (Brown, 69), Oostdam; Fraser (MacLeod, 80), Vincent, Davies, McLeod; Gooch, Tegg
Referee: Jan-Hendrik Hintz
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