Last-Gasp Winner Settles Top-Of-Table Thriller by Jeremy Ruane Bay Olympic and Onehunga Sports fought out a humdinger of a top-of-the-table encounter in front of over two hundred people at Crum Park on August 25 in what, to all intents and purposes, was the Northern League First Division championship decider. Such was the closeness of the match - unquestionably one of the best games seen in Auckland this season - that the outcome was decided by the very last kick of the game. The home team set about their task with a vengeance, so much so that they could have scored four goals in the opening nine minutes of the match! Lee Judd shot straight at Mike Shaw when he had all the goal to aim at in the second minute, while Stacey Howell hit the sidenetting three minutes later, on receipt of a clever back-heel from Rab McNeill which left three opponents completely bemused. Danny McHenery, who had set up the opening opportunity for Judd, then contrived to miss the ball completely with the goal at his mercy, after Sean Hird had released McNeill down the right. The striker attempted to make amends for his horror-shot seconds later, his turn and pass sending Judd scurrying through, only for Eddie Kennedy to save Sports’ bacon, and spark a counter-attack which saw Darren McClennan linking with Steven May and Mark Elrick, who, himself, had gone close with a fifth minute header from a Kennedy free-kick. This time round, Sports’ player-co-coach opted to whip in a cross from the right, which arced tantalisingly across the bows of both Dave Tierney and Siale Vea, who were arriving at pace on the far post, but not fast enough to profit from this opportunity. In the twelfth minute, Bay scored the goal their opening flurry had threatened. Andrew Shepherd became the first of seven names in referee Graham Whitford’s notebook - he could have had a fair few more, including some, particularly McClennan and Sakdy Phommahaxay, twice over! - when felling Judd on the edge of the Sports penalty area, as the burly midfielder pursued another McHenery pass. Phommahaxay’s subsequent free-kick cannoned off the wall, and ricocheted out to Willie Thompson on the left flank. His cross sailed towards the far post, where Neil Woodhams was arriving on cue to execute, in exquisite fashion, a cushioned side-footed volley into the roof of the net - a superbly taken goal. Stung, Sports sought a rapid riposte, and within three minutes, Elrick had rattled Bay’s crossbar with a twenty-five yard free-kick. And after McNeill had headed a Woodhams corner over the crossbar, the well-performed Murray Saunders pinged in a free-kick which found Bay ‘keeper John Gwin in no-man’s land! McClennan sent a header sailing over the custodian, but just past the far post with the goal untended. You couldn’t afford to take your eyes off the action, such was its openness - it really was a battle royal which, given so much was at stake, in terms of the championship, spoke volumes for the attack-minded approach of both teams. The Northern Premier League will be all the better for their presence in 2002. Which of them would be promoted as champions was still very much in the meltin pot, however. In the 25th minute, Sports once again went close, Kennedy’s surging run from half-way virtually ignored by a Bay midfield which, ultimately, went missing too often in this match for comfort. The beneficiary of this rampage was Elrick, who unleashed a drive which Gwin could only parry. Vea came racing in to convert the rebound, which had stuck in the goalmouth mud, but was beaten to the ball by Bay’s Mr Reliability - it is hard to recall when Marty Miller last played a bad game for his only club, so consistent is he on a game-by-game basis. In the next twelve minutes, player-coach Hird twice came to Bay’s rescue with diving headed clearances. Both Tierney and Vea were denied by the talented Scotsman, the latter again missing out on a rebound after Gwin had parried a header from May. Four minutes before the interval, Sports came closer still. Elrick’s corner was pawed out from under the crossbar by Gwin, who was still recovering when May hammered the rebound goalwards, only to find Phommahaxay perfectly placed to block the shot on the line. This sparked a Bay counter-attack, led by McHenery down the left. He cut inside and pulled the ball back, only to look up and see it careering behind the full-of-running McNeill, much to Sports’ relief. The teams turned round with Bay a goal to the good, but the talking points were many. Most contentious of all was the continuing presence on the park of McClennan. Having been booked for dissent in the seventeenth minute, the former All White found himself in the thick of a close quarters affair not long afterwards, and referee Whitford had seen enough. The referee approached the scene with his hand inside his left-hip-pocket, home of his yellow card. McClennan’s day looked done and dusted, but the official thought twice, and opted to give the Sports’ man a stern lecture instead. With the benefit of hindsight, it was a game-changing moment, of which many more were in store in the second spell. What the first half lacked in goals, the second half more than made up for, with the scoreline tied up at 2-2 just twelve minutes after the resumption. But before the nets began bulging, Kennedy indulged in one of the most risque pieces of defending ever seen - and got away with it!! Straight from the kick-off, Bay surged forward, McHenery leading the charge. Kennedy was the last defender, and had everything in his favour as he shepherded the ball back towards Shaw, until he tried something quite inexplicable in the circumstances - a back-heel straight to the pursuing striker. This caught both McHenery and Shaw completely off-guard, but the striker couldn’t believe what happened next, his instinctive shot at goal cannoning to safety off the knee of the prone goalkeeper, who quickly directed a look of daggers drawn at his defender, and with some justification! The avalanche of goals commenced in the 51st minute. Elrick produced a sweet turn near the edge of the box and darted goalwards. But he was being forced away from the target with every step by Judd, until Elrick went down in the box near the byline. From this vantage point on the half-way line, there appeared to be no contact made by the Bay player, and his incensed reaction indicated as much. But referee Whitford saw it differently, and pointed to the penalty spot. The jury may still be out regarding the question of ‘Did he fall or was he pushed?’, but Elrick wasn’t wasting this opportunity to level the scores, and though Gwin got his hands to the spot-kick, the scoreline now read 1-1. For all of three minutes. McHenery restored Bay’s lead when steering home unchallenged from ten yards, as Sports’ defence appealed in vain for an offside call against Noel Kilkenny, who had received a pass from Judd when breaking down the right. 2-1 to Bay became 2-2 in the 57th minute, May picking out McClennan with a crossfield pass which the former All White turned on, before curling home an absolute peach of a strike from the edge of the penalty area - the game richly deserved at least one goal of such quality, and another was soon to follow. Before it did, however, Bay had the ball in the net twice more, once legitimately. After Kilkenny sent a shot sizzling past Shaw’s uprights, Thompson found the target on the hour, only to be adjudged offside. He was sharing in the celebrations five minutes later, but only after watching Elrick narrowly fail in his attempt to get on the end of a Vea cross at the other end of the park. Bay, who had a game in hand on Sports going into this match but were a point behind on the table, had their 65th minute attack sparked by Miller’s ball forward to Thompson. The pair stormed forward, the latter getting to the byline before pulling the ball back for the defender to chance his arm from close range. He never got the chance, as Shepherd’s timely tackle prevailed. The ball fell to Judd, whose shot lacked power, but had direction. McHenery was in the firing line, but he pounced on the sphere, and deftly swept it home to restore the home team’s advantage - 3-2, and all on for young and old. It certainly was moments later, as Phommahaxay and Elrick all but came to blows after a particularly rugged challenge by the defender on the striker. Order was quickly restored, and Bay set about pressing home their advantage on the scoreboard. Miller and Thompson again combined in the 69th minute, the former’s determined challenge winning possession at the expense of May. Thompson slipped the ball through for McHenery, only for Saunders to save the day for Sports this time round. The defender had a life fifteen minutes from time, somehow steering McHenery’s low cross across the face of his own goal as the long-time league leaders continued to call the tune. The record was changed five minutes later, as Sports drew level once more - and how! Shepherd and McClennan worked a one-two down the right which saw the former crossing to Elrick. Allowing the ball to come across him, the former All White turned and shot in one movement, and the sphere seared into the bottom right-hand corner of Gwin’s net - 3-3, and a grandstand finish well and truly on the cards in a sure-fire contender for ‘Game of the Season’. Back came Bay, led by Thompson. With four minutes remaining, he headed a Howell cross inches past the far post, then deep in stoppage time, somehow failed to put the finishing touches to a McHenery cross with just Shaw to beat. The goalkeeper, one of six stand-ins in "The Green Machine"’s line-up for reasons too wide-ranging to mention, sent the ball forward one last time, as the game entered the fifth minute of stoppage time. Second half substitute Ian Grainger gathered possession on the right, and whipped in a cross for Elrick. Two defenders converged on the striker instantly, denying him shooting room. The ball spun loose to Chris Morris, who, with quite literally the last kick of the match, lashed it past the diving Gwin and into the net to give Sports the lead for the first time in the match - 4-3. Bay didn’t even have the chance to kick off, as while the visitors celebrated their goal, referee Whitford blew the final whistle, bringing to an end a marvellous match between unquestionably the best teams in the competition. The contrasting emotions had to be seen to be believed. Having just missed out on promotion last season, Sports were understandably jubilant, the never-say-die spirit which, for this writer, is one of the club’s greatest strengths, having served "The Green Machine" well once more. In contrast, Bay’s players were shell-shocked. Losing to a dramatic last-minute goal isn’t nice at the best of times, but when it brings to an end a season-long unbeaten league record ... All is not lost for Sean Hird’s side, however, as they clinched their season-long objective of promotion despite this reversal. But for Sports, who had already clinched promotion prior to this thriller, victory sets up what should be a fitting farewell to their Ferguson Park home in a week’s time - who would bet against them signing off with a championship-winning performance? Bay:         Gwin; Howell (Mair, 88), Hird (booked, 38), Phommahaxay (booked, 14), Miller; Woodhams, Kilkenny, Judd, Thompson; McNeill, McHenery Sports:        Shaw; Jack (booked, 88), Kennedy (booked, 66), Saunders; McClennan (booked, 17 (Silelo Vea, 81)), Shepherd (booked, 11), May, Tierney, Morris (booked, 39); Elrick, Siale Vea (Grainger, 69) Referee:    Graham Whitford