Traditional Rivalries Maintained In Thrilling Encounter by Jeremy Ruane In a match which remained true to the traditional sporting rivalry which exists between New Zealand and South Africa, the two nations' Under-23 soccer teams turned on a pulsating display of open, uninhibited football at North Harbour Stadium on May 19, the visitors winning the first leg of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Qualifying play-off 3-2 in front of 13,500 captivated spectators. The first half was an absolutely sparkling affair, the shackles of defence-minded football, so often the first objective in international soccer, cast aside by both combinations, much to the delight of the gathered throngs, who witnessed an enthralling free-flowing encounter between two sides with all to play for. Two long-range efforts in the first ten minutes from Jeff Campbell - both saved by Emille Baron - set the crowd delight, as the OlyWhites set the early pace. And after captain Ryan Nelsen sent a looping header from a Campbell corner onto the roof of the net in the eleventh minutem the masses sensed something special was on. Sure enough, within two minutes, the OlyWhites were in front. Chris Killen's splendid through ball released Paul Urlovic at pace through a ragged South African defence. He picked his spot past Baron, and planted the ball with venom aplenty into the net defended by Amagluglug, the nickname of the South African Olympic side. Suffice to say, the fans were ecstatic, and they would have been even more so had Graham Pearce's blistering twenty-yard drive sizzled into the net, as opposed to barely a foot past it, within sixty seconds of Urlovic's opener. Reeling from this opening onslaught, the highly-rated South Africans' first genuine opening came as a result of a stumble by John Foundoulakis in the nineteenth minute. Siyabonga Nomvethe didn't need asking twice, and away he scooted down the left, only to be thwarted by Nelsen's superbly timed tackle. A corner resulted and from it, South Africa equalised. Dillon Sheppard's initial effort was cleared back to him, and he curled in an inviting cross which Celta Vigo striker Benedict McCarthy darted in between static defenders to reach, his header leaving OlyWhites' 'keeper Chris Marsh beaten all ends up. To this point, the visitors' attacking prospects had often floundered on their own eagerness to rampage forward at will. Their frequent raids often fell foul of the excellent linesmanship of Reynaldo Rostran, whose awareness of the offside law saw him raising his flag on numerous occasions, as the OlyWhites' employment of this tactic worked almost without fail. The action swung to the other end of the ground soon after the African equaliser, as both Killen and Campbell came close to regaining the lead for New Zealand. The latter failed to do justice to some superb work down the left by Raf de Gregorio, who slalomed past three defenders before whipping in an inviting cross which Campbell set himself perfectly, but missed completely!! It prompted Amagluglug to charge forward once more, McCarthy the man leading the charge. He breached the offside trap on the right flank, and looked up to find two players in support, one of whom was Quinton Fortune. Marsh was given little chance by the midfielder, who swept the ball home to put South Africa 2-1 in front after just 26 minutes. The visitors' lead lasted a mere five minutes. Campbell and Killen combined on the right, with the former delivering a somewhat harmless-looking cross, until ... Baron, a goalkeeper at Norwegian club Lillestrom, careered off his line to gather the ball; defender Fabian McCarthy rose to head it back to him ... the sight of the ball bouncing slowly but gently into the unguarded net as Baron and McCarthy looked on in horror was oh so sweet to the eyes of many a New Zealand sports fan!! At 2-2, and with barely half an hour gone, it was all on! Nomvethe - what a precocious talent this young man is!! - exploded down the left within seconds of Fabian's faux pas, cut inside and sent an exquisite curler mere inches over Marsh's crossbar. Three minutes later, Nomvethe had the ball in the net, beating Marsh from close-range after Fortune had laid the ball across to him, the midfielder having evaded the OlyWhites' offside trap by timing his run perfectly to latch onto Aaron Mokoena's long ball over the top. In his eagerness to score, however, Nomvethe had strayed offside - 2-2 the score remained. A delicious lob from Sheppard two minutes later saw Marsh backpedalling furiously to pull off a spectacular one-handed save at full stretch, while four minutes later, Steve Lekoelea's free-kick cannoned to safety off the defensive wall, after unsighted Honduran referee Argelio Sabillon had awarded South Africa the set-piece after Fortune, an employee of Manchester United, fell over his own feet just outside the penalty area. Earlier this year, Fortune had seen his boss at club level, Alex Ferguson, being sent from the dug-out during the FIFA World Club Championships. Four months on, history repeated itself at international level for the midfielder, as South Africa's coach, Ephraim "Shakes" Mashaba, found himself banished from the bench four minutes into the second spell, the referee having heard enough of his protestations regarding the physical prowess of New Zealand's play. Unperturbed, the visitors battled on, Benedict McCarthy having bamboozled a couple of defenders en route to the byline in the 55th minute, from where he rolled the ball back to Nomvethe. He couldn't believe his luck, however, as Marsh pulled off a fabulous save at point-blank range to keep the scores level. Back came the OlyWhites, de Gregorio leading the charge in the 63rd minute. Fortune favoured him as the ball bounced kindly off his shins following two challenges, and he ploughed on into the penalty area. South African captain Matthew Booth came across and executed a somewhat clumsy tackle from an angle behind the midfielder, turf, legs and a ball flying in all directions as a result. Unbelievably, referee Sabillon saw fit to allow play to continue, Booth escaping punishment of any sort for what amounted to something very close to a professional foul. Nelsen, New Zealand's Young Player of the Year in 1999, was like the Rock of Gibraltar in defence for the OlyWhites, with Marsh not far behind him with his goalkeeping exploits. Ahead, Pearce was tackling like a demon, while Campbell's inventiveness never relented, as the OlyWhites traded blows with their opponents, for whom Nomvethe was easily the best player on the park. Booth thwarted reigning New Zealand Player of the Year Kris Bouckenooghe by more legitimate means eleven minutes from time, as Pearce probed the visitors' rearguard with a teasing through ball. But as the game entered its dying stages, a draw seemed certain, until ... OlyWhites' substitute Noah Hickey required treatment for a shoulder injury, having copped a boot in that region as he went to head the ball. While New Zealand were outnumbered, South Africa stormed forward once more, Nomvethe and Jabu Pule having worked a double one-two to turn defence into attack at lightning speed. Nomvethe was thwarted by Marsh once more, the 'keeper turning the close-range effort past the post for a corner. Hickey, by now standing on the half-way line, was ready to return to the fray, but referee Sabillon ignored his assistant's signals, instead allowing Pule to deliver the corner. It's debatable whether or not New Zealand would have cleared the corner with eleven men, but with ten, they didn't, as Booth, the target of the set-piece, rose high to head the ball down and goalwards. Marsh dived to his right and got the heel of his hand to it, but the spin on the sphere took it behind the prone 'keeper and over the line for what proved to be the match-winning goal with just two minutes' running time remaining. It wasn't quite over, however, the OlyWhites rampaging back onto attack in the dying stages in search of another equaliser. It wasn't to be, however, Campbell Banks heading their best chance across the face of goal following Hickey's right wing raid. South Africa's 3-2 win sets them up nicely for the return leg in Johannesburg's Vosloorus Stadium on May 27, but they know after New Zealand's performance in this match that they will have to fight every inch of the way for a place at Sydney 2000. This qualifier isn't over yet, not by a long chalk! OlyWhites:      Marsh; Foundoulakis (booked, 80), Nelsen, Rowe; Davis (Hickey, 83), de Gregorio, Pearce (booked, 66), Campbell, Bouckenooghe; Killen, Urlovic (booked, 28) (Banks, 77) South Africa:   Baron; F. McCarthy, Mokoena (booked, 45), Booth, Kannemeyer; Lekoelea, Mbuthu, Fortune, Sheppard (Pule, 64); Nomvethe, B. McCarthy (booked, 78) Referee:           Argelio Sabillon (Honduras)