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Thailand 151216
"Super Steph"'s Treble Tops Thailand
by Jeremy Ruane
A Steph Skilton hat-trick fired a talented NZ 'A' Women's team to a hard-earned 3-2 win over Thailand's national women's squad on 15 December, in a match played in steady drizzle on the North Harbour Stadium Tigerturf.
The Syracuse University graduate had a tough time of it in her final college campaign, but showed she has lost none of her goalscoring magic as early as the third minute of play, turning home the ball at the second attempt after Katie Rood's sixty yard dash down the right culminated in a pass to her Glenfield Rovers' team-mate, whose first attempt was parried by Thai goalkeeper Nattaruja Muthtanawech.
The Thais, who are ranked 32nd in the world, swiftly warmed to the task in the first of three matches they will play in Auckland during the coming week, and levelled the scores just ten minutes later.
Central midfield duo Nipawan Panyosuk and Pikul Kueanpet combined with Naphat Seesraum to present Rattikan Thongsombut with the ball near the edge of the penalty area, the striker taking the ball into the box before steering it past the fast-approaching figure of Tessa Nicol to restore parity.
It was a fair reflection of the opening quarter hour's play, with very little between the teams in the early stages of the contest. At that point in the contest, Issy Coombes combined with Skilton for Jane Barnett's benefit, but the NZ 'A' Women's captain fired her fierce drive narrowly over the bar.
Back came Thailand, Kanjanaporn Saenkhun picking out Saowalak Penghgam, whose lay-off invited Seesraum to let fly. Nicol dived to her right to deny the visitors, who were finding Rood to be a right handful whenever she secured possession on the right.
In the nineteenth minute, the National Women's League's Golden Boot winner caused mayhem by catching Warunee Pechwiset in possession. Cue a typical Rood run at pace, with two opponents caught in her slipstream before she slipped a pass into Skilton's stride. Her dipping twenty-five yarder narrowly cleared the crossbar.
Three minutes later, Rood was at it again, this time picking the pocket of Taneekan Dangda near half-way. This time, she scooted forward before splitting the defence with a pass which invited Jacqui Hand to dash through on goal. Unfortunately for the striker, Muthtanawech raced off her line and cleared the ball off Hand's toes.
Two evenly matched sides then settled into something of an arm wrestle as each tried to gain the upper hand, with very few openings materialising in the second quarter of the contest.
The first of them came to pass in the 33rd minute, and owed much to Saskia Vosper's exquisite first-time angled cross, which the fullback delivered on receipt of Coombes' pass. Barnett only just failed to get on the end of the ball, the accuracy of which forced Muthtanawech to tip it to safety.
Six minutes later, Thailand spurned a great chance to take the lead, after Rebecca Lake needlessly gave the ball away - stray passes were a feature of both teams' play, as much as their enterprise and endeavour in the drizzly conditions.
The beneficiary of Lake's pass was Panyosuk, whose measured through ball found Thongsombut darting in behind the defensive line. Ally Toailoa strove to make up the gap, but the striker always had a yard on her, and, as Nicol approached, steered the ball under the 'keeper's body. Thankfully for New Zealand, she steered it a foot past the near post as well.
Barnett closed out the half with a quickly taken thirty yard free-kick which arrowed past the upright, but when the teams emerged for the second spell, it was the Thais who were swift to gain the upper hand and impose their game plan on proceedings.
They came desperately close to gaining due reward for doing so in the 56th minute. Panyosuk and Penghgam combined to play in Dangda, whose deft chip left Nicol beaten all ends up, only to bounce off the top of the crossbar to safety.
Five minutes later, further Thai pressure forced a corner, which Thongsombut drilled into the danger zone. Both Penghgam and Dangda saw shots blocked by defenders before Seesraum rammed a fierce drive narrowly past Nicol's left-hand post.
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New Zealand's response was instant, and clinical - two goals in three minutes which, in truth, came against the run of play. But when speed merchants like Rood and Barnett are leading a counter-attack, trouble's afoot, no matter how fast your own team may be.
The pair created the opening for Skilton, who craftily exploited a defensive mix-up to give herself an open goal into which she gleefully slammed the ball in the 62nd minute, after which Thailand introduced their second batch of three substitutes - both were allowed six changes throughout the course of the contest.
While the newcomers were getting up to speed, the host nation extended their lead still further in the 65th minute with a splendidly worked set-piece routine. Earning a free-kick near the right-hand edge of Thailand's penalty area, Barnett angled her delivery low into the penalty area towards Rood.
Her dummy allowed Skilton, ghosting in behind her, all the time in the world to pick her spot and complete the eleventh hat-trick of her career, giving the NZ 'A' Women a 3-1 lead in the process.
Thailand weren't perturbed by this double blow, however, and kept on coming. Two of the NZ substitutes, Malia Steinmetz and Kate Loye, contributed to their opponents' momentum in the 72nd minute, with the former failing to find the latter with a pass.
Substitute Silawan Intamee swooped on the ball in an instant, and combined with fellow newcomers Kanjana Sung-Ngoen, Orathai Srimanee and Pitsamai Sornsai, whose shot flew past both replacement NZ 'A' Women's 'keeper Victoria Esson and her right-hand post.
The local team enjoyed no such luck four minutes later, as Thailand set up a grandstand finish. Sung-Ngoen motored down the right at pace before picking out Sornsai, who held the ball up well before spotting the run of Thongsombut. Her shot arrowed past Esson into the far corner of the net for the scorer's second goal of the game.
Buoyed by the goal, Thailand kept on coming - they fancied an equaliser big-time. Srimanee raced down the left seven minutes from time, and switched play via Thongsombut to Sornsai, who directed her effort narrowly wide from the edge of the penalty area.
Back came the Kiwis via Loye, whose twenty-five yarder was grabbed at the second attempt by Muthtanawech, after Steinmetz had won possession in midfield. That triggered a brief spell of New Zealand pressure, which culminated in Hannah Blake picking out Aimee Phillips with a pass.
She evaded two challenges before delivering a cross to the near post, where Rood's effort to clinch victory was thwarted by the combined efforts of Muthtanawech and Natthakarn Chinwong.
Cue a final flurry from Thailand, in stoppage time. Sornsai's surging run down the right saw her enter the penalty area before her pocket was picked by the fast-retreating figure of New Zealand's hat-trick heroine.
As she brought the ball out of defence, Skilton ran into trouble just outside the area, presenting Intamee with the chance to secure a draw for the visitors from the last kick of the game.
But the Thai substitute's free-kick soared over the crossbar, prompting referee Wendy McNeely to call time on a well contested encounter between two well-matched sides, Skilton's treble clinching victory for the NZ 'A' Women's team.
Thailand now play two more internationals against the NZ 'A' Women's squad, the first of which takes place at Mt. Smart Stadium on Saturday from 4.30pm. The final match of Thailand's tour sees these teams meet again from 5pm on Tuesday, at Fred Taylor Park.
NZ 'A' Women: Nicol (Esson, 63); Vosper, Lake, Anton, Toailoa (Satchell, 88); Mettam (Steinmetz, 46), Skilton, Coombes ((Loye, 63); Rood, Barnett (Phillips, 77), Hand (Blake, 46)
Thailand: Muthtanawech; Pechwiset (Srangthaisong, 46), Saenkhun, Sritala (Chinwong, 46), Phancha; Kueanpet (Intamee, 46), Seesraum (Sornsai, 63), Panyosuk; Thongsombut, Penghgam (Sung-Ngoen, 63), Dangda (Srimanee, 63)
Referee: Wendy McNeely
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