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07/05/06
What A Battle!
by Jeremy Ruane
Thrills, spills, thunderous tackles, well-taken goals, questionable refereeing decisions, an injury delay requiring an ambulance … short of a penalty and a red card, both of which could easily have been awarded, the latest instalment in what surely ranks as the most fiercely contested rivalry in New Zealand women's soccer had just about everything you could wish for in a top-of-the-table football fixture.
Three Kings United and Lynn-Avon United produced one of the most physically demanding spectacles in their thirty-eight match rivalry on May 7, with many a warrior princess from this hard-fought duel - accurately tagged THE game of the weekend - sporting the scars of battle come the final whistle of a match which brought about a change at the top of the Northern Premier Women's League table.
The reigning champions' twenty-six match unbeaten run in all competitions was brought to an end by Three Kings at Keith Hay Park, their 3-1 win propelling them ahead of their arch-rivals on goal difference, with the added bonus of a game in hand to boot.
It was at this same venue on August 1, 2004, when Lynn-Avon last suffered defeat, and all the signs were there in the first half of this battle royal that history was about to repeat itself.
The visitors didn't look at all at ease in the first spell, as Three Kings, with Annalie Longo sidelined by an ankle injury, opted for the combative Maggie Lankshear alongside Kristy Hill in the centre of the park to counter Lynn-Avon's Sam Selwyn and Kirsty Yallop in this key area of the contest.
It also allowed the home team to enjoy the set-piece play of the youngster, whose first attempt in this regard saw her seventh minute corner fired goalwards by Zoe Thompson, the first chance of a very closely contested affair early doors giving Stephanie Puckrin little cause for concern.
Lankshear then chanced her arm from distance without accuracy two minutes later, after Maia Jackman had broken out of defence and linked with Thompson, who is forming a lively combination with Emma Kete in Three Kings' attack.
It was their rearguard which was opened up superbly in the fifteenth minute, however, as Lynn-Avon finally flexed their attacking muscles with some menace. Yallop won possession and linked with Margot Bowker, who swept a splendid ball through Three Kings' back-line to leave Sarah Gregorius one-on-one with the advancing Jenny Bindon.
The speedster knocked the ball wide of the `keeper, but went tumbling as the pair collided. Lynn-Avon collectively screamed for a free-kick at the very least from referee Nick Waldron, only for the match official to signal a goal kick.
It was the first incident in the match which saw the acid go on last season's Women's Referee of the Year - it was by no means the last! And while he got most of the calls right - some of his advantage play was exemplary - there were plenty which were contentious, to put it mildly.
Two minutes later, Gregorius found herself in the thick of the action again, having been picked out by a Melissa Ray cross after she had picked up the pieces resulting from a cleared Ria Percival corner. Bindon had far less difficulty dealing with the Under-20 international's effort on this occasion.
A couple of injury breaks followed, fully reflective of the hard-fought nature of the game. Bowker was left wondering which day of the week it was following a clash of heads, before Yallop slumped to the ground sporting an unwelcome four-inch addition to her healthy collection of battle scars. Both were able to continue, albeit for just another twenty minutes in the case of the Lynn-Avon striker.
In the 27th minute, an angled Terry McCahill cross wasn't headed clear by Petria Rennie, who was making her first appearance of the season after picking up a leg injury in Samoa. Rebecca Parkinson pounced, but made life easy for Bindon with a tame effort.
Back came Three Kings, forcing Ray into a 29th minute error which would be mercilessly punished. The defender gifted possession to Hill, whose quick interchange with Rennie saw Thompson swiftly linking with Merissa Smith on the right, the speedster having switched flanks with Maia Jackman half-way through the half.
Smith found herself one-on-one with Puckrin, who raced off her line and blocked at her opponent's feet. The ball ricocheted off Smith towards the target, however, and hit the base of the post. In amidst the retreating Lynn-Avon defenders was Kete, who reacted instantly to the rebound and swept home the opening goal from three yards.
Worse was to come six minutes later for the title-holders, as Three Kings doubled their lead with a super second goal. Rennie's right flank rampage was the catalyst for the raid, but it was the swiftness of the interchange with Lankshear and Kete which opened up Lynn-Avon's left flank for Smith to exploit at pace.
Thompson accordingly attacked the near post, and received a measured cross which she swept home across Puckrin into the far corner - 2-0, and the two-goal heroine of Three Kings' last victory over the “auld enemy” had struck again.
They could have scored a third goal sixty seconds later, Jackman releasing Kete in behind Ray. But the striker lacked the composure to chip the advancing Puckrin, instead shooting straight at the grateful goalkeeper.
After Jackman had fired wildly wide, and Bowker had been replaced by the well-performed Anne Tansell, Three Kings went on the hunt twice more before the interval. In the 41st minute, Emma Harrison, who had played a part in some of the best no-holds-barred tackles of the half with Jennifer Carlisle, released Thompson in behind Lynn-Avon's defence on the left.
Ray came across to thwart the striker, who chased down the defender's cross-field clearance, much to the surprise of the retreating Melanie Hansen. After evading the defender, Thompson laid the ball back to Smith, who swept a cross-shot beyond the far post.
On the stroke of half-time, Rennie raced down the right once more. The work of the overlapping fullback, allied to the runs of Smith and Jackman down the flanks, meant Lynn-Avon's back four often found themselves faced with four opponents to contain - little wonder there were some at times wayward clearances under pressure. On this occasion, Kete was unable to capitalise on her team-mate's efforts.
The second half was just five minutes old when the game came to a grinding halt through a freak collision. Selwyn was falling back to earth having successfully headed the ball while stretching backwards when her head crashed into the stomach of Rennie, who had been watching the flight of the ball as she retreated.
The impact knocked the wind out of the Three Kings defender, but was even worse for the Lynn-Avon
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 Margot Bowker (LAU) muscles her way past Kristy Hill and Hannah Rishworth (TKU)
 Zoe Thompson (TKU)
 Kirsty Yallop (LAU) evades Merissa Smith (TKU)
 Jenny Carlisle (LAU)
 Emma Harrison (TKU) clears from Ria Percival (LAU)
 Abby Erceg (TKU)
 Sarah Gregorius (LAU) takes a tumble as Petria Rennie and Kristy Hill (TKU) look on innocently
 Terry McCahill (LAU)
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midfielder, who effectively suffered a whiplash-like effect to her neck as it was suddenly catapulted in the direction from whence she'd come.
The outcome left Selwyn prone face-down on the ground, thankfully able to move her arms and legs, but with all present - including a doctor, nurse and a physiotherapist - quite rightly not willing to take any chances until St. John's Ambulance staff arrived to take the unfortunate youngster off to hospital.
Ironically, this setback served to strengthen Lynn-Avon's resolve to get back into the match, which was delayed for fifteen minutes by this incident. Player-coach Jill Gilmore came on for Selwyn, a move which saw Ray deployed in a midfield role, and a near- instant bolstering of the visitors' presence in an area of the pitch the battle for which, up to this point, Three Kings were clearly dominating.
It changed the pattern of the game, as Lynn-Avon wasted little time in employing their new central midfield pairing to good effect. Yallop and Ray combined to release Carlisle on the right in the 52nd minute. Hannah Rishworth blocked her first cross, but not the second, which targeted the head of Parkinson.
Bindon plucked the ball off her head to avert the danger on this occasion, then got right behind a twenty-five yarder from Yallop two minutes later, after Hansen and Ray had combined to create the opportunity.
Five minutes on, and Lynn-Avon were screaming for a penalty, with some justification. Yallop sent Gregorius scurrying through the inside right channel, where she was brought down by the covering figure of Abby Erceg. From the vantage point this writer held, it looked to be inside the penalty area, but referee Waldron ruled a free-kick on the edge of the eighteen-yard box, and yellow-carded the offender.
The visitors wasted this opportunity - Jackman copped Parkinson's strike flush in the face - but five minutes later fully exploited an awful attempted clearance by Harrison, who played the ball into her own penalty area.
Gregorius said `Thanks very much', then fended off the embarrassed defender's attempt to redress the situation before laying the ball into Yallop's path. She stroked her effort across Bindon and in off the far post, the goalkeeper giving the impression that she thought it was going wide.
Three minutes on, and Gregorius was afforded a golden chance to equalise as she hared after a ball forward from McCahill. Bindon retreated to her line, effectively allowing the striker half the goal to aim at. Gregorius took up the challenge, and buried her head in her hands as she fired the ball beyond the far post.
After Lankshear had become the second Three Kings player to be booked, for kicking the ball away, the home team launched their first attack of the half in the 73rd minute.
Referee Waldron played a great advantage as Carlisle chopped down Rennie from behind - he later spoke to the offender, having booked Erceg for a similar challenge - as Smith, who had instigated the raid, took over and raced into the Lynn-Avon penalty area. Her cross to the near post gifted Kete a golden opportunity, but like her opposite number, Gregorius, she spurned the chance to hit the target.
Two minutes later, it was Hansen's turn to provide the referee with her name for his notebook, after scything down Smith with a tackle which ultimately prompted her replacement eight minutes later. Plenty happened before that, however, with the free-kick awarded for the foul inviting Lankshear to step up and chance her arm from twenty-five yards. Her curling effort missed the far post by a yard at most.
Lankshear then stormed forward from midfield to breach the offside trap, and was rewarded with a gorgeous ball into her path from Rishworth. The midfielder lashed her shot across the covering figure of McCahill, but found Puckrin perfectly placed to deal with the shot.
Lynn-Avon responded within a minute, both Yallop and Percival going close from distance. Carlisle then sent a header flashing inches past the post, on being picked out by a Parkinson free-kick in the 81st minute.
Sixty seconds later, the visitors were howling in vain at the referee yet again. Ray slipped the ball through for Gregorius, only for Bindon to hurtle off her line and parry at the striker's feet. Harrison was first to the loose ball, and appeared to play it back towards Bindon as the goalkeeper looked to regather it. “Pass-back!” was countered by “Play on!” - again, the visitors looked to have a strong case.
Bindon cleared the ball up field, unleashing Jackman at pace down the left. Three Kings' captain checked inside before lashing a twenty-five yard cross-shot across the face of goal and beyond the far post, an effort which prompted the departure of Smith - replaced by Betsy Hassett - and, significantly as it was to prove, the return of Jackman to the right wing.
Hassett was quickly into the fray, battling well down the right to force Carlisle into a wayward clearance, Rennie the beneficiary. She fed Kete, who slipped a low cross into the near post area. Jackman was zooming in, but not quickly enough to prevent Gilmore's clearance.
In the 88th minute, Carlisle came desperately close again with a glancing header, the ball flying inches past the far post as Parkinson's searching free-kick sought a last-gasp equaliser for the visitors, who were incensed early in the seven minutes of stoppage time when Kete needlessly clattered into Puckrin after the goalkeeper had cleared the ball. Another flourish of yellow was followed by the striker's swift substitution.
Three minutes from time, Lynn-Avon began to launch an attack from the back, only for McCahill to look on in horror as her crossfield ball from right to left was pounced on by Jackman. She instantly clipped the ball over Hansen's head and gathered the rebound before luring Puckrin out of goal and curling the ball towards the far post.
Arriving on cue to apply the coup de grace to Lynn-Avon's hopes of parity was Thompson … 3-1 to Three Kings, but yet more drama was to be had before the final whistle. The incident concerned involved Lankshear, who repeated her act of dissent for which she received a yellow card some twenty minutes earlier. A second wasn't forthcoming … it should have been.
It meant a dramatic conclusion to a boisterous battle royal between two star-laden line-ups. Eighteen senior or age-grade internationals of past or present vintage started the match, which unquestionably lived up to its billing as THE game of the weekend.
Three Kings: Bindon; Rennie, Erceg (booked, 59), Rishworth, Harrison; Jackman, Hill, Lankshear (booked, 71), Smith (Hassett, 83); Thompson, Kete (booked, 90) (Cox, 90)
Lynn-Avon: Puckrin; Carlisle, Ray, McCahill, Hansen (booked, 75); Gregorius, Selwyn (Gilmore, 50), Yallop, Percival; Bowker (Tansell, 41), Parkinson
Referee: Nick Waldron
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