In the 25 years I’ve had the pleasure of watching and, ultimately, reporting on the exploits of New Zealand’s female footballers on the local, national and international stage, one fixture, more than any other, has come to epitomise everything that is good about the women’s game. It’s the first clash I look for when the league schedule is published at the start of the season, and both fixtures are marked on the wall planner in indelible ink seconds later. That’s because the history of clashes between Lynn-Avon United and Three Kings United demands the absolute best of every player in each team whenever their paths cross, and as a result there have been some epic encounters down the years as the two Uniteds have respectively pursued glory. Their Lotto Northern Premier Women’s League showdown at Ken Maunder Park on April 10, 2011, added another chapter fully deserving of its place in the rich and storied history of New Zealand women’s football’s greatest rivalry. The 2-2 outcome was just the seventh draw Lynn-Avon and Three Kings have produced since the first of their 55 duels took place on Anzac Day, 1993, and this one had just about everything you could wish for - great goals, woodwork rattlers, goals disallowed, goal-line clearances, impressive individual performances, plenty of good football, minimal fouls … all in all, just your typical epic "Old Firm" derby! Three Kings, whose first game of the campaign this was, came out all guns blazing against their rivals, with Anna Green’s opening corner being tipped over the bar by Laura Bakker in the third minute. Dana Humby came to Lynn-Avon’s aid sixty seconds later, although she took one for the team in doing so. "Daytime" was briefly seeing stars after attempting to head clear a thunderous Green piledriver, prompted by Annalie Longo’s short corner. Cue a Lynn-Avon counter-attack, with Ria Percival central to it. She sparked the fifth minute move with a darting run off the right flank, which she continued after laying the ball off to Casey Ridsdale. The midfielder brought Rachel Head into play, and the fullback, seeing Percival’s angled run ahead of her, delivered an inviting ball into the stride of the Football Fern, who fizzed a cross in behind Amber Hearn. Green’s sliced skywards clearance gave all-comers a chance to take advantage, and they were queuing up in front of Three Kings’ goal as gravity played its part. Leading the line was Aroon Clansey, who swatted the sphere off Hearn’s head to avert the danger for the visitors. Green was involved all over the park during the opening exchanges, and popped up on the left in the seventh minute, exhibiting some deft close control as she coolly brought the ball down before setting off on a run which culminated in a cross beyond the far post to Rosie White. The striker calmly steered the ball into the stride of her new front-running partner, Martine Puketapu, who mistimed her low drive, much to the relief of Bakker, who was to have a great game twixt the sticks for the home side. She was beaten on the quarter hour, however, Rebecca Burrows and Longo - a superb through ball - combining to play in White, who deftly chipped home over Bakker, only to have her celebrations cut short by the offside flag. Four minutes later, White and Puketapu combined to play in Longo, who skipped past Kate Seatter before lashing a left-foot drive across the diving figure of Bakker but just past the far post. Three Kings had certainly engineered the better openings during the early exchanges, but Lynn-Avon were gradually making their presence known in this battle of wills. Hearn sent a header flashing past the post following a Percival corner in the 21st minute, five minutes before one of the most prolific strikers in New Zealand’s history imposed herself on the contest in the manner for which she’s renowned. Ray and Ridsdale combined to pick out Hearn with a pass which left the Three Kings defence in all sorts of bother. Percival was in support of her team-mate, and Michelle Windsor was the lone obstacle between them and Clansey’s goal. Hearn in full flight is a sight no defender relishes, and even less so when it’s time to pull the trigger. From twenty-five yards, the ball bulleted goalwards, and while the diving figure of Clansey got her fingertips to it, Hearn’s hammer blow was simply too hot for her to handle - on it continued into the back of the net, much to the delight of the home team’s faithful. Three Kings were clearly rattled by the goal, and Lynn-Avon weren’t slow to seek a second strike and further impose themselves on proceedings. On the half-hour, Ray swooped on a stumble by Burrows and played in Hearn, who linked with Percival to reward Hannah Carlsen’s smart run from midfield. The youngster was in the act of shooting when the timely challenge of Green spared the visitors’ blushes, but Lynn-Avon were unperturbed. Two minutes later, Ray picked out Percival on the right, and the speedster deftly danced past the challenges of Green and Windsor before whipping a wicked curling, dipping twenty-five yarder which cleared Clansey’s crossbar by mere inches. Within seconds, the visitors’ goalkeeper was diving in vain again, this time across her goal as a result of a shot from Hearn which materialised after the striker had got the better of Tessa Berger on the left. This time, the ball fizzed narrowly past the far post. Three Kings arrested their slump with a brilliant piece of football in the 37th minute. Nadia Pearl, who is Fresno State-bound later in the year, executed a sumptuous angled cross-field grasscutter right into the stride of Green, who swiftly threaded the ball through the inside left channel. Bakker, who had taken on spectating duties during the past fifteen minutes, raced out to gather the ball, only to be beaten to it by a blur of teal and white, a blur which promptly swivelled and slipped a first-time shot under the body of the diving ‘keeper and into the net. As on the quarter hour, White’s celebrations were stymied by the offside flag, her tight angled run deemed to have been made from an inappropriate position when the ball was played. A pity, because this would have been a superbly taken equaliser, make no mistake. Instead, Lynn-Avon retained their one-goal lead, which should have been doubled on the stroke of half-time. Percival sent the irrepressible Ray racing through the middle, and after wrong-footing Windsor, she promptly let fly. Clansey partially blocked her shot, and it was a foot-race between Ray and Windsor to see who would reach the ball first as it spun towards the net. The defender prevailed to clear off the line, a fitting note on which to conclude a pulsating first half. As they had in the first half, Three Kings came out of the blocks in the second spell in determined fashion, an equaliser their prime objective. Green’s defence-splitting pass from deep four minutes into the half signalled the visitors’ intentions, with Bakker needing to be sharp to block at the feet of Puketapu as the youngster sought to exploit the opening. Six minutes later, the visitors went closer still. Longo’s

Anna Green (TKU) chased by Melissa Ray (LAU) Rachel Head (LAU) shields from Annalie Longo (TKU) Claudia Crasborn (TKU) dives in to tackle Megan Lee (LAU) Nadia Pearl (TKU) homes in on Hannah Carlsen (LAU) Amber Hearn (LAU) chased by Anna Green (TKU) Dana Humby (LAU) clears from Martine Puketapu (TKU) Casey Ridsdale (LAU) and Nadia Pearl (TKU) dispute possession Ria Percival (LAU) in full flight Tessa Berger (TKU) plays the ball stylishly

deft ball over the top caused a spot of chaos in Lynn-Avon’s rearguard, with Humby and Seatter unsettled by Bakker’s decision to race off her line. Burrows took full advantage of their dilemma, nipping in to take the ball away from all three opponents before angling a shot at the target, only to see the sphere strike the outside of the near post, the untended goal yawning invitingly next to it. Lynn-Avon responded through Carlsen, who unleashed a vicious thirty yarder which careered narrowly past the far post after Berger had headed Percival’s 56th minute cross to seeming safety. Two minutes later, the home team had the ball in the net again, but Ray had already been flagged offside before pulling the trigger, an act of dissent for which she was duly punished by referee Anna-Marie Keighley - the only booking of a riveting encounter between two teams intent on letting their football do the talking for them. The home team looked to repeat the dose seconds later, Hearn the intended recipient of a fine through ball from Carlsen. Clansey had other ideas, however, and raced off her line to clear the ball off the toes of the striker, whose response, two minutes later, was simply sublime. It’s a really pleasing sight to see Percival in full flight once more, free of the knee harnesses which she has been forced to don throughout the past couple of seasons while recovering from injuries to that most pivotal of joints. She is clearly relishing that freedom, and when she picked the ball up ten yards outside her penalty area in the 61st minute, had just one thing in mind. Off she dashed, instantly spotting Hearn’s expectant run ahead of her. In due course, Percival delivered a peach of a lofted pass into the stride of her Football Ferns team-mate, thirty yards from goal. Clansey was off her line, and despite the fast-approaching figure of Berger, Hearn, without hesitation, executed a first-time volleyed lob which arced over the goalkeeper and dropped inch-perfect under the bar - a goal of the highest quality, well in keeping with the rich history of this fixture. What’s more, it made the score 2-0 to Lynn-Avon, and presented Three Kings with a test of their character in their first fixture of the campaign. Their response spoke volumes. Claudia Crasborn endured a miserable first half. Just about every pass she attempted went straight to a red-clad opponent. A lesser player could easily have gone missing in action in such circumstances, but Crasborn has never been one to hide when the heat is on, and she it was who led Three Kings’ response straight from the kick-off. Storming down the right from half-way, the fullback made a bee-line for the by-line before jinking inside and pulling the ball back into Longo’s stride. Her placed shot beat Bakker, but found Seatter perfectly placed to clear off the line. Only as far as White, however. Boyce was onto her in a flash, and duly blocked the striker’s shot before combining with Humby to frustrate the number eleven again seconds later. Back came Lynn-Avon, Hearn leading the charge with a cross from the right which Three Kings’ defence was quite content to allow to pass on by, until they saw Tayla O’Brien arriving on the scene beyond the far post. Clansey produced a superb save at point-blank range to thwart the youngster, before rightly giving her rearguard an earful. Berger heeded the warning, and redeemed herself in the ‘keeper’s eyes just two minutes later, when heading off the line as Hearn met Percival’s header with a driven header. A further sixty seconds elapsed before Ridsdale and Ray combined to play Hearn in on the right, the striker’s shot needing two bites by Clansey before she had the ball under control. Three Kings’ ‘keeper promptly threw the ball out to Green, who launched a counter-attack which finally pierced Lynn-Avon’s defences. White was the beneficiary of the fullback’s promptings, and from an acute angle some fifteen yards out, she unleashed a fulminating finish which careered inside Bakker’s near post and crashed into the roof of the net - 2-1, game on, big time! Now it was Lynn-Avon’s turn to tremble, but not before Ridsdale had let rip a twenty-five yarder. Clansey grabbed the shot nonchalantly - it was Bakker who would be under pressure now. Sure enough, Lynn-Avon’s custodian was swiftly in the thick of the action, saving well at the feet of White after Crasborn and Longo - another teasing, curling ball in behind the defence - had opened up Lynn-Avon’s left flank. Sixteen minutes from time, Three Kings earned a corner, which Burrows delivered. Pearl chose this moment to score her maiden goal for her team, soaring salmon-like above all-comers to direct a looping header over Bakker and just under the bar - 2-2. Grandstand finish time, and both teams sought to deliver the telling blow in a tense yet furious finale. Carlsen was perfectly placed by the post to block a ferocious drive from Green on the line in the 78th minute, to which Lynn-Avon responded eight minutes later via a Megan Lee corner. The substitute picked out Hearn, whose header bulleted inches past the post. That was Hearn’s last act of the game, and she joined Percival and Ray in watching the final stages of the match from the bench, the latter pair having been withdrawn from the fray soon after Three Kings equalised. To say Lynn-Avon coach Mauro Donoso gambled in replacing the wealth of experience this trio offer with the exuberance offered by a trio of youngsters - including debutant Hannah Hoeksma - at such a critical stage of this match is something of an understatement. It was a big call which certainly raised eyebrows, but the coach’s faith was ultimately repaid, although it was a heck of a close-run thing! For after Hearn’s departure, Three Kings threw everything at their arch-rivals in the minutes which remained. Crasborn thrashed a vicious low twenty-yarder a foot past the far post; Longo evaded three challenges before inviting Green to unleash a blockbusting drive which brushed the bar. Into stoppage time, and White sent Crasborn careering through the middle. As Seatter approached, the age-group international smashed a shot past Bakker, only to see it thud against the post; Pearl then played in White, but Bakker and Seatter combined to thwart the striker once more. Time remained for one last effort, and it fell Burrows’ way. It would have been a painful blow to Lynn-Avon had their former player delivered the coup de grace in the fourth minute of stoppage time, but Bakker managed to save her effort at the second attempt, seconds after which the final whistle sounded - honours even at the end of a fine advertisement for women’s football between the greatest rivals in the game. Lynn-Avon:     Bakker; Seatter, Humby, Boyce, Head; Percival (Lee, 76), Carlsen, Ridsdale, O’Brien; Ray (booked, 58) (Hoeksma, 76), Hearn (Wimbrow, 87) Three Kings:     Clansey; Crasborn, Windsor, Berger, Green; Mathews (Molloy, 86), Burrows, Pearl, Longo; White, Puketapu Referee:     Anna-Marie Keighley