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16/08/09
Three Kings Prevail In Fiftieth Clash Of The Titans
by Jeremy Ruane
The greatest rivalry in New Zealand women's football turned fifty on 16 August, and Lynn-Avon United and Three Kings United marked the occasion with yet another hard-fought battle to add to the plethora which have preceded this Ken Maunder Park affair, this time in the Northern Premier Women's League Top Four Play-Offs.
This latest duel won't rank as one of the most memorable matches between these giants of the women's game in this country, with tactical nuances far more prevalent than scoring opportunities throughout this closely contested encounter.
But the visitors will recall it fondly for all the right reasons, a result of coming from behind to sink their arch-rivals 2-1 and inflict upon Lynn-Avon a first defeat of the season, less than a handful of games away from its conclusion.
This was the fifth clash between these rivals this season, but only the first in which the home team could call upon the services of Amber Hearn and Ria Percival. They had already left to play in the W-League by the time Hayley Moorwood, Emma Kete and Kirsty Yallop led Lynn-Avon to a stunning 5-0 rout of Three Kings at Keith Hay Park in the first of those five duels in May.
Sadly, that trio weren't able to take to the field in this encounter, despite each being fit, ready, eager, willing and able to do so. The workings of the international transfer window have denied them the chance to play on home soil again this season, a situation which would have also befallen both Hearn and Percival had relevant documentation not been mislaid somewhere between Ottawa and Auckland!
So, with their fellow W-League colleagues looking on, the returning duo took to the field, receiving warm 'welcome home' embraces from each of their Football Ferns' team-mates in the Three Kings squad - a nice touch! - prior to friendships being cast aside and battle commencing for the fiftieth time, some sixteen years after the first-ever showdown between the clubs which have set the standards for all others in NZ women's football to aspire to.
Back on that auspicious occasion, on Anzac Day, 1993, Avondale United downed Eden 2-0 at Eastdale Road. One of the goalscorers that day is still mixing it with the best the women's game in this country has to offer all these years later, and now, as then, she was a key factor in the victor's triumph.
Maia Jackman's first involvement in this match, however, was a none-too-gentle bone-shaking reminder to Percival that W-League achievements count for nought in these encounters, and referee Wayne Scott - an excellent display in challenging, rain-soaked playing conditions - rightly had a quiet word with the seasoned campaigner.
From the resulting free-kick, Lynn-Avon came close to taking the lead. Some frankly awful Three Kings defensive work had a great deal to do with this seventh minute incident, Anna Green's misjudgment of Caitlin Campbell's cross the first example of substandard play by those charged with keeping Lynn-Avon at bay.
The cross went beyond Sarah Gregorius, who raced after the ball and gathered it in before firing it back into the danger zone. Abby Erceg's half-hearted attempt to clear this threat succeeded in presenting the ball to Hearn, who thrashed a first-time volley narrowly over the crossbar from six yards.
Having survived that scare, Three Kings swiftly settled, and while Lynn-Avon looked the likelier team to break the deadlock in the early exchanges, openings were few and far between, with opponents matching each other stride for stride until one landed awkwardly after a challenge and stayed down.
Worryingly for Lynn-Avon, it was Hearn, and the sight of her departure from the fray on a stretcher with an ankle injury after just twenty minutes was not one of the game's most memorable moments, both spectacle-wise as well as from a wider perspective.
The home team reshuffled the pack following the premature departure of their number nine, but it was the visitors who were next to threaten, via an unlikely source on the half-hour.
Hannah Rishworth has played infrequently for Three Kings throughout the season due to study commitments, but she scarcely put a foot wrong in the heat of this battle, and you can guarantee her usually calm, authoritative demeanour would have been cast aside without hesitation had she managed to direct her header, from Green's corner, inside the far post, narrowly past which the ball flew.
Seven minutes later, Longo and Green combined, with the latter threading the needle through Lynn-Avon's rearguard for Leah Tagaloa's benefit. The striker was thwarted by Ashleigh Cox's brave save at her feet, seconds before Dana Humby and Melissa Ray both blocked shots from Rosie White after Rishworth had headed a Green free-kick into the striker's stride.
After Emily Cooper had just failed to make contact with a Campbell corner to the far post, Lynn-Avon opened the scoring two minutes before half-time. A poor goal-kick by Aroon Clansey was pounced on by Campbell, who headed it down for Percival.
Her lobbed pass sent Gregorius scampering through Three Kings' offside trap, and left the striker with just the advancing Clansey to beat. The `keeper stood not a prayer - bottom far corner, 1-0, a quality finish.
Given the psychological damage which Lynn-Avon
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 Sarah Gregorius (LAU) turns to shake off the challenge of Anna Green (TKU)
 Briony Fisher (LAU) shields from fellow Young Ferns star Rosie White (TKU)
 Leah Tagaloa (TKU) cops the full force of Liz Milne (LAU) in her back as she looks to chest the ball down
 In safe hands! Aroon Clansey (TKU) ...
 ... and Ashleigh Cox (LAU)
 Annalie Longo (TKU, nearest camera) accepts the congratulations of team-mates Lauren Murray, Nadia Pearl and Rosie White after scoring the winner
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have inflicted upon Three Kings this season - the aforementioned 5-0 rout, the National Women's Knockout Cup defeat and the drawn league match against an under-strength Lynn-Avon combination, a blow such as this on the stroke of half-time should have been the straw which broke the camel's back on this occasion.
But for all the confidence the home team had amassed over the course of their unbeaten run leading into this match, there was a similar strength of self-belief in the Three Kings camp, along the lines of `Sooner or later, one of these close tussles is going to our way, so why not today?'
So out they came for the second half, all guns blazing. Green sent a twenty-yard free-kick careering narrowly past Cox's right-hand post five minutes into the half after Campbell had copped Jackman a beauty just outside Lynn-Avon's penalty area.
The blow left Three Kings' former Lynn-Avon star seeing stars, and upon rising, she looked decidedly unsteady on her feet initially, but a few deep breaths and shakes of the head later, Jackman was back in the mood big-time, and proceeded to dominate the right flank for the remainder of the second half.
Not before a near-catastrophic error from Clansey had gifted Campbell the chance to clinch what would surely have been a play-off victory for Lynn-Avon in the 51st minute. The goalkeeper's clearance cannoned off the fast-closing front-runner, who set off after the rebound at a great rate of knots while Jackman and Green raced back in an effort to cover the gaping target.
Their efforts were partially successful, because from an ever-decreasing angle, Campbell rattled the outside of the post - a golden chance spurned, much to the relief of the flu-ridden Clansey, whose illness had an impact on her distribution throughout proceedings.
How Lynn-Avon were made to pay for that miss! Down the right stormed Jackman in the 57th minute, by-passing the covering Liz Milne by working a slick one-two with Lauren Murray, which sent the speedster scything into the penalty area.
Jackman duly unleashed a piledriver which Cox did well to parry, only to discover White closing in fast with one thought only in mind. The net bulged - 1-1.
The surge of confidence the equaliser gave Three Kings transformed the game. It was like the drawn league match and the rescheduled cup-tie all over again, as the visitors pounded away in search of a winner, only to find a Ray-led resolute rearguard standing firm, with the home team occasionally springing forward to engineer a chance of their own.
Such as that which materialised nineteen minutes from time. Campbell whipped in a free-kick which picked out the unmarked head of Briony Fisher, some eight yards out from goal. Her header flashed over the bar, to the collective groans of the Lynn-Avon faithful.
Back came Three Kings, with Tagaloa - she worked her socks off in attack - teaming up with Jackman on the right, the latter firing in a cross intended for Murray. Ray had other ideas, however, and thwarted the danger impressively.
At this time, Lynn-Avon had just ten players on the park, the hard-working Katie Hoyle having gone down with an injury which required treatment prior to her return to the fray.
Soon after she did restore parity to the on-field playing numbers, that on the scoreboard was broken, a blow from which Lynn-Avon would not recover. Their defences were decisively breached ten minutes from time, with Green releasing Murray down the left at pace.
Her driven low cross careered across the goalmouth to the far post, where the fast-arriving figure of Longo, momentarily free of the shackles by which Hoyle had held her captive throughout the better part of the battle, pounced mercilessly, steering the ball home through a forest of legs to give Three Kings the lead.
The respective reactions spoke volumes, Lynn-Avon's despair contrasting starkly with Three Kings' undisguised delight, the visitors' fourteenth victory over their arch-rivals just minutes away from materialising.
Straight from the kick-off, Three Kings stormed downfield again, Murray releasing White through the inside left channel. Cox was right behind her drive, and promptly sent the ball downfield as Lynn-Avon sought an equaliser in the time which remained.
But time was their enemy, and when the final whistle sounded, it confirmed Lynn-Avon would host a semi-final clash at Ken Maunder Park against Claudelands Rovers from 1pm on Sunday, August 23.
It also confirmed a first win over their greatest rivals since 2007 for Three Kings, whose undisguised joy was buoyed just as much by the fact they had secured direct passage to the inaugural Northern Premier Women's League Grand Final on the first weekend in September, a milestone their determined performance fully merited.
Lynn-Avon: Cox; Fisher, Humby, Ray, Selwyn; Percival, Cooper (Burrows, 75), Hoyle (booked, 60), Campbell; Gregorius, Hearn (Milne, 21)
Three Kings: Clansey; Jackman, Hill, Erceg, Green (booked, 70); Longo, Pearl, Rishworth; Tagaloa (Hogg, 89), Murray, White
Referee: Wayne Scott
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