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18/05/97
Lynn-Avon Too Strong For Te Atatu
by Jeremy Ruane
Toyota Forklifts Lynn-Avon United maintained their lead at the top of the Northern Premier Women's League on May 18, but they made hard work of their 2-1 triumph over fellow championship chasers Te Atatu at Te Atatu Park.
So dominant were United that they should have had the game wrapped up by half-time - had they tested Te Atatu's inexperienced goalkeeper, Christine Getzler, more often than they did. The one occasion they did chance their arm, from a Sue Gregory free-kick on the quarter-hour, the goalkeeper dropped the ball, only for Terry McCahill, following in, to slip the sphere the wrong side of the upright from a tight angle.
Jill Corner's likeness for calling out her surname from wherever she was on the park, in this case somewhere near the half-way line, was rightly ignored by referee Trevor Bradford on this occasion, but the match official wasn't always spot-on with his judgments in this well-contested encounter.
The defending champions did beat the 'keeper on three other occasions, however, two of which saw defenders clearing the ball off the line. Gregory was foiled by Kirsty Samuels in the 22nd minute, following a pinpoint Katrina Sharpe corner, while the same source of supply picked out McCahill on the far post three minutes before the interval, only for Kati Roti to kick her header clear.
Three minutes prior, Melissa Wileman had burst through against her former club, pouncing on a mistake by the otherwise well-performed Samuels. The defender proved her worth to a frail Te Atatu rearguard, however, a timely recovering tackle denying Wileman as she lined up the shot, having already evaded Getzler's challenge.
For all their pressure, however, the only goal of the game in the first half fell the way of Te Atatu in the tenth minute. Gillian Thurlow led the counter-attack and released Amanda Crawford, who scooted away from McCahill and rounded the advancing Yvonne Vale before picking her spot beyond Lisa Roper, who had retreated to the goal-line in a vain attempt to deny New Zealand's reigning Player of the Year.
Crawford created another chance in the 32nd minute after pouncing on Vale's error from a Thurlow cross. The striker got to the byline before laying the ball back. Jennifer Carlisle, up in support, was too slow to react, unlike Vale, who pounced on the sphere to prevent Te Atatu from going 2-0 up.
The forward forays of the home team were few and far between in the second spell, with Vale proving equal to anything Te Atatu could muster. Twice she saved at the feet of Thurlow as Bruce Ward's side launched all-too-rare raids.
Meantime, Te Atatu were defending like demons in an effort to hold out Lynn-Avon. The pressure was bound to tell, however, and sure enough ...
Goalkeeping errors cost Te Atatu dearly. Lyn Pedruco was only narrowly astray in the 49th minute following one such blemish by Getzler, who redeemed herself soon after when saving from Angela Vujnovich.
The out-of-position goalkeeper was beaten for the first time in the 54th minute. Maia Jackman's cross from the left was flicked on by Vujnovich for Wileman, who blasted the ball inside the far post to level the scores.
Long-range efforts from Alisse Robertson and Pedruco followed, as did another from Vujnovich. This 67th minute attempt was fumbled by the young goalkeeper, and with a player of Jackman's quality lurking nearby, there was only ever going to be one outcome following this error.
Pedruco, Vujnovich and Gregory, twice, went close before the finish to extending Lynn-Avon's advantage, but 2-1 it stayed - a convincing performance from the defending champions, which was not reflected in the scoreline.
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