Lynn-Avon United and Three Kings United have produced two epic league encounters this season, but when it came time to go head-to-head in their SWANZ Knockout Cup do-or-die quarter-final showdown at Ken Maunder Park on July 20, even the standards, in terms of intensity, set by those two thrilling encounters were surpassed. This was cup-tie football at its gripping best - tense, uncompromising and unyielding, with neither juggernaut of the women’s game in Auckland willing to concede anything to their opposite. It was a classic case of the immovable object - Lynn-Avon, unbeaten in fifteen months, taking on the irresistible force - Three Kings, the only team to have truly tested the champions’ dominance in that period. In both league clashes, the immovable object stood firm, repelling the challenge of their arch-rivals with late goals in both matches; the hallmark of a champion side. A cup-tie is a different ball-game altogether, however, and the irresistible force was not prepared to endure the taste of defeat at the hands of their fellows again. They didn’t. The delight on the faces of the Three Kings contingent at the sound of Graham Whitford’s final whistle said it all. 2-0 was their winning margin, and a thoroughly deserved victory it was as well. There was little to choose between the teams early on, with the shots of Lynn-Avon’s Katrina Sharpe, and Three Kings’ Karin Jensen and Pernille Andersen, being the only ones of consequence fired goalwards in the first half-hour of play. But in this period, the tackles were flying in thick and fast, and hard!! Some were real bone-jarring  jobs, as quarter was neither given nor taken. This physical aspect of the game is arguably Lynn-Avon’s greatest strength, but today they were matched challenge for challenge by opponents whose desire to dictate terms was emphasised by the fluency of their trademark passing game, which was, by now, beginning to engineer holes in the home team’s defence. As was witnessed in the 42nd minute. Jane Simpson played a one-two with Andersen, allowing the former to run at Lynn-Avon’s captain, Terry McCahill. The defender was forced to turn by her opponent, and could not recover in time to deny Simpson the shooting chance she sought. Fortunately for the home team, the shot hit the sidenetting, with Yvonne Vale at full stretch. Three minutes later, Simpson sent Jensen in on the right, from where she squared the ball into the heart of the penalty area, anticipating Andersen’s arrival. The striker was nowhere to be seen, however, and Jill Corner spared Lynn-Avon’s blushes, bringing to an end a scoreless first half. The second spell was only four minutes old when Three Kings opened up Lynn-Avon again. Michele Cox shrugged off the challenge of Corner to send Andersen through. She took on and beat McCahill before drilling a low cross into the danger zone. Again, however, no one was following up for the visitors, much to the home team’s relief. Forward forays from Lynn-Avon were rare events, given the tenacious play of Three Kings, but when Maia Jackman put Angela Vujnovich through in the 53rd minute, the visitors’ defence was stretched to breaking point. But Maria Wilkie appeared from nowhere to execute a timely tackle on Lynn-Avon’s leading scorer, thus denying her the chance to further extend her tally for the season. The absorbing duel continued unabated, with thrust and parry aplenty. Come 68 minutes, however, the deadlock was broken in stunning fashion. Three Kings forced a corner which Cox delivered deep into the danger zone. Vale palmed the ball out, seemingly clear of any threat on goal. But one player had been left unmarked, and of all people, it was the ever-dangerous Andersen. She had taken up a position on the far edge of the penalty area, and had virtually been ignored by Lynn-Avon’s rearguard as they concentrated on defending the set piece. How Andersen punished them for their negligence! The ball came straight to her, and she volleyed it straight back - a prodigious strike which sailed over everyone’s heads before dipping under the crossbar and into the top far corner of the net. Unstoppable!! The Dane was in action again three minutes later, and only a superb save by Vale kept the scoreline stable. The ‘keeper was untroubled in dealing with a twenty-five yard free kick from Cox soon after, but was left in no-man’s land in the 78th minute, as Andersen struck the all-important second goal. A raking Rachel Howard clearance easily cleared the halfway line, and Corner’s contact sent the ball back towards McCahill and Vale. The former had Andersen on her shoulder as she covered the ball with Vale approaching, but a momentary hesitation between the Lynn-Avon stalwarts allowed the striker to nip in between them and roll the ball into an empty net from twenty yards. It was a blow from which the cup holders were never to recover. Lyn Pedruco’s headed effort looped over the bar in the 81st minute, while Vujnovich was denied in stoppage time by Howard’s save at her feet. Moments later, the striker was in again, but her wayward drive, when clear, underlined the fact that this was not to be Lynn-Avon’s day. Instead, it was that of the irresistible force. They had conquered their nemesis, the immovable object, at last.