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25/04/04
Hearn And Moorwood Steer Lynn-Avon To Victory
by Jeremy Ruane
Reigning Northern Premier Women’s League champions Lynn-Avon United scored a solid 3-0 win over Takapuna at Taharoto Park on Anzac Day, but it was a victory they were certainly made to work hard for by a side so badly hit by injury to first-choice players that coach Michael Kwok has been forced to draft in reserve team players to fill the gaps.
As a result, United, with their galaxy of Auckland and New Zealand stars, should have won this at a canter, but found themselves being held scoreless at half-time, and very nearly a goal behind - Takapuna’s lone chance of the match saw Anna Barlow’s headed effort cleared off the line by Rachel Doody with a minute of the first spell remaining.
 It was a decidedly scratchy first half performance from the champions - hardly the sort with which they wanted to mark Melissa Ray’s (right) twentieth birthday! But, as witnessed at Old Trafford in the early hours of this same morning, the old saying - "Form is temporary; class is permanent!" - was borne out by the second half displays of two of this country’s brightest footballing talents.By sheer example, Hayley Moorwood and Amber Hearn grabbed this game by the scruff of the neck and, in doing so, forced their team-mates to raise their standards to a level more in keeping with the trophy-winning football with which Lynn-Avon has been synonymous so far this century.
The combination was as dynamic as it was complimentary. Moorwood, so deft of touch, lithe of movement, precise of pass and silky of skill; Hearn, bristling with pace, panache, raw power and unbridled aggression. One operates with a scalpel, the other a sword.
 "She’s now on the same level as Amanda Crawford", said Takapuna defender Rebecca Simpson of her New Zealand team-mate Hearn (left) afterwards. That’s a big statement, but one with which only the unwise or the ignorant would find fault, such is its accuracy.Yet in the first half, the pair, like their team-mates, were frustrated at every turn by a Takapuna team defending like Trojans, none more so than Anna Barlow, Carolyn Simpson, Steph Stevens and Rebecca Simpson herself - you wouldn’t have guessed the last-mentioned was playing with a twisted ankle!
This quartet, in particular, were rock-like, so much so that the bulk of Rachel Howard’s saves were workmanlike - the Kiwi custodian was little tested by Lynn-Avon’s attacking armoury, most of whose shots were fired from distance.
 A couple were not. Just five minutes into the match, Howard produced a stunning full-stretch save to thwart Terry McCahill’s towering header from a Rebecca Parkinson (right) corner. And when the ‘keeper was beaten as Hearn rampaged round her on the half-hour, Carolyn Simpson came to Takapuna’s rescue, leaving the striker screeching in frustration.Half-time came, and with it some well-chosen words from United coach Jill Gilmore. Moorwood and Hearn took particular heed, and slipped out of second gear straight from the resumption.
Howard saved at the feet of the former just thirty seconds into the half, anticipating Michele Keinzley’s through ball to perfection. Moorwood then tested Howard from distance, while after Kirsty Yallop had fired into the sidenetting following Jennifer Carlisle’s promptings, Hearn had Takapuna’s goalkeeper sprawling to her right in vain, Howard gratefully looking on as the twenty-five yard grasscutter
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 seared narrowly wide.This was a little more like it from Lynn-Avon - direct and purposeful, as opposed to detached and ponderous. Parkinson to Moorwood - a defence-splitting back-heel invited Yallop to chip, but too high. Hearn, then Yallop (right) again, chanced their arm, but Howard prevailed on both occasions.
In the 62nd minute, the ‘keeper was beaten, Hearn and Moorwood linking with Parkinson, whose cross arced to the far post. Surely now, but no - Carlisle hit the post with the goal gaping. Was it Takapuna’s day?
Hearn screeched again, Howard her nemesis once more, the ‘keeper grabbing her header from Carlisle’s measured cross, then smothering the striker’s shot after Dana Heiford had provided the pass.
 Takapuna’s defence was now looking shaky, unable to live with Lynn-Avon’s rise in tempo. And in the 68th minute, they finally buckled. Moorwood (left) galloped down the left, gathering the ball and outpacing the challenges before drilling an unerring low shot through the legs of Howard as the ‘keeper moved to narrow the angle - it was hard on the ‘keeper, who duly acknowledged the cleverness of Moorwood’s effort afterwards.Heads dropped in the home team’s ranks, their bubble burst. Three minutes later, it was blown asunder, Heiford’s scything pass rewarding Carlisle’s scampering run. A first-time cross to the far post invited Hearn’s header - the net bulged, and the screech of despair changed to a squeal of delight at last!
Having conceded two goals in four minutes, the home team could easily have collapsed in a screaming heap. But urged on by captain Howard, they largely held their nerve for the remainder of the match, while their efforts to get back into the contest resulted in another injury setback, Claire Deamer joining Takapuna’s walking wounded on the sideline late on.
 United, meanwhile, sought a third goal, Hearn releasing Anne Tansell with a peach of a pass. The substitute’s first touch sent a shot sizzling past Howard’s far post, while Keinzley’s (left) attempts to beat the ‘keeper at the near post saw the sidenetting struck - Heiford’s midfield handiwork to create the opening deserved better reward.Hearn also hit the sidenetting in the last minute, Ray and McCahill combining to break down a Takapuna raid and link with Moorwood in the build-up. Her control and turn in the same movement, prior to sending Hearn hurtling clear with a well-weighted through ball, left Barlow standing.
Four minutes beforehand, Lynn-Avon had completed the job in some style - a quite superb goal, in fact. As Carlisle began a run down the left, McCahill played the ball forward to Moorwood, whose instant pass into her overlapping team-mate’s path split Takapuna asunder.
Keinzley and Hearn were instantly anticipating what was coming, and Carlisle duly delivered a made-to-measure first time cross for the league’s leading goalscorer, Hearn’s header crashing into the net to complete an impressive second half performance with the coup de grace it deserved.
Takapuna: Howard; Stent, Stevens, R. Simpson, C. Simpson; Deamer (Porteous), Barlow, Stembridge (Hayle), Frame, Marcellino; McKenty
Lynn-Avon: Cox; Ray, McCahill, Carlisle; Doody (Heiford), Moorwood, Rainbow, Yallop; Parkinson (Robertson), Hearn, Keinzley (Tansell)
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