Three Kings United cruised into the National Women's Knockout Cup quarter-finals on June 26, recording a routine 9-0 win over Lynn-Avon United at Ken Maunder Park in the 67th - and potentially last, at least for a while - "Old Firm" derby. The result saw Lynn-Avon clock up another unwanted record in this season from hell for a club which has contributed so much to the women's game in New Zealand over the last quarter of a century, this being their heaviest ever defeat in a competition they have won nine times in total. The visitors were quickly into their work, enjoying plenty of possession and forcing a few corners in the first ten minutes, without any real end product. Then Jess Philpot and birthday girl Caitlin Pritchard combined to send Jessie Mathews through on goal with just Storm Buckingham to beat. The 'keeper came out to save at the Three Kings' captain's feet, and the pair collided, with Mathews coming off worse, to such an extent that she would play no further part in the contest. That allowed Three Kings to unleash former Lynn-Avon starlet Isabella Richards off the bench. She was to play quite an influential role in proceedings, but not before the visitors had twice gone close to opening the scoring in the fourteenth minute. Martine Puketapu played a measured through ball into the stride of Hannah Blake, who was denied by Buckingham saving at her feet on this occasion, then saving a thirty yarder from the same player thirty seconds later, as Three Kings swiftly regained possession from the clearance. Their pressure was soon converted into goals, with two in ninety seconds coming to pass in the seventeenth and eighteenth minutes. The first saw Richards spread play wide to Alosi Bloomfield, who jinked past a challenge before steering the ball into the stride of Blake, who, from the edge of the penalty area, placed a delightfully angled shot beyond the diving figure of Buckingham into the bottom far corner of the net. Led by Lucy Carter and Brooke Hawker, Lynn-Avon swept downfield from the kick-off, but Claudia Crasborn's interception sparked a devastating counter-attack which left Georgia Martin dealing with the express pace of both Blake and Paige Satchell, who were eagerly pursuing Puketapu's peach of a through ball. The newly capped Football Fern took charge of proceedings, racing past Martin before rounding Buckingham and rolling the ball home into the empty net to put Three Kings on course for their 25th victory in the history of New Zealand women's football's greatest and most enduring club rivalry - Lynn-Avon have won 35 matches, with seven draws. Any hopes the home team harboured of turning things around were dashed inside the next nine minutes, as Three Kings scored twice more en route to their biggest ever victory over their arch-rivals. Richards again ignited the raid, picking out Satchell with a 23rd minute pass which allowed the speedster to escape the clutches of Jaedaci Uluvili before drilling a super low cross to the far post for Blake. Buckingham parried her initial effort, but Blake bundled home the rebound, the ball crossing the line before Maia Jackman's despairing attempt to hook the sphere to safety could be executed. Four minutes later, Satchell produced a brilliant jinking cross-field run, starting from the junction of half-way and the right-hand touchline, all the way to just inside the penalty area on the other side of the pitch. Easily half the Lynn-Avon team were left trailing in her wake before she let fly, only for Buckingham to parry what would have been a certain contender for goal of the season, had Satchell's shot found the net. Instead, the rebound found Richards racing in on goal in anticipation of just such an opportunity, and the substitute gleefully tucked the ball home before instantly turning to celebrate the strike with its fleet-footed creator. Inside the next four minutes, Three Kings carved out three chances which begged a finish which wasn't forthcoming. The first of them saw Puketapu and Martin having a right old go over the ball on the left, with the striker eventually prevailing prior to working a one-two with Blake and sending a low cross sizzling across the goalmouth. No-one in a teal shirt was following in on this occasion, a situation which also applied when Satchell and Blake delivered a couple of delicious crosses in the 30th and 31st minutes - buffet balls with all the trimmings. Sadly, such footballing haute cuisine wasn't greedily gobbled this time round. After another left flank thrust by Satchell had resulted in Richards stinging the over-worked Buckingham's gloves from twenty yards, the substitute fired another effort from similar range narrowly over the bar after contributing to a move which also featured Philpot, the overlapping figure of Blake, and Puketapu. Right on half-time, Three Kings went nap with a cracking goal. Bloomfield's defence-splitting pass allowed Satchell to hare away down the right, from where she delivered another inviting cross to the far post. Flying in to meet it was Puketapu, whose header left Buckingham beaten all ends up. The same combination made it 6-0 six minutes into the second half. Crasborn was the architect on this occasion, pinging a cross-field ball towards Satchell which a Lynn-Avon player attempted to head clear, but in vain. The whippet-like winger was onto the ball in an instant, and weaved her way to the by-line before crossing to the far post, off which Puketapu headed home her second goal of the game. Desperate defensive work denied the visitors soon after, Jackman blocking a flying volley from Richards on the line following a Nadia Pearl corner, before the former Junior Ferns midfield general sent Satchell scampering down the right in pursuit of a

peach of a pass. Satchell's cross found Puketapu, whose effort was blocked by the indefatigable figure of Jackman - she was working overtime in a losing cause, as was Carter, who toiled tremendously in midfield for scant reward. The rebound off Jackman fell to Bloomfield, who curled a shot narrowly past the far post in the 53rd minute. Five minutes later, it was seventh heaven for the visitors, Blake unleashing a twenty yard scorcher past Buckingham to complete her maiden hat-trick for Three Kings, having released Satchell down the right then raced forward for the return. A further five minutes elapsed before United scored once again, Philpot and Bloomfield combining to send Blake racing through, and she thrashed the ball under Buckingham from fifteen yards. Not satisfied with four goals, Blake notched her fifth of the game in the 66th minute, tapping home on the far post after Philpot, Bloomfield, substitute Mei Morton and Satchell had combined to prise Lynn-Avon apart once more. Remarkably, there was to be no further scoring, although it wasn't for the want of trying. Substitute Hannah Robert's corner was cleared to Sophie Stewart-Hobbs, who floated a gorgeously weighted ball to the far post, where Blake was lurking with intent. She hit the post from the most acute of angles, with Buckingham reacting sharply to deny Morton the chance to turn home the rebound and fire Three Kings into double figures against the old enemy, something Lynn-Avon have managed on two occasions at their arch-rivals' expense in days gone by. Sterling defensive work by Lynn-Avon's charges restricted the visitors' tally to nine for the duration. Nechita Inwood's vital challenge prevented Richards from capitalising on the enterprise of Blake and Satchell fifteen minutes from time, while after Blake fired over following more good work by Satchell, Buckingham denied Richards three minutes from time, after Robert's industry on the left. Only occasionally, throughout proceedings, did Lynn-Avon give Rebecca Rolls something to be concerned with. In this regard, Victoria Murray and Inwood strove to make head-way, invariably for little reward, with Pritchard and Philpot proving impregnable as a defensive duo in this contest, one which may well be the last between these age-old rivals for some time. There have been some truly titanic and terrific tussles between Lynn-Avon and Three Kings down the years, particularly in the late 1990s and the mid-2000s, when both teams were at the heights of their powers to such an extent that if one of them didn't win the league or the cup, the other did. Between them, these two clubs have gone above and beyond to raise the standards for the women's game in New Zealand over the course of my thirty years' involvement in NZ women's football. At least 80% - likely more - of the Football Ferns over that time have played for one or t'other at some point in their careers. That, along with their influence on where the main pieces of silverware have resided in summers past, is a fair measure of their combined impact on the game. So is the emergence, in recent years, of the likes of Claudelands Rovers and Glenfield Rovers, clubs whose eagerness to bring to an end the Lynn-Avon - Three Kings reign over the game has contributed healthily in recent seasons towards a more competitive Lotto Northern Premier Women's League. That said, the standards of play in the league throughout this decade aren't what they were when LAU and TKU were in their pomp, and anyone who argues to the contrary most likely wasn't greatly involved in the game when these clubs ruled the roost. In the days before our leading players went abroad to play professionally or take up US scholarships, it was commonplace to see anything up to around twenty senior or age-grade New Zealand internationals on the park whenever the "Old Firm" clashed - you can't get better than that where domestic football in this country is concerned. The current Three Kings squad is the modern-day equivalent of that situation, with around fourteen of Alan Hindson's full squad having sported the silver fern with pride at some stage in their careers. And a fair portion of them are "home-grown", too, i.e. they've come through the grades at the club. Sadly, Lynn-Avon are, these days, paying the price for not maintaining a similar "home-grown" development plan. In days gone by, they've seen Hayley Moorwood (now Bowden), Amber Hearn and Kirsty Yallop, amongst others, emerge on the senior stage from within to lead the club to sustained success throughout the first decade of this century. For a variety of reasons, this campaign marks the fourth time since 2010 that LAU has effectively had to build a team from scratch just to maintain their presence at women's football's top table. Barring a miracle of Biblical proportions, it's highly unlikely Lynn-Avon will realise a 25th successive season in the Lotto Northern Premier Women's League next year, meaning this particular "Old Firm" derby may well have been historic in nature, and not just for scoreline-related reasons. If that proves to be the case, it's a rivalry which will be missed, make no mistake. Lynn-Avon:     Buckingham; Mahar, Jackman, Martin, Uluvili; Ferrier, Murray, Inwood, Carter, Boyes; Hawker Three Kings:     Rolls; Stewart-Hobbs, Pritchard, Philpot, Crasborn; Satchell, Mathews (Richards, 13), Pearl (Roberts, 64), Bloomfield; Puketapu (Morton, 54), Blake Referee:     Beth Rattray