Auckland United scored a welcome come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Capital Football at Keith Hay Park on December 4, the visitors themselves having come from behind to lead 2-1 at the interval, only to play out the final thirty minutes of the match with ten players after goalkeeper Molly Simons was sent off for committing a professional foul. United got off to a flying start, with Simon directing a woeful clearance straight to Manaia Elliott. The Young Ferns captain hurdled the challenge of Zoe Barrott - she nearly fell, which would have resulted in a certain penalty, but managed to keep her feet - before battering a shot between the recovering goalkeeper and her near post in the fourth minute. Capital's captain avoided a card on this occasion, but her defensive sidekick, Caelin Patterson, wasn't so fortunate in the twelfth minute as she took out Bree Johnson while the United striker was in full flight and racing past her. Referee Anna-Marie Keighley wasn't having a bar of such nonsense, and couldn't get the yellow card out of her hip pocket quickly enough. Five minutes later, Patterson's vital intervention prevented Ruby Nathan from capitalising on an Elliott cross, after the game's first goalscorer had rampaged down the right, doing Cara Chung a treat before barrelling past Barrott at pace prior to crossing from the by-line. Elliott's next involvement, in the nineteenth minute, resulted in a counter-attacking equaliser from the visitors. Her cross was cleared by Barrott to Olive Lynch-Gerrard, who hoisted the ball downfield, knowing that Renee Bacon would be after it like a scalded rabbit! Sure enough, Capital's key attacker raced in off the right before luring Aimee Feinberg-Danieli out of goal and setting up Rebecca Otte for a tap-in - 1-1. United looked to respond immediately, Elliott once more making a mockery of Capital's left flank before picking out Maya Vince with a cross which resulted in the midfielder steering a shot straight at Simons. Three minutes later, Johnson intercepted a pass on halfway and sent Nathan away down the left to the by-line, from where she pulled the ball behind all-comers. Penny Brill was arriving late on the scene, however, and forced her way past an opponent in order to get to the ball and let fly. This effort, too, flew straight into Simons' grateful gloves. Still Auckland pressed - you'd never have guessed Capital was the team enjoying the wind advantage at their backs! Jess Philpot's free-kick from halfway picked out Nathan on the left, from where she slipped the ball inside to Johnson. She wriggled through two challenges before letting fly with a shot which Simons tipped round the far post. On the half-hour, Capital took the lead with a wind-assisted strike from Bacon. Otte and Lena de Ronde combined to play the ball wide to the Capital W-League's Golden Boot winner, who unleashed a steepling cross-shot which Feinberg-Danieli badly misjudged, the ball arcing over her and into the far side of the net - 2-1 to the visitors. (Note, not 1-2 to the visitors - that's  poor, nay, abominable English!) Suddenly, Capital had their tails up, and twice went close to increasing their advantage inside the next ten minutes, while threatening to do so on numerous occasions in between times. In the 32nd minute, Bacon's curling corner clipped the angle of post and bar by the near upright. United cleared the ball, but only as far as Barrott, who pumped it back into the mixer, de Ronde the beneficiary. Her lay-off invited Otte to let rip from twelve yards, her shot flying past Feinberg-Danieli but past the far post as well. Their other clear-cut opening materialised five minutes before half-time, and saw Otte cut in from the left before curling an inviting cross to the far post. Bacon, racing in to meet it, just failed to do so - a certain goal would have resulted had she made contact with the ball. Heeding the warning, United, playing their last game on home turf at the end of a year in which they won the Kate Sheppard Cup, looked to level the scores before half-time. Sophie Bradley brought the ball out of defence before bringing Elliott into play. She fed Nathan, whose brilliant back-heeled flick around Barrott allowed her to turn the defender on a dime and surge forward. Capital's captain came back at the age-grade international, only to be outfoxed once more by Nathan prior to her picking out Elliott with a cross in the penalty area. Her progress was immediately and unceremoniously halted by Patterson, who was fortunate to escape a second yellow card, as her reckless challenge had referee Keighley pointing to the penalty spot. Nathan picked up the ball, plonked it on the spot and awaited the signal to stride forward and score. All went to play except for the last two words of the previous sentence, the striker steering her shot wide of Simons' dive but just past the right-hand post as well. Capital began the second half brightly, Feinberg-Danieli's vital intervention preventing Otte from making it 3-1 within a minute of the restart, the

striker having been released by Barrott's lofted ball downfield. Five minutes later, Georgia Martin undersold Philpot with a pass which invited de Ronde to steal the sphere and send Bacon streaking clear on the right. She picked out Otte with a cross, but the striker directed her attempt straight at Feinberg-Danieli. Back came United, Nathan leading the charge down the right before whipping over a cross which the lunging figure of Johnson just failed to connect with on the far post as the ball careered across the face of goal. In the 57th minute, parity was restored. Nathan loomed large on the left this time before picking out Alosi Bloomfield, a recent introduction to the fray. She spotted the angled run of Johnson into the inside right channel, and delivered an inch-perfect pass which the striker took in her stride before sweeping it across the diving figure of Simons and into the far corner of the net - 2-2. Five minutes later, Capital were reduced to ten players when Elliott, having outpaced Patterson, was taken out by the charging figure of Simons outside the penalty area. It wasn't a good look from the visitors' perspective, and was made even less so when referee Keighley reached for her back pocket and produced a red card. Capital doth protest, and with a degree of justification, that the goalkeeper wasn't the last defender. But the physical and overly aggressive manner in which the visitors played this game - a lot of naughty stuff was going on, which suggested they've been well versed in the "dark arts", and they certainly didn't like it on the occasions United gave them a taste of their own medicine - was beginning to test the patience of many patrons, not just the referee. Bearing in mind the visitors could well have been down to ten already - Patterson should be in the queue at her nearest Lotto shop this week, this dismissal had been coming. Fortunately for Capital, they came north with a reserve goalkeeper, with Dani Ohlsson the player sacrificed for Katia Brown's introduction to the fray. She didn't make a strong first impression - anything but! From the resulting free-kick, Bloomfield tested the newcomer with a shot which Brown fumbled. Elliott swooped on the loose ball and saw her shot blocked by the recovering goalkeeper, who was grateful to see Barrott tidy up the mess she'd made. United smelt blood, and upped the ante against their numerically challenged opponents. Philpot hoisted the ball into the penalty area, with the retreating figure of Patterson heading narrowly past her own post as Brown stood rooted to her line. Elliott's resulting corner wasn't cleared, the goalkeeper failing to gather it in the goalmouth. Cue a glorious chance for Martin, who somehow executed the perfect air-shot inside the six yard box with the goal at her mercy. Capital were under the cosh again soon afterwards - Patterson and Nicola Ross both rode their luck when fouling Elliott and Johnson - and their good fortune finally ran out in the 71st minute. The latter came a cropper outside the area, halfway between the top of the penalty area and the goal-line. Cue Elliott, who used the wind perfectly to deliver a free-kick which completely deceived Brown, beating her at her near post to give Auckland the lead once more. Straight away, Capital looked to respond, Otte taking on three before threading the ball through to de Ronde, who took the ball round the approaching figure of Feinberg-Danieli, only to run into the formidable figure of Martin. That encounter allowed Philpot the chance to get back in cover, and when de Ronde finally managed to get a shot away, she directed it wide with the goal gaping. Unperturbed, the ten women pressed again, Bacon picking out Otte with an angled cross. But Feinberg-Danieli read the danger superbly and saved well at the striker's feet. Otte went close again before the finish, battering a twenty-five yarder past the post, but this was after Issy Gerrand had invited Elliott to unleash a twenty-yarder which sizzled a yard over the bar. Those were the last shots of note fired by both teams, and when the final whistle sounded, United were by far the happier team, having finally won an odd-goal-in-five encounter having lost four other games this season by a 3-2 scoreline. The victors conclude their campaign at Central Football, although what sort of team they'll field Lord alone knows, given the majority of their squad will be contesting the National U-17 Tournament next weekend. Capital, meanwhile, travel to Canterbury United Pride for their final game of the year, with the Peter Osten Memorial Trophy on the line. Auckland:     Feinberg-Danieli; McMurray, Philpot, Martin, Leaming; Brill, Bradley (Bloomfield, 52), Vince (Gerrand, 61); Elliott, Nathan (Bowala, 61), Johnson Capital:     Simons (sent off, 62); Ross (Watts, 77 (booked, 79)), Patterson (booked, 11), Barrott, Chung; de Ronde, Strom, Lynch-Gerrard (Price, 46); Bacon, Otte, Ohlsson (Brown, 63) Referee:     Anna-Marie Keighley