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06/11/04
Capital Unlucky To Share Spoils With Central
by Jeremy Ruane
The clash of the second- and third-placed teams in the National Women's Soccer League at Centennial Park on November 6 saw a highly entertaining affair ensue between Capital Soccer and Central Soccer, with the home team ultimately deserving of more than just the solitary point they earned from a 2-2 draw.
A lively opening stanza saw both teams going close to scoring inside the first three minutes. Indeed, Central secured possession straight from Capital's kick-off, Jo Evans stealing the ball and combining with Emma Boyack and Jenny Moore to create an opening for the second-mentioned, whose twenty-yard shot forced Pam Yates to smother the ball just sixteen seconds after the start.
Two minutes later, Ali Hansen's skied cross wasn't controlled well by Ella Wiebe, the ball dropping kindly for Ana Olssen to lay back into the path of Patrice Bourke. Her shot was blocked, but the rebound fell perfectly for Angela Goodridge, whose curling, dipping twenty-five yarder hit the crossbar.
Back came Central, Yates grabbing Wiebe's crisply struck drive in the sixth minute, after last season's co-winner of the Golden Boot had played a neat one-two with Jane Archer, after Evans and Tracey Foulkes had turned defence into attack in true Central counter-attacking fashion.
Cue a response from the Capital clan, Hansen and Olssen teaming up once more on the left, with the latter's drive being pawed out by Lisa Wilson, who was marginally the busier of the two goalkeepers, with much of what she had to deal with emanating from shots outside the penalty area.
Evans had left her contact lenses in New Plymouth, but the former New Zealand international was still well capable of seeing the goal-frame, especially with the protection afforded her by a natty pair of shades a la Edgar Davids.
They served their purpose well on the quarter hour, when the number nine powered through from half-way and outpaced Julia Baldwin before bulldozing into the penalty area, where she sent a shot careering past Yates but past the far post as well.
Bourke matched this effort with a shot which fizzed past Wilson's right-hand post seconds later, after Goodridge had appeared on the right this time. But it was Central whose firepower on Guy Fawkes weekend had shown more snap, crackle and pop to this point, and they lit the touch-paper for this match in the 22nd minute with a splendidly crafted goal.
A Nikki Wenzlick cross was headed out by Janelle Cameron to Wiebe, who promptly set off downfield
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on a run which saw the ball pinged around among Evans, Archer, Boyack, Evans again, Wiebe again and, finally, Boyack, who, despite a hint of offside, was deemed not to be thanks to the well-timed pass of Wiebe through the heart of Capital's defence.
It left Boyack one-on-one with Yates, and with last season's co-winner of the Golden Boot involved in that situation, the sight of the ball in the bottom far corner seconds later came as little surprise.
The Wellingtonians refused to let the goal upset their rhythm, however, and simply piled into Central with a vengeance. Goodridge and Ashlee Delahunty teamed up on the left, with the latter's 26th minute cross flicked on by Olssen for Bourke.
The midfielder, who had a whale of a match-up with Archer throughout this encounter, misjudged the ball completely, but Bria Sargent was looming large behind her team-mate, and Wellington's captain smashed the ball goalwards. The solidly-performed Hannah Bromley stood firm, but couldn't prevent the rebound from finding Bourke, who unleashed a screamer which flashed a foot over Wilson's crossbar from twenty yards.
Olssen replicated this effort seven minutes later - the pace of both the youngster and fellow teenage terror Sarah Gregorius was keeping Central on the back foot throughout this match, and with Toni West charging through from midfield in pursuit of crosses, plus Bourke's stinging long-range shots, the visitors' rearguard were enduring a rather uncomfortable time of it on occasions.
But they had a worthy outlet in Evans, who was as lively as ever, and was ably supported by Wiebe and Boyack. Twice Yates had to scamper off her line to thwart members of Central's "triple-edged sword" before the interval, as the visitors looked to counter-attack, but it was a bit of a surprise that the home team weren't on level terms at the break, a statistic they rectified four minutes after it.
West intercepted a Wiebe pass on half-way and Wenzlick picked up the loose ball, promptly sending Olssen spearing through the inside-left channel. The well-performed Julie Ng was fast catching up with the striker by the time she got into the penalty area, but the sixteen-year-old showed a maturity belying her tender years to produce a classy, composed finish past Wilson - 1-1.
Back came Central six minutes later, Foulkes playing a great ball out of defence to send Evans racing clear down the right. Sargent charged back in hot pursuit, and succeeded in forcing the striker away from the
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target. Evans' shot was comfortably contained by Yates, who looked on as both West and Gregorius fired shots at Wilson at the other end of the park within the next two minutes.
Central regained the lead on the hour, and it was a soft goal, to put it mildly. While the Wellingtonians readjusted their line-up to accommodate substitute Sara Vasey's introduction in place of West, Ng's throw-in sent Wiebe down the right, and her cross found the head of the unmarked Evans. From point-blank range, she made no mistake with a header into the top corner.
The visitors looked to kick on from here and confirm all three points, but Baldwin and Yates both stood firm in the next four minutes, following corners from Archer and Bromley. It was as well they did, for Capital were back on level terms in the 69th minute. this time thanks to the inspiration of Wenzlick.
After linking with Vasey and Sargent, the defender produced a peach of a pass in behind the Central rearguard which Goodridge gleefully dashed onto. After rounding Wilson, she rolled the ball home for a neatly-taken equaliser - 2-2.
For the last twenty minutes, it was almost all Wellington pressure, with Central's walking wounded - after losing Chelsea Aim to a hamstring strain in the warm-up, they finished the match with ten players on the park after Bromley hobbled off with all substitutes used - hanging on grimly for a share of the spoils.
Bourke sent another twenty-five yard screamer sizzling narrowly over Wilson's crossbar thirteen minutes from time, while both Gregorius, five minutes from time, and Olssen, in stoppage time, found the side-netting with tight-angled shots. Wilson, meanwhile, kept out two shots from Goodridge as the home team came storming home with a wet sail in the balmy Wellington sunshine.
But 2-2 it remained, although Central could have stolen it in the dying minutes had Yates not managed to punch out an inswinging corner from Bromley. Had this resulted in a goal for the visitors, it would have been rather harsh on the home team, who will probably consider this to be two points lost, such was their performance.
Capital: Yates; Wenzlick, Sargent, Baldwin, Hansen; Gregorius, Bourke, West (Vasey, 60), Delahunty (Pearson, 84); Olssen, Goodridge (booked, 80)
Central: Wilson; Ng, Cameron (Heslop, 90), Bromley, Tito; Moore (Partridge, 58), Wiebe, Archer, Foulkes; Evans (booked, 82), Boyack (Scott, 75)
Referee: Oliver Gough
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