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08/10/06
Waikato-BOP Stun North Harbour For Rare Win
by Jeremy Ruane
Waikato-Bay of Plenty scored just their fifth win in the five-year history of the Lion Foundation National Women's League on October 8, as they stunned North Harbour 3-0 at Gower Park to find themselves in the rarefied atmosphere of a share of first place after their first game of the 2006 campaign.
This effort ranks alongside previous best results of 4-2, at home to Soccersouth last season, and 4-1 at Mainland Soccer in 2004, and is particularly noteworthy given they had lost all four previous encounters with North Harbour.
The visitors started out like the proverbial house on fire, Rebecca Parkinson forcing a save from Carla Johl just seventy-five seconds into the match. From her resulting corner, Anna Barlow sent a header flashing past the post.
The prevailing crossfield wind was making life somewhat challenging for both teams, but Harbour were quicker to adapt to it, and went close twice more before the quarter hour mark.
Lauren Mathis pounced on some defensive hesitancy to let fly from twelve yards, only for Johl to parry her effort. But the `keeper looked on in horror as Lisa Kemp swooped on the rebound, the goal at her mercy.
Inexplicably, however, the youngster hesitated, something which Kimberley Lewis didn't as she pounced on the unsuspecting midfielder, stripped her of possession and calmly averted the danger.
In between Johl grabbing a Barlow volley, and Harriet Steele failing to hit the target when put through on goal by North Harbour's lively playmaker, Wai-BOP stretched their attacking muscles for the first time in the 22nd minute.
Kelly Aitken got the better of Kemp on the right and played the ball up the line to Kate Trebilcock, who swept play across to Victoria Brown. Her flick put Katherine Robinson in acres of space on the left, the Western Springs' youngster's rising drive beating Ashleigh Cox all ends up as it crashed against the crossbar.
When Wai-BOP next attacked, on the half-hour, they left North Harbour completely shell-shocked by taking the lead. Kicking into the wind, Brown drove a super corner into the goalmouth which Cox failed to deal with.
The ball bobbled hither and thither in the penalty area before Sarah McLaughlin, fresh from scoring a hat-trick for the New Zealand U-15s against Sydney Metro West U-14s earlier this week, took charge of the situation and unleashed a looping volley which arced over all-comers, Cox included, before dropping in just under the angle of far post and crossbar.
It was a hammer blow from which North Harbour never really recovered. But for a good save from Cox, low to her left in the 36th minute, they'd have found themselves two goals down, Trebilcock having picked out McLaughlin, who evaded Michele Hogg's challenge before shooting past the jockeying figure of Rebecca Simpson.
The visitors rallied briefly, Catherine Porteous forcing Johl to tip her dipping twenty-five yarder onto the crossbar five minutes before the interval, but when the half-time whistle sounded, it was the home team who were in the ascendancy, courtesy a couple of long-range efforts from Robinson and McLaughlin, both of which had Cox scrambling across her goal.
North Harbour came out all guns blazing in the second spell, but nothing seemed to be going their way. Prior to Mathis having a goal ruled out for offside following a super break by Alisse Robertson, a lovely move in which Barlow was pivotal - interchanging passes with Porteous, Kemp and Mathis - culminated in the midfielder's drive being deflected for what referee Andrew Caie deemed a goal-kick, but which should have been a corner.
Ten minutes into the second half, young Therese Saito - practice your throw-in technique, my dear, as too many were deemed unruly for this level of football - scampered down the right and fired in a gem of a cross for Parkinson to take full advantage of. Her hesitance gave Aitken the opportunity she required to step in and thwart the danger.
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 Vanessa Lambert (WBOP)
 Anna Barlow (North Harbour)
 Lauren Mathis (North Harbour) and Cherie Newman (WBOP)
 Rebecca Simpson (North Harbour)
 Victoria Brown (WBOP)
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Saito's next involvement in the game had telling consequences for Harbour, as they found themselves further behind on the scoreboard. The defender closed on Robinson, who cleverly turned the fullback then let fly with a cross-shot which sailed over Cox's head and into the net by the far post - 2-0 after 63 minutes, and, surely, no way back for the visitors.
Having seen her team-mates twice exploit Cox's shortcomings in the face of late-dipping shots, Brown looked to make hay while the sun shone in the 66th minute. The goalkeeper proved equal to her thirty-yard free-kick, however, tipping it over the bar, and grabbing a similar effort from the striker later in the game.
Wai-BOP now had their tails up, and after Trebilcock had sent a close-range header from another Brown corner bulleting past the post, Vanessa Lambert - splendid in central defence - stormed forward upon intercepting a pass before feeding McLaughlin.
Her defence-splitting pass sent Brown powering through between defenders, but the combined efforts of Hogg, Simpson and the advancing figure of Cox denied her on this occasion.
Thirteen minutes from time, Barlow and Alice Bresnahan combined to present Parkinson with a shooting chance, one she directed at Johl. Six minutes later, the `keeper was off her line to thwart the former Auckland striker after Simpson had surged out of defence, played a one-two with Barlow then threaded the ball through for Monique Genet, whose angled pass sent Parkinson scampering through.
A goal for Harbour at this stage of proceedings would have made for a decidedly interesting finale, but instead it was Wai-BOP who were celebrating again, six minutes from time. McLaughlin broke clear down the left and fired over a cross intended for Brown. Hogg failed to clear it, having come inside to do so, which left Chelsey Wood with all the time in the world to lob home via the far post - 3-0.
Even with the game beyond her team, Simpson's refusal to accept defeat was a lesson to all present. Before the full-time whistle, she thwarted three further Wai-BOP raids single-handedly with timely tackles and interceptions, and in the 87th minute, ventured forth on another sortie upfield, playing a one-two with Staci O'Brien before picking out Genet once more. Her tame effort didn't do justice to her captain's inspiration.
As can be expected, Waikato-Bay of Plenty were well pleased with the final outcome, one which pleasantly surprised many at the ground who were expecting their relatively inexperienced team to succumb to a North Harbour combination boasting a plethora of talented players, including two senior and one U-20 New Zealand international.
But their joy was tempered somewhat by news that each member of the squad has to fork out $250 for the privilege of playing for their federation, and the sum is payable this week!
While this practice is employed for representative football at junior level, there is no way on earth it should carry on with any federation's “shop window” side - that is totally unacceptable! Indeed, it cheapens the entire concept of senior representative football, which is extremely dangerous territory where the long-term viability of the game is concerned.
The players chosen to take part in the National Women's League have worked their way through the grades to earn a place in their federation's foremost team. They've paid their dues en route, and their selection is due reward for the efforts those chosen have put in over time to be the best they can be, one which should be financed solely by the federation, without any contributions being made by the players themselves.
Wai-BOP: Johl; Aitken Lewis (Shadbolt, 86), Lambert, Braunias; Trebilcock, Newman, Wood, Robinson (Pretswell, 90); Brown (Mete, 88), McLaughlin
Nth Harbour: Cox; Saito, Robertson, Simpson, Hogg; Steele, Barlow, Porteous (O'Brien, 75), Kemp (Bresnahan, 69); Parkinson, Mathis (Genet, 55)
Referee: Andrew Caie
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