Petra Buyck came back to haunt her old club in the National Women's League on October 9, her winning goal clinching a 3-2 win for Canterbury United Pride over Auckland United in a riveting encounter at Keith Hay Park, the ground where the match-winner began her senior level career three years ago. The then-sixteen-year-old Buyck came up through the grades at Three Kings (now Auckland) United, before switching to Ellerslie prior to being signed up by Louisiana University, a move which eventually didn't happen, much to Canterbury's delight. She has now scored three times off the bench in this NWL campaign, all three goals coming in her hometown. There was p-l-e-n-t-y of action before Buyck was introduced to the fray in this encounter, however. Indeed, the game began in frustrating fashion for Jenna Dodd, who rolled her ankle while racing back to give defensive cover, prompting a premature end to the United defensive midfielder's afternoon - she was replaced just seven minutes into the contest. Within sixty seconds, Frankie Morrow had been denied a Pride goal by the offside flag, while soon afterwards, United goalkeeper Jesse Barnard was perfectly placed to thwart Kate Guildford, after the striker had wrong-footed Jess Philpot in the penalty area. Pride pressed again in the tenth minute, Mikaela Hunt - she had a fine game - sending Guildford scooting through the inside right channel. Her low cross was spilled by Barnard, but Sophie Bradley was on hand to mop up in ice-cool fashion before bringing Isabella Richards into play. Her pass into the path of Sophie Williams was beautifully weighted, and meant the midfielder didn't have to break stride as she surged over halfway. She then played a peach of a pass through the inside left channel for Bree Johnson to latch onto, a pass which left her one-on-one with Una Foyle, who was relieved to see the striker's shot fizz inches past her right-hand post. 'Twas a real let-off for Canterbury, and they looked to make Auckland pay dearly for missing it. Guildford again got the better of Philpot in the area before seeing Barnard save at her feet. The 'keeper quickly presented Bradley with the ball, which she swept forward for Aimee Barnard to pursue. The striker got the better of Kendrah Smith before letting fly, but the retreating figure of Foyle grabbed this eleventh minute effort confidently - clearly an area of her game upon which she's been working hard, because this writer has seen the tall figure of Foyle commit some clangers when dealing with high balls in days past, mistakes which have often proved costly. After Chloe Bellamy had dragged a shot across the face of goal, Canterbury were rewarded for their early pressure with two goals in as many minutes on the quarter-hour, the first of them coming from Guildford. Hunt was the architect of the goal, her raking ball forward over all-comers inviting the striker to make a run which allowed her to direct a looping header goalwards. The trajectory of her header completely deceived Jesse Barnard, arcing over the 'keeper and into the net to open the scoring on the quarter hour. Straight from the kick-off, Pride regained possession, Hunt inviting Whitney Hepburn to lob one over the top of United's stunned rearguard. Bellamy looked like the cat who'd got the cream as she stormed through with just the advancing figure of Barnard to beat, a feat duly accomplished by the twice-capped Junior Fern, who gleefully rolled the ball home into an empty net. 2-0 in the sixteenth minute became 2-1 in the eighteenth minute, as United bared their attacking teeth for the second time in the game. For once, Hunt's radar was awry, as she gifted possession to Sophie Williams. She swiftly combined with Alosi Bloomfield to send Johnson spearing through the inside left channel, the striker outpacing the recovering figure of Hunt before planting her shot beyond Foyle and into the far corner of the net - 2-1, game on! Straight from the kick-off, Canterbury attacked again, only for the move to lose momentum after a crunching tackle on Kate Loye by Georgia Martin as Lara Wall's cross targeted the gifted midfielder, who was left in a heap by the challenge and ultimately unable to continue. Referee Beth Rattray let an awful lot of incidents go unchecked in this contest, and this was one of them. That Loye was unable to leave the ground unaided is in itself an indication that Martin's challenge merited further consideration, i.e. a talking-to for the offender at least, and a booking if necessary. Neither was forthcoming, and one of the game's most creative talents is now sidelined for a few weeks at the very least.

After Ellena Firth had been beaten by Aimee Barnard on halfway, only to come back tenaciously and deny the striker in the penalty area, into which Barnard had raced upon beating the defender, Penny Brill - Dodd's replacement - stung the gloves of Foyle with a twenty-five yarder following a cleared corner from Richards. United pressed again moments later, and were rewarded with an equaliser in the 29th minute. Johnson raided down the left before inviting Bloomfield to wriggle through a couple of challenges outside the penalty area. The Samoan international then returned the compliment, inviting Johnson to repeat the feat inside the eighteen-yard box, a challenge the striker duly accepted before icing the cake with a vicious finish into the bottom far corner - a terrific goal to make it 2-2. From this point, the game became a bit of an arm wrestle, but should have been smashed open again seven minutes before the interval. Firth got the better of Emma Leaming on the right before delivering a cross to the far post. Arriving on cue was Bellamy, but the combined efforts of Philpot and Barnard denied her on two occasions as she looked to tuck the ball home - a glorious opportunity to restore Canterbury's lead spurned. The visitors fired the first shot in anger in the second spell - Barnard was right behind Guildford's 51st minute drive - but it was the home team who should have taken the lead four minutes later, the hat-trick-hunting Johnson firing wide from the penalty spot after being bundled over by Hunt in the area. The visitors responded by making a triple change, with Buyck and Britney-Lee Nicholson swiftly showing how substitutes can change a game. The former's 61st minute corner was headed out by Martin to Johnson, but she was caught in possession by Rebecca Lake. Canterbury's captain rattled the side-netting with her fierce drive. Sixty seconds later, Nicholson went closer still, cutting inside and unleashing a dipping twenty-yarder which crashed against the crossbar. Bellamy latched onto the rebound, and got in along the left-hand by-line before pulling the ball back into Nicholson's path. The combined efforts of Philpot, Martin and Barnard thwarted the goal-hungry substitute on this occasion. After Bellamy had chanced her arm from distance - Barnard intervened, as you would expect, Auckland mounted a rare raid down the right, Bradley combining with substitute Issy Gerrand, who stormed down the flank before picking out Johnson with her cross. The striker got the better of Lake, but not of Foyle, who was well placed to snuff out what proved to be the home team's last chance to score. Canterbury weren't done in this regard, however. Fifteen minutes from time, Buyck's dipping twenty-five yarder cleared the crossbar after Firth and Lauren Dabner had combined on the right. Sixty seconds later, the substitute was celebrating her match-winner. Bellamy got the better of Bradley and delivered a cross which Barnard inexplicably chose to inaccurately kick clear rather than deal with in the time-honoured manner - a goalkeeper's gloves are not a fashion accessory! Buyck cared not one whit as the ball landed at her feet, and she duly rammed it into the far corner of the net to give Canterbury the lead once more, 3-2. The former United player then executed arguably the shot of the day eight minutes from time. Bellamy played Buyck in down the left, from where she cut inside and fired wildly wide of the target. The TV cameraman positioned behind the goal-line, however, got an unexpected close-up view of the action as he was right in the firing line, Buyck's shot cannoning off his head. In the best traditions of the entertainment industry, he carried on filming the action as if nothing had happened! Something had happened, though, with Canterbury becoming the first team from south of the Bombay Hills to lower the colours of one of the Auckland-based contenders in this season's National Women's League thanks to this 3-2 win over an Auckland United side which will be cheering on the Young Ferns with more reason than most this week and next, given four of United's regular starters are on international duty in India. Auckland:     J. Barnard; Bradley, Philpot, Martin, Leaming; Bloomfield, Dodd (Brill, 7), Williams; Richards, A. Barnard (Gerrand, 68), Johnson Canterbury:     Foyle; Lake, Hunt (booked, 54), Smith (Evans, 56), Wall; Firth, Hepburn, Loye (Dabner, 23); Bellamy, Morrow (Nicholson, 56), Guildford (Buyck, 56) Referee:     Beth Rattray