The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website | home
06/11/04 | 21/11/04 | 2004 Grand Final | 05/11/05 | 08/10/06 | 22/10/06 | 05/11/06 | 22/11/06 | 26/11/06 | 11/11/07 | 25/11/07 | 08/11/09 | 05/12/09 | 06/12/09
11/11/07
Impressive First Half Fires Capital Into Semis
by Jeremy Ruane
Capital Football all but secured a spot in the Lion Foundation National Women's League semi-finals at English Park on November 11, as they retained the Peter Osten Memorial Trophy by downing Mainland Pride 4-2 in the feature sixth round encounter.
The holders of the trophy, which is at stake whenever these provinces lock horns in a senior level women's fixture, carried the intensity and focus of their pre-match warm-up - it was far greater than Mainland's effort - into the clash, and it came as no surprise when Capital opened the scoring in the seventh minute.
The manner in which the goal came about, however, was a comedy of errors. Mainland goalkeeper, Olivia Jefferies, played a goal-kick short to Jane Simpson, whose poor first touch was pounced on by Zarnia Cogle.
The former Cantabrian relishes scoring against her old province, and this goal came gift-wrapped, particularly when Cogle's twenty-yard drive arrowed between the legs of Jefferies and into the far corner of the net.
It was just the start Capital wanted, and within a minute, they came close to doubling their lead. Simpson and Ruth Bourke were bisected brilliantly by young striker Hannah Wall, who produced a powerhouse performance in attack and deserved better than to see her effort rattle the side-netting.
Mainland were all over the place, and in the eleventh minute were saved from conceding a second goal by Simpson. Tess Murphy and Liz Milne linked on the right, with the latter playing the ball into Renee Leota's feet. The NZ U-20 Women's World Cup finalist held the ball up well before Rebecca O'Neill loomed into view, and her thumping twenty-five yarder had `top far corner' written all over it until Simpson headed clear.
On the quarter hour, Jefferies committed another gaffe - hers was a poor performance. Maia Vink, under pressure from Wall and Leota, was forced to play the ball back towards her goalkeeper. The pass she supplied wasn`t easy to deal with - it came at head height, but Jefferies made a real meal of the situation.
She succeeded only in heading the ball back towards her own goal, then, upon realising where it was heading, beat a hasty retreat, only just managing to hook it clear in the shadows of the crossbar.
Four minutes later, O'Neill, Murphy and Milne combined, with the last-mentioned firing over a beautifully angled cross towards the far post. Cogle came careering in from the left and only just failed to make contact with the sphere, which crept narrowly wide of the far post, much to the relief of Jefferies and her nerve-wracked rearguard.
Still Capital pressed, this time employing route one in the 22nd minute. Lilly Li's drop-kicked clearance - a feature of her distribution - sent Wall haring through the Mainland rearguard.
Vink got in between her and a hesitant Jefferies, and the dearth of communication between defender and goalkeeper almost gave Wall the chance to fire into an empty net. Somehow, the Mainland pair got away with it - Lotto ticket time for the pair of them, methinks!
Four minutes later, Capital were sniffing around Mainland's goal once more, this time building from the back. Li, Murphy, Milne and Patrice Bourke combined before Wendi Henderson - top display - lobbed the ball over the defence for O'Neill to chase.
Vink was in front of her, but was receiving no communication from her goalkeeper as to what was taking place over her shoulder, so Vink opted for safety - a hefty thump of the ball over Jefferies' head. Cue shocked looks as the ball arced then cannoned off the crossbar - Mainland breathed again.
Leota was next to chance her arm, the recipient of a cross from Milne after Sally Kent had sprayed the ball wide to the overlapping fullback. The striker shot straight at the grateful figure of Jefferies, who was relieved to see the goalmouth action take a break from her end of the park for a few minutes after this incident.
Instead, Li was subjected to her first test of the day, as Clare Warner set off on a diagonal run from half-way and raced towards the right flank on the half-hour. Some delightful dribbling saw her weave her way between Bria Sargent and Patrice Bourke, the highlight of her slalom run through four challenges, before she whipped in a cross which flew just beyond the incoming Annabelle Bramwell.
Six minutes later, Kelly Jarden bisected the Capital rearguard with a precise pass which sent Warner racing through once more. The ever-reliable figure of Murphy covered her every move, however, forcing Warner to assess her options.
Bramwell's darting run inside was the pick of them, and the striker's pass allowed the midfielder to unleash a twenty yard screamer which cannoned into the hoardings a yard past Li's near post.
A miss at one end, a goal at the other thirty seconds later. Li's goal-kick saw Henderson and Wall combine to send Leota scampering through Mainland's rearguard. She outpaced Simpson before slotting the ball beyond the advancing figure of Jefferies and into the far corner of the net.
That made it 2-0 to Capital in the 37th minute, and within sixty seconds, they had increased their lead still further. Cogle sent Wall powering down the right with a fine cross-field ball, and the striker's first-time cross
|
 Renee Leota (Capital) shields from Ruth Bourke (Pride)
 Alana Ainsworth (Pride) shows Wendi Henderson (Capital) a clean pair of heels
 Annabelle Bramwell (Pride)
 Tess Murphy (Capital) lays the ball off as Aimee Phillips (Pride) challenges
 Hannah Wall (Capital) and Maia Vink (Pride) in an aerial duel
 Kelly Jarden (Pride)
|
on the run picked out Leota on the far post. She provided a delightful finish to a splendid goal - 3-0.
At this, Capital eased off, the game seemingly over as a contest even at this stage of the match. But when a team has Pride in its title, there's an inevitability that, at some stage, they will show some, and in stoppage time at the end of the first half, Ruth Bourke gave Mainland a lifeline, prodding the ball home at the far post after Jarden had slipped Warner in on the left.
The home team took some encouragement from this, and began the second half encouragingly. Jane Simpson sent Roseanne Cox on a mazy dribble through three opponents before Bria Sargent curtailed her progress, while in the 51st minute, Li's gloves were warmed by a stinging thirty-yarder from Jarden.
Just shy of the hour mark, Capital flexed their attacking muscles once more, with Milne again the catalyst. Her gorgeous cross saw Leota beat Jefferies in the air, with the `keeper being rescued by Alice Pilgrim, who cleared off the line as Wall looked set to score the goal her display deserved.
Pilgrim's clearance didn't go far, however, with O'Neill's bid to score a goal to mark her 26th birthday two days prior to this match thwarted by Jefferies, who saved bravely at her feet in the ensuing scramble for possession.
Mainland didn't stop trying, and in the 72nd minute, came desperately close to a second goal. Vink's angled cross from the left wasn't cleared by Cogle, allowing Warner to swoop with just Li to beat. The striker achieved that comfortably, but the crossbar came to Capital's rescue as Warner's volley rebounded to safety.
The visitors' relief was short-lived, however, for sixty seconds later, Warner linked with Bramwell for a short corner routine which saw the Auckland-based midfielder ping a cross beyond all-comers to the far post. Lurking behind Capital's defenders was, with her distinctive curly locks, the unmissable figure of Alana Ainsworth.
The runaway winner of the Mainland Premier Women's League's Golden Boot in 2007 showed exactly why her goal output is so prolific with a splendid strike in this contest, her unerring cushioned volley curling around all and sundry before finding the net by the far post - a cracking strike, which set up a grandstand finish, now the scoreline read 3-2 in Capital's favour.
The visitors sought to restore their two-goal advantage straight away, with Patrice Bourke playing the ball forward with fifteen minutes to go. Wall chased after it, and Jefferies came charging out of goal, sensing the danger. The pair collided, with the impact ending the goalkeeper's involvement in the afternoon's activities.
There was certainly no intent on Wall's part to inflict a game-ending injury on the goalkeeper, but referee Michael Lindsay thought otherwise, and brandished the yellow card in the face of the young striker. He made a few weird and far from wonderful decisions in this match, but this was far and away the worst of the lot - a very poor piece of officiating.
What compounded matters was, seven minutes later, the sight of Henderson being sent tumbling in the penalty area by Ruth Bourke's clumsy challenge. Referee Lindsay pointed to the spot instantly, but neglected to book the local lass for an offence which, one is inclined to suspect, would have seen a yellow-shirted player entering his notebook had the foul been committed by Capital.
Jefferies' replacement, long-serving goalkeeper Ingrid Bain, could do nothing to prevent Patrice Bourke making it 4-2 from the penalty spot with six minutes to play.
A couple more opportunities materialised before the final whistle, one at each end. Henderson, who shrugged off a thigh injury received early in the second half after landing awkwardly in an aerial duel with Jefferies, slipped substitute Ciara Slattery through with just Bain to beat five minutes from time. The youngster did everything right, only to poke her shot past the `keeper but just past the post as well, five minutes from time.
And in stoppage time, Megan Shea whipped in a free-kick to Li's near post which Capital's `keeper had a great deal of difficulty coping with, her half-punched clearance giving Mainland brief hope of a goal from the ensuing scramble. Cue Murphy's intervention - danger averted.
The win means Capital are all but assured of a play-off spot, and a home semi-final at that - only a bizarre set of results in the final round of National Women's League action can deny them those opportunities. And they, of course, retain the Peter Osten Memorial Trophy for another season.
For Mainland, however, their match at Waikato-Bay of Plenty is a must-win affair, given their inferior goal difference compared to next week's opponents. Anything less, and a campaign which was bombing along nicely until they failed to take their chances against Auckland will come to a sorry end once more.
Mainland: Jefferies (Bain, 77); Pilgrim, Simpson, R. Bourke, Vink (Essen, 85); Cox, Ainsworth, Jarden, Bramwell; Warner, Phillips (Shea, 58)
Capital: Li; Milne, Murphy, Sargent, P. Bourke; Kent, Henderson, O'Neill, Cogle (booked, 86); Wall (booked, 75), Leota (Slattery, 70)
Referee: Michael Lindsay
|