Capital Football claimed the inaugural ASB Women’s Youth League title on March 12, downing Waikato-Bay of Plenty 2-1 in a closely contested final at Petone Memorial Park thanks to two goals from the competition’s Golden Boot, Renee Leota. The visitors enjoyed an impressive start to the match, with Sarah McLaughlin spurning a glorious chance to open the scoring inside the first seventy seconds. Wai-BOP continued to make all the early play six minutes later, McLaughlin and the well-performed Kylie Jens combining on half-way to send Holly Patterson spearing through the middle. Megan Robertson - solid throughout - and goalkeeper Corina Brown combined to thwart the speedster, whose superb slalom run past four opponents from half-way in the twelfth minute culminated in a slide-rule pass through the inside-right channel for McLaughlin to latch onto. She swivelled to unleash a rasping fifteen yard drive which cannoned to safety off the crossbar. Two minutes later, Nicole Stratford, Sara Merritt and Patterson scythed Capital open down the left once more, with the last-mentioned seeing her fifteen-yard drive smothered by Brown, who combined with Tessa McPherson to thwart the speedster again seconds later, after Anna Fullerton had picked her out with a cross. Capital hadn’t even had a sniff to this point, with their first venture across the half-way line of note seeing Leota picking out Chelsea O’Callaghan with a measured cross-field pass with which the winger should have done better - a tame finish. This gave the home team heart, and in the eighteenth minute Catherine Bott and the outstanding Emily McColl - this writer’s Grand Final MVP - worked a one-two on half-way which saw the some-time Football Ferns midfielder storm down the right before picking out her partner-in-crime in the middle of the park, Emma Humphries. "Giggles", as Humphries is nicknamed, created the opening for a twenty-yard shot which fizzed narrowly past Naomi Carter’s right-hand post, and came even closer to opening the scoring two minutes later when just failing to get on the end of a wayward shot on the turn from Leota, the beneficiary of good work down the right by Bott. After Nixon had headed a Kate Loye corner over the bar at the near post, Capital came desperately close to opening the scoring in the 26th minute. Humphries worked a one-two with Evie Millynn, whose cross found Leota homing in on goal, some eight yards out from the target. The collective groan of disappointment as she volleyed straight at Carter from this highly promising position was followed by another seconds later, Leota this time heading across the face of goal on receipt of an Amanda Rasch free-kick. Humphries’ delicious chipped twenty-five yarder crept agonisingly past Carter’s left-hand post - it deserved better fate - in the 29th minute, to which Wai-BOP responded ten minutes later via Jens, whose twenty-five yarder flew past the post after Loye’s initial effort had been blocked. Prior to this, a great deal of sloppy, inaccurate play was becoming increasingly evident - the lack of precision from both teams, particularly in terms of passing, was disappointing. What was also by now evident was the vice-like grip McColl had taken in midfield - she bossed the game in an area of the park where Wai-BOP were missing, presumed having a good time. It meant the visitors had to use the flanks to maximise their opportunities, and three minutes before half-time, Nicole Stratford stripped Millynn of possession and instantly sent early substitute Helen Collins careering down the right in pursuit of a pass which she reached, despite giving the Capital defenders a head start. The striker cut inside and unleashed a shot which Brown smothered. The goalkeeper gathered another effort two minutes later and sparked a Capital counter-attack which culminated in the opening goal of the game a minute before half-time. Brown’s clearance picked out McColl, whose first-time pass invited Millynn to whip in a wicked first-time cross, Leota its intended target. Sure enough, Capital’s captain was in full flight anticipating just such a delivery, and duly finished emphatically beyond Carter

Renee Leota (Cap) with the spoils of war Amanda Rasch (Cap) and Sarah McLaughlin (Wai-BOP) in aerial combat Kate Carlton (Wai-BOP) and Emily Stotter (Cap) dispute possession Catherine Bott (Cap) executes a flying header watched by Holly Patterson (Wai-BOP) Tessa McPherson (Cap) shields from Nicole Stratford (Wai-BOP)

to break the deadlock with a fine goal. Before the interval, Capital could have had a second goal, Emma Rolston lashing a shot across the face of goal after igniting a move which also featured Humphries, Millynn and Leota, although she was thwarted from taking full advantage of the situation by the hard-working Kate Carlton. Wai-BOP failed to fire in the second spell, with Capital the first to threaten nine minutes into the half. Leota played Rolston through, but despite getting the better of Carlton initially, the dogged defender came again to frustrate the striker. After Jens let fly with another twenty-five yarder just after the hour, Capital threatened once more in the 72nd minute through O’Callaghan, who picked out substitute Emily Stotter with her cross. Her shot was tame, but so was Carter’s clearance, and Wai-BOP paid the price seconds later. Leota latched onto the ball and jinked this way and that past a string of red-shirted challenges before confidently burying the ball beyond Carter to put Capital 2-0 up and cruising, their season-long unbeaten record just seventeen minutes away from being rewarded with the silverware. Wai-BOP’s heads understandably dropped, and they could have fallen further behind soon after when substitute Ana Olsen went down in the penalty area under the challenge of Jens. Referee Anna-Marie Keighley, not for the first time in the match, opted for the safe option - a goal-kick. The official allowed a few incidents to go unpunished in this Grand Final which merited at least a talking-to to the offender - the odd challenge with studs showing springs to mind, not to mention a few off-the-ball flashpoints. This writer has seen the referee have better games than this one, worse too. With six minutes to go, the game was up for Waikato-BOP. With five minutes to go, they were right back in it - that’s "The Macca Factor". Substitute Tessa Leong offered more in her brief cameo on the park than a number of her older team-mates, and it was fitting that she should spark the move which brought about the goal. She picked out Collins, who swept the ball into the stride of McLaughlin, surging through the inside right channel. Without breaking stride, and with minimum back-lift, she unleashed a thirty yard screamer which soared into the top left-hand corner of Brown’s goal, and nary a thing the ‘keeper could do to stop it - a super strike! Suddenly it was 2-1, game on, Wai-BOP’s tails now well up as they looked to make the most of this late lifeline. Twice they came close to doing so, with Brown forced to save at the feet of Leong after Collins had flicked on an Alex Shadbolt ball forward in the ninetieth minute. Capital withdrew two players as the game moved into stoppage time, the cramp-struck Leota being one of them, a move which tempted fate. For a Wai-BOP equaliser would certainly have meant extra time, and bereft of their talismanic striker … Fortunately for the home team, they survived the extra minutes - just! Patterson chased a Collins ball forward and out-raced Brown to the ball, hurdling the ‘keeper, who struggled to recover immediately afterwards. Patterson, meanwhile, was near the by-line, and picked out Collins with her cross. The striker sliced her shot at the target, straight into the stride of fellow substitute Katherine Robinson. She turned 21 during the week, and could have given herself a belated birthday present with a dramatic equaliser, but instead she sent the ball ballooning wildly over the bar. That was Wai-BOP’s last hurrah, with Carter thwarting Briar Palmer’s counter-attacking effort as Capital looked to finish with a flourish. But the team inspired by the efforts of McColl, Humphries and Leota had done enough - the inaugural ASB Women’s Youth League crown was theirs. Capital:     Brown; Bott, Rasch, McPherson, Robertson; O’Callaghan (Palmer, 90), Humphries (Stotter, 67), McColl, Millynn; Rolston (Olsen, 67), Leota (Evans, 90) Wai-BOP:     Carter; Stratford (Bennett, 75), Carlton, Shadbolt, Jens (booked, 27) Leong, 81); Patterson, Merritt, Loye, Nixon (Collins, 35), Fullerton (Parkinson, 22) (Robinson, 75); McLaughlin Referee:     Anna-Marie Keighley