2017 Grand Final 101217

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Auckland End Eight-Year Ache In Epic Grand Final

by Jeremy Ruane

After an eight-year absence, Auckland Football reacquainted themselves with the National Women's League trophy at English Park on December 10, as they twice came from behind to down reigning champions Canterbury United Pride 3-2 in an epic Grand Final played in extreme heat.

With thirty degree temperatures gracing Christchurch on the day, and the artificial surface producing double that figure, it meant the Grand Final - the first to be televised in NZ - became something of a throwback to the days of the National Women's Tournament, which were as much a survival of the fittest as they were a week-long celebration of the women's game in this country.

United were playing in their fifth successive National Women's League Grand Final, and bidding for their fourth victory in these showpiece fixtures, although they could have done with the presence of Football Ferns Meikayla Moore - trialling in Europe - and Aimee Phillips against a full strength Auckland team which was, in many cases, held together by strapping aplenty, with half the team sporting bandaging of some description.

Not that you would have known from the way they began proceedings, taking the game to their hosts with verve and vigour. But it was United who enjoyed the game's first chance, Macey Fraser latching onto Annalie Longo's twelfth minute pass and turning Steph Skilton before evading two challenges and lashing a twenty yarder past the far post.

Auckland responded seven minutes later, Hannah Blake being denied the game's opening goal by the offside flag. Canterbury went straight down the other end, a wayward Georgia Brown clearance inviting Longo to let fly with a dipping twenty-five yarder which landed on the roof of the net.

The first drinks break of the game soon followed, immediately after which Canterbury went close to opening the scoring. Longo, released down the right by Cody Taylor, delivered a cross to the far post which Fraser couldn't get her head over. Taylor, who was following in beyond her team-mate, couldn't direct her volleyed effort on target.

Auckland retorted instantly, Brown and Skilton - a sumptuous lay-off - presenting Grace Jale with the chance to send Jacqui Hand dashing through the inside right channel. Chloe Jones came in with a tackle from behind which referee Nadia Browning surprisingly allowed to go unpunished, much to the visitors' ire.

They were even less happy four minutes later, when Hand was forced off the park through injury, the striker rolling her ankle after drilling a cross against Rebecca Lake. Coach Gemma Lewis, who was bidding to become the first female coach to win this trophy for a decade, turned to Maisy Dewell to replace the player whose vital goals had done much to earn Auckland's place in both this match and last week's semi-final.

Canterbury were gifted a glorious chance to break the deadlock in the 33rd minute when Jale's under-hit pass was pounced on by Taylor. She instantly brought Mel Cameron into play, only for the striker to be thwarted by an Ally Toailoa interception - she had an immense game for Auckland.

The ball broke once more for Taylor, who dragged her effort wide of the near post, a feat matched at the other end of the park by Blake two minutes later, the striker slicing the ball wide of the target after her driving run out of her own half brought Skilton and Tayla O'Brien into play.

The latter was next to let fly on goal seconds later, after Dewell had intercepted Lake's ball out of defence, but like Blake before her, O'Brien couldn't direct her effort on target. Unperturbed, Auckland kept on coming, Brown linking with Skilton, whose one-two with Jale allowed the captain to deliver a first-time cross which Blake hooked narrowly past the far post in the 37th minute.

From Victoria Esson's resulting goal kick, Kate Carlton emerged with the ball near half-way following a tussle with the out-of-sorts Emma Clarke, who looked to be suffering from the heat more than most - she was far from her usual dynamic self, that's for sure!

Blake was the beneficiary of Carlton's ball-winning exploits, the striker surging forward before linking with Jale, who invited Skilton to let fly from twenty yards. Her effort narrowly cleared the crossbar, while fullback Carlton was similarly off-target in the 43rd minute with a rasping drive across the face of goal after she had swept inside Lake into th penalty area on a solo raid down the left.

With half-time looming large, Megan Robertson, who had been a oasis of calm for Auckland thus far, got her side into all sorts of bother when allowing herself to be boxed in near the corner flag by Taylor and Fraser. The latter stripped the stopper of the ball and swiftly set up Longo for a close-range drive which the hitherto untroubled Nadia Olla saved with her legs.

The danger wasn't over, however, and from Fraser's resulting corner, Canterbury took the lead. Successive attempts to clear the danger by Auckland defenders saw the ball arrive at the feet of Longo on the edge of the 'D', from where she sent a shot thundering through the crowded goalmouth and into the net beyond the unsighted figure of Olla - 1-0 to the title-holders.

Auckland stormed downfield in a bid to draw level before the interval, with five stoppage time minutes giving them ample opportunity to do so. And they would have done, but for a glaring advantage-related blunder by referee Browning in first half stoppage time.

A corner was earned on the right, which Liz Anton fired into the near post. Skilton was in the thick of things, and set up O'Brien for a shooting chance. As she let fly, the Lotto Northern Premier Women's League's Player of the Year was clattered into by a defender, prompting the referee to instantly signal a penalty, then grimace as O'Brien's shot bulged the back of the net a second later.

It was too late for the official to change her mind - a penalty it must be. Skilton didn't appear overly confident as she stepped up to the spot, and with good reason, Esson diving to her right to produce an outstanding save from twelve yards and confirm Canterbury would go to the dressing rooms a goal to the good.

Their advantage lasted all of three second half minutes. A sliced clearance by Lake presented Auckland with a throw-in on the left flank, which Carlton directed to Blake. Her shot took a deflection past the diving figure of Esson, to the delight of Jale, who, following in, forced the ball over the line before Chloe Jones could clear the sphere to safety.

Having drawn level, Auckland's best-performed players in the final nearly contrived to hand the advantage back to their hosts five minutes later. Carlton played a pass back to Toailoa which the latter wasn't expecting, and Taylor's eyes suddenly lit up at her good fortune. Hers weren't the only pair of eyes alert to the situation, however - Olla raced out of her penalty area and cleared the sphere off the striker's toes, much to her team-mates' relief.

That clearance sparked an Auckland counter-attack in which Dewell featured prominently, her cross being cleared to Brown. The fullback delivered an angled ball into the danger zone which picked out Skilton, whose shot on the turn was superbly saved by Esson - a Football Fern at long last, and proving in this match why such recognition is so richly deserved.

Esson was up to her tricks again two minutes later, as Auckland launched their best attack of the match thus far. Blake, O'Brien and Dewell combined on the left before linking with Skilton, who invited the early substitute to let fly.

Longo blocked her attempt, then Jale, latching onto the rebound, was denied by Whitney Hepburn. This time, the ball rebounded to Brown, who played in Skilton, only for Esson to produce another outstanding denial to keep her team in contention - make no mistake, Canterbury were well and truly under the cosh at this point.

The pressure continued to be applied by Auckland, with Blake and Skilton working a 58th minute one-two which saw the former's cross cut out by Lake, whose attempt to clear the danger cannoned off Skilton to safety.

Mikayla Wieblitz entered the fray on the hour, and orchestrated a transformation in United's performance as they slowly but surely regained the ascendancy. Tahlia Herman-Watt's cross-shot, after Taylor and Longo had linked with her, was Canterbury's first attempt to score since their goal.

While it cleared the crossbar, it gave the home team a boost, and after the next drinks break they came on strong once more. Clarke led the charge in the 72nd minute, bringing Wieblitz into play, with her shot being blocked by Anton - with her hand! The 763-crowd roared as one - "Penalty!" - but referee Browning ignored their pleas, and those of the United players, Wieblitz earning a corner in the seconds which followed.

Her delivery caused an almighty scramble in

Auckland's goalmouth, with Carlton and Olla both blocking close-range attempts as Canterbury piled on the pressure in search of a potential winner in this enthralling encounter.

Another Wieblitz corner ten minutes from time careered across the goalmouth - just a touch would have sent it over the line. A minute later, Clarke presented Taylor with a chance, but the combined efforts of Robertson and Olla frustrated her attempts to bag the winner.

Olla then foiled substitute Gabrielle Rennie after a charging run from Longo, to which the visitors responded via Blake. She sent Dewell dashing down the left, from where she slipped the ball inside to Skilton. A rising fifteen yarder cleared Esson's crossbar by an ever-growing margin.

Buoyed by this, Auckland pressed again soon after, Blake's solo raid culminating in a twenty-five yarder which only just missed the target, while seconds later, Skilton stung Esson's gloves with a snapshot arising from a defensive error.

With her first touch, substitute Britney-Lee Nicholson went close to winning it for United in stoppage time, after fellow replacement Rennie's initial surge had foundered on Robertson's robust challenge.

Wieblitz then lobbed a free-kick into the danger zone, but Auckland scrambled clear, before Olla thwarted Longo in the last of five minutes of additional time at the end of the second spell, by which time several players in both teams were visibly beginning to wilt, the heat taxing players both physically and mentally.

Longo, who had been suffering from cramp during the second spell, ignited the first half of extra time with a 94th minute raid down the right before releasing Rennie, who took the ball into the box. Her driven cross was cleared to Hepburn, whose twenty-five yard drive had Olla beaten all ends up, but lacked accuracy.

Three minutes later, Jale released Blake down the left. Into the area she surged before checking her run and setting up O'Brien for a shot which took a deflection off Annie Gilchrist, forcing Esson into a frantic diving save to ensure the 1-1 scoreline remained.

Canterbury's attack-minded substitutes caused Auckland more problems in the 102nd minute, the rampaging figure of Rennie being thwarted by Carlton, only for Nicholson to latch onto the loose ball and evade Toailoa before lashing one past the post.

They were at it again three minutes later, Longo releasing Rennie down the right before she laid the ball back to Lake - what was she doing up there? It mattered not to Canterbury, but what did was what she did with the ball - a driven cross careered across the goalmouth, picking out Nicholson, who sent the sphere back in the direction from whence it came.

Rennie picked up the pieces and again invited Lake to let fly, the central defender this time thundering a shot towards the target. Olla tipped the ball splendidly round the post, only for Auckland to concede from Wieblitz's resulting corner, Hepburn's close-range finish giving the title-holders the edge for the second time in the contest.

Straight from the kick-off, Brown stormed down the right before whipping in a cross which O'Brien met with a glancing header. Sadly for Auckland, she didn't get quite enough purchase on the ball to give Esson cause for concern in the final act of the first half of extra time.

Auckland introduced Britney Cunningham-Lee at this point in the match, the youngster taking over from the tiring figure of Dewell. Before the substitute could make her presence felt in the contest, a super tackle by Robertson thwarted Rennie on the edge of the area, but left the defender lame - cue the latest example of fair play in action, with both teams employing it without hesitation as the attrition levels rose the longer the game went on.

It had eleven minutes to go when Olla pulled off a blinding save. Clarke and Nicholson teamed up on the right to present the generally subdued Mel Cameron with the chance to turn Robertson and let fly, a feat she achieved some eight yards out from goal. Olla did well to stop this close-range rocket - that she actually held onto it defied logic! A terrific denial!

And how crucial a save it was to prove. After Anton had blocked a Wieblitz shot, and Longo had turned Erinna Wong a treat on the right before Olla grabbed her cross from the air, the goalkeeper launched a counter-attack which brought about the equaliser.

Brown, who had moved into the forward line following Wong's introduction to the fray, stormed across United's tiring rearguard with a burst of speed she had been reluctant to unleash while fulfilling her fullback duties - Herman-Watt's subdued display for United did not come about by accident.

Now she was in all-out attack mode, however, Brown didn't hold back, and teamed up with Cunningham-Lee as they worked their way down the right into Canterbury's penalty area. The substitute's attempted cross was blocked, but Brown swooped on the rebound and delivered a gorgeous cross to the far post which Blake deftly headed home - 2-2, with six minutes remaining.

Could Canterbury lift again, particularly now that Auckland had the bit between their teeth? The answer would be revealed just four minutes later, as the visitors took the lead for the first time in the match.

Again, it was the pace of Brown which was the key factor, the Queenstown native careering down the right once more before linking with Skilton and Blake. The ball was worked across to Cunningham-Lee, and the sixteen-year-old burrowed through a couple of challenges before breaking Cantabrian hearts with a 118th minute strike from which there could be no comeback - 3-2.

The title-holders certainly tried to peg the visitors back, particularly given the three additional minutes which were added to extra time, but after eight years without having laid their hands on the silverware, and five years since their last Grand Final appearance, Auckland were not to be denied, and for the first time since the days of the "A Team", women's football's most successful province are champions again.

In saying that, there were two champion teams on the park in this final, and it's genuinely a shame that one of them had to collect the runners-up medals. All twenty-eight players who took to the park should be proud of the part they played in producing an intense and hard yet cleanly fought contest, one played in challenging conditions.

Women's football in New Zealand has certainly grown exponentially in many ways since this writer's interest in it was ignited 31 years ago. Back then, as terrific an exhibition of women's football as this match was a pipe dream.

There is one thing which was also in great evidence throughout this match, something which was never in danger of happening back in 1987. That's because players then had nothing like the demands placed on them which their modern-day successors have to endure.

NZ women's football's founding father, Roy Cox, imparted any number of pearls of wisdom to me about the women's game over the years, but one of the first ones he mentioned applies every bit as much today as it did three decades ago.

"Look after your stars".

Seeing so many players in this final struggling thanks to a combination of the challenging playing conditions and the fact approximately 40% of them had their lower limbs seemingly held together by copious amounts of physio tape suggests those four words have become lost in the quest to extract every ounce of energy and effort from individuals who are hardly in a position to say 'No' in the interests of self-preservation.

Player welfare MUST be given greater consideration than is currently the case, by ALL parties. We're already seeing instances of player burn-out, loss of interest, loss of enjoyment of what they've loved doing for years. With all the injuries they're carrying, what are today's finalists going to look like in twenty, thirty years' time - war veterans?

They deserve better than that. And the efforts produced in this final, by every single one of the champions named below, proves the point. One hopes this epic encounter serves as a catalyst to help improve the welfare of all players in the months and years to come.

Canterbury: Esson; Gilchrist, Lake, Jones (Rennie, 77); Clarke, Fraser (Wieblitz, 59), Longo, Hepburn, Herman-Watt; Cameron, Taylor (Nicholson, 90)

Auckland: Olla; Brown, Robertson, Toailoa, Carlton; Jale (booked, 74), Anton, Blake; O'Brien (Wong, 111), Skilton, Hand (Dewell, 31 (Cunningham-Lee, 106))

Referee: Nadia Browning

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