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25/11/07
“The Better Team Won, The Braver Team Lost”
by Jeremy Ruane
Outgoing Waikato-Bay of Plenty women's coach Duncan Baird couldn't have better summed up an intriguing Lion Foundation National Women's League semi-final at Newtown Park on November 25, as Capital Football survived a right royal scare from his young charges.
The home team squeaked home 4-3 on penalties after the teams fought out a 1-1 draw after extra time, the extra half-hour made necessary by Sarah McLaughlin's equaliser for the visitors thirty seconds from the end of normal time.
After Sally Kent had headed a McLaughlin corner off the line just seventy seconds into the match, the home team tore into their opponents with a vengeance, Renee Leota rattling the side-netting in the second minute before beating WBOP goalkeeper Charlotte Wood in the air two minutes later, only to run out of room before being able to fully exploit the situation.
After Wood had grabbed a twenty-five yarder from Wendi Henderson, the reigning Lion Foundation National Women's League Player of the Year opened the scoring on the quarter hour.
Zarnia Cogle's free-kick was cleared to Bria Sargent, who brought Patrice Bourke into play. She switched the ball to Liz Milne, whose angled ball in behind the defence sent Henderson scurrying through. She still had plenty to do, but engineered some space in behind Nicole Stratford before burying a twenty-yarder to open the scoring with aplomb.
Within seconds, Cogle was given the chance to double Capital's lead, upon receipt of a measured first-time through ball from Henderson. The former New Zealand international hit her shot on the run into the side-netting, as the home team looked to build a substantial lead early in the piece.
Try as they might, it didn't happen for Capital, who were splendidly led in attack once more by Hannah Wall - this youngster is some prospect, make no mistake. In the 21st minute, she worked a one-two with Leota but found her progress thwarted by Kate Loye. She cleared the ball to Liz Milne, who unleashed a cross-shot which Wood tipped round the post.
Soon after, Cogle's corner picked out Sargent, who sent a ten-yard header bulleting over the crossbar. Wai-BOP's response saw them engineer their first opening of the match, in the 29th minute. Anna Fullerton broke on the right and crossed to the near post, where Brogan Mathieson was arriving at pace. So, too, was Tess Murphy, who blocked her effort at close quarters.
Capital responded with another flurry of attacks. Wall and Henderson linked to Kent's benefit, the youngster's twenty-five yard chip just clearing the crossbar, a fate which also befell Cogle's twenty yard solo effort seconds later.
Back came Wai-BOP, Katherine Robinson, Mathieson and Loye combining in the 34th minute to present McLaughlin with a shooting chance which arrowed just past the post from twenty yards.
Cue another smattering of scoring opportunities for the home team in as many minutes. Rebecca O'Neill was at the heart of the first of them, the midfield general linking with Bourke to unleash Cogle on one of her trademark mazy runs. Three opponents later, she lashed a twenty-five yarder just over the bar.
Wall was next to let fly, and she left Wood beaten all ends up with a thumping drive from the edge of the penalty area. The crossbar came to the `keeper's rescue, with Wood fumbling the rebound to safety. Soon after, the goalkeeper was tipping a Henderson effort to safety, after O'Neill had supplied the ammunition.
Four minutes before the interval, the visitors fired another warning shot across Capital's bows when McLauglin's snapshot was parried by Lily Ran. The goalkeeper, whose influence was immense in the game's latter stages, snaffled the rebound as Mathieson closed in for the kill.
Kent and Wall both warmed Wood's gloves before the interval, while the former linked with Bourke and Leota to present Henderson with a volleyed chance which sailed over the crossbar, the last shot in anger of a lively first half.
The second spell was every bit as captivating, Cogle igniting the fun just three minutes into the half with a twenty-five yarder which Wood grabbed greedily. The `keeper didn't have to make a save three minutes later, Leota contriving to dwell too long on the ball, after she had combined superbly with Henderson and Wall to prise open Waikato-Bay of Plenty's rearguard on the edge of their penalty area.
Still Capital pressed, O'Neill dispossessing Loye before threading a ball through for Wall. She should have done better with her effort, but made amends when setting up Leota with a splendid first-time cross on the run on the hour mark, having been released by Sargent's raking diagonal ball forward. Wood was off her line in an instant to save at Leota's feet.
The second Capital eased off, the visitors wasted little time in putting them under pressure, and in the 63rd and 64th minutes, they engineered openings which, on another day … Mathieson and McLaughlin were causing more than a few problems, but with Murphy in rock-like form at the heart of Capital's defence, the home team staved off the threats.
Five minutes later, and after Leota and Wall and combined for Henderson's benefit, to no avail, Mathieson set off on another run at Capital's rearguard, and angled the ball through for Stratford, who had been deployed in a more attacking role after kicking off the match in central defence.
Ran anticipated the versatile Stratford's run, and dived to save at her feet, only to get clattered for her troubles. Her injury allowed the teams a brief breather, and prompted both coaches to shuffle their respective packs in an effort to change the outcome over the course of the final fifteen minutes.
One of Waikato-Bay of Plenty's newcomers, Elizabeth Bosson, made an instant impact, sending Mathieson through with just Ran to beat. The `keeper showed she was suffering no ill effects from her earlier collision with Stratford by again saving bravely at the feet of the rampaging striker, one of eleven schoolgirls the visitors were now fielding against a side sporting a healthy mix of seasoned campaigners and uninhibited youth.
Capital responded to that 78th minute incident by hammering away at Wai-BOP's goal over the next ten minutes in search of a killer second goal. Wood, having saved at the feet of Wall prior to the youngster's departure, then thwarted her replacement, Ciara Slattery, by splendidly tipping a driven cross from Henderson away from the incoming newcomer.
In the 83rd minute, Leota found herself in the penalty area with just Wood to beat, and duly rounded her. But as the NZ U-20 star looked to steer the ball home into the unguarded goal, her leg gave way beneath her, leaving Leota unable to continue.
While Capital were organising her replacement, the numerically challenged side kept pressing, Milne pinging the ball forward towards Henderson, who had taken up the main striker's role. Her presence created indecision in Waikato-BOP's rearguard, forcing Wood to come charging out of her penalty area to head the ball to safety.
The goalkeeper only picked out Cogle with her clearance, however, and she instantly shot towards the vacant target. Henderson was in the way of her shot, however, and New Zealand's second most-capped women's international's instinctive reaction saw her effort sail harmlessly wide of goal.
Downfield the visitors streamed, with Bosson's penalty claims falling on deaf ears. Referee Kay Smith and her team were not at their collective best in this match, prompting more than the odd raised eyebrow
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 Brogan Mathieson
 Hannah Wall
 Katherine Robinson
 Renee Leota
 Sarah McLaughlin
 Zarnia Cogle
 Charlotte Wood
 Patrice Bourke
 Kylie Jens
 Tess Murphy
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among the mild-mannered, and outbursts of sheer disbelief bordering on exasperation among those more emotionally entwined in proceedings after a number of decisions - or non-decisions, such as in this instance.
Capital played to the whistle as the visitors pleaded their case, with Cogle steaming down the left at a great rate of knots. Henderson was up in support of her team-mate, but the combined efforts of Wood and Alex Shadbolt thwarted this 86th minute raid.
Time was fast running out for Waikato-Bay of Plenty, and the youngsters were giving everything in their pursuit of a last-gasp equaliser. Two minutes from time, they looked to have finally realised their objective, McLaughlin showing Murphy a clean pair of heels as she bore down on goal, with Mathieson in support.
The striker was caught in two minds, and chose the unselfish option rather than try to beat the well-positioned figure of Ran. But her pass never reached Mathieson, Ran plunging cat-like to her left to save at her opponent's feet.
Surely now, Capital were set for a fourth consecutive National Women's League Grand Final against their nemesis, Auckland. But inside the last of three minutes of stoppage time, Robinson and Mathieson pressed down the left, the latter playing the ball inside.
Her pass was wayward, however, Sargent stepping in to avert the danger. But a stumble by the long-serving Capital defender was punished mercilessly by McLaughlin, who swooped on the loose ball and, given she was some twenty-five yards out from goal, just battered it.
Thirty seconds remained on the clock as referee Smith awarded Waikato-Bay of Plenty the last-gasp equaliser their never-say-die approach merited, McLaughlin's missile having sailed into the net beyond the despairing dive of Ran to bring about extra-time - 1-1.
Cue an additional half-hour in which two teams who had given their all in the previous ninety minutes dug deep and discovered, in some cases, hitherto unknown reserves for the cause. And amidst it all, drama aplenty.
O'Neill and Cogle both went close for Capital in the early stages, before Robinson caught Milne in possession on the left and whipped over a cross which McLaughlin only just failed to make contact with as she launched herself towards the ball on the far post.
In the 95th minute, Sargent produced a super tackle to deny Mathieson, as she strode through a square defence onto Loye's through ball. This effort was matched seven minutes later by the rock-steady Kylie Jens, who stepped in to deny Henderson after she had been played through by Slattery.
Annalies Van Kampen stung Wood's gloves from twenty yards just beforehand, while just after it, Henderson spotted the visiting goalkeeper off her line as she took on Waikato-Bay of Plenty's retreating rearguard. The veteran promptly unleashed a dipping twenty-five yarder which had Wood beaten all ends up, only to clear the crossbar by a foot at most.
Into the second half of extra-time, and Cogle was first to chance her arm, angling a twenty-five yarder across the face of goal after another mazy run probing for gaps in the visiting back-line.
In the 109th minute, Sargent intercepted a Loye pass and played the ball back towards Ran, only for her face to register horror at the sight of Mathieson galloping onto her back-pass with just the `keeper to beat. Ran made herself big, and the striker opted to take the ball round her. Ran dived and plucked the ball off Mathieson's toes - a brilliant piece of goalkeeping.
If Waikato-Bay of Plenty thought that was their key chance to win the match, they were mistaken - another one materialised just four minutes later, this time from the penalty spot.
Referee Smith got this one well wrong, make no mistake - it should never have been a spot-kick to start with. Indeed, it should have been a Capital free-kick outside the area, which is where the incident took place!
Sargent and Mathieson tangled, with both players ending up on the deck, the striker felling the defender, who brought her opponent down on top of her inside the penalty area as she endeavoured to keep her balance. It was the latter action which left referee Smith in no doubt, and Chelsey Wood stepped forward to take the shot.
Ran saved it, but was adjudged to have moved by the assistant, much to Capital's consternation. Henderson, the only player to have been booked in the game, enquired why, and when told by the flag-bearer, uttered the word “disgraceful” in response - it was clearly audible from the sideline.
Cue a signal from the assistant to the referee, who pointed at Henderson and indicated back-chat! Thankfully, Smith opted to issue a general behaviour warning to all-comers, rather than follow the specific advice of her assistant - you don't need to imagine the brouhaha which would have come about had anything further arisen from this episode.
As it was, a penalty needed to be retaken, and the responsibility was entrusted to Mathieson. Again, Ran saved, and this time she didn't even have to move - the spot-kick was struck straight at her.
Capital, buoyed by these huge let-offs, stormed downfield, Ashlee Delahunty and Slattery leading the charge. Their one-two culminated in the former hitting a wicked cross-shot which Wood appeared to tip over the crossbar - quite how a goal-kick was awarded merely reflected the match officials' intriguing interpretations on proceedings generally. They certainly had a challenging game, make no mistake!
With time up on the clock, the visitors mounted one final raid, forcing a corner. Robinson fired it into the goalmouth, and Ran's punch clear landed perfectly for Loye, whose volley careered over the crossbar, meaning a penalty shoot-out would be necessary to determine Auckland's opponents in Saturday's Grand Final at the same venue, Newtown Park.
Waikato-Bay of Plenty were up first, and Shadbolt, Chelsey Wood and McLaughlin made no mistakes with their spot-kicks. Nor did Capital's first three markswomen, Henderson, Bourke and Cogle.
Next up was Jens, who looked on in horror as Ran dived to her left to save. In contrast, O'Neill converted her spot-kick emphatically, burying the ball beyond the diving figure of Wood.
This meant that Mathieson had to score, otherwise it was game over. She placed the ball on the spot and took two steps back, then drove the ball to Ran's left. Once more, the `keeper saved, and Capital were in the final, 4-3 winners on penalties over gallant young opponents whose development in a year - the same teams met at the same venue exactly a year ago in the play-off, with Capital prevailing 2-0 - was evident for all to see.
Little wonder coach Duncan Baird was immensely proud of his charges afterwards. Relief was evident throughout the Capital Football squad, particularly coach Gary Jenkins, who will now prepare his team for a fourth successive Grand Final against the “A Team”, Saturday's 2.30pm engagement at Newtown Park the final act in a year which, for some of the players involved, began with a Women's World Cup training camp on 7 January.
Capital: Ran; Milne, Murphy, Sargent, Bourke; O'Neill, Kent (Van Kampen, 76), Henderson (booked, 90), Cogle; Leota (Delahunty, 87), Wall (Slattery, 76)
Waikato-BOP: Charlotte Wood; Aitken (Bosson, 76), Stratford (Edwards, 87), Shadbolt, Jens; Fullerton (Stanton, 76), Chelsey Wood, McLaughlin, Loye, Robinson; Mathieson
Referee: Kay Smith
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