Canterbury v. Auckland 071120

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Auckland Sweep Aside Champions In Christchurch

by Jeremy Ruane

Reigning ISPS Handa Women's Premiership champions Canterbury United Pride were ruthlessly swept aside by a rampant Auckland Football combination at English Park on November 7, the visitors' 4-1 thumping sending out an ominous warning to the other teams in the league that the most successful federation in the competition's history has every intention of adding this year's title to their seven previous triumphs.

With both teams having won convincingly a week ago, this match was seen as the litmus test for Canterbury and Auckland, and a pointer to which of them would become the early favourites to host this season's Grand Final on December 20.

The home team, despite the absence of injured talisman Annalie Longo, set out their stall inside the very first minute, Lara Wall scooting clear down the right before picking out Britney-Lee Nicholson with her cross. The striker's poor touch was pounced on by Liz Anton, who had a fine game in Auckland's rearguard.

The visitors' response left Canterbury reeling. Arisa Takeda sent one through for Ava Collins to pursue in the sixth minute, prompting Una Foyle to hurtle out beyond the edge of her penalty area in order to clear the danger before the hard-chasing striker could capitalise.

Auckland took the resulting throw-in quickly, while Canterbury were still all at sea in defence, and were rewarded for their swift actions with the opening goal. Daisy Cleverley drove clear into the penalty area, and her low cross was cleared into the stride of Tayla O'Brien, who fair battered a fulminating fifteen-yarder beyond Foyle and into the back of the net to open the scoring in the seventh minute.

Within a minute, Auckland were in again. Collins and O'Brien worked an opening down the left which culminated in the former being thwarted in the act of shooting by Amelia Abbott's timely tackle.

Canterbury were hard done by in the seventeenth minute. Nicholson latched onto a loose ball and threaded a pass through Auckland's defence for Gabrielle Rennie to attempt to capitalise upon.

The retreating figure of Alosi Bloomfield prevented her from doing so, however, timing her tackle from behind to perfection to take the ball before sending Rennie sprawling.

Referee Lindsey Robinson - not her most consistent display - saw no foul, and she was still signalling this when Tahlia Herman-Watt latched onto Bloomfield's clearance and battered a shot goalwards which Lily Alfeld plucked from the air like a plum off a tree.

The natives weren't best pleased, even more so when Rina Hirano escaped a booking for retaliating to Rebecca Lake's timely tackle seconds later. But their displeasure swiftly turned to dismay within the next three minutes, as Auckland took the game out of Canterbury's reach with two quickfire goals in as many minutes.

The visitors were awarded a free-kick in the nineteenth minute. Takeda whipped the ball in behind the defence for Cleverley, whose tame near post effort should have been gobbled up by Foyle. But the 'keeper inexplicably allowed the ball to go through her arms and into the net behind her - 2-0.

Canterbury were still reeling from this blow when Aaron McFarland's charges struck again in the 21st minute. Takeda's corner was cleared to the edge of the penalty area where Cleverley was lurking with intent, and she fair lashed a volley through the gathered throngs and into the bottom far corner of the net - 3-0. Contest over.

United simply had no answer to Auckland's swift passing and on-and-off-the-ball movement. The visitors' dynamism saw them attacking at will from all over the park, with Collins' leadership of the line - both as the first line of attack and the first line of defence - particularly praiseworthy. She put in a terrific shift in the first spell, but she wasn't alone - that statement applies to many of her white-clad team-mates.

Canterbury tried to get back into the match, but got no change from the Anton-inspired Auckland rearguard, with Jess Philpot as solid as her skipper at its heart.

Said backline was briefly disrupted when Emma Leaming had to hobble off with a hamstring twinge, but Takeda simply switched to left-back and the Auckland machine seemingly seamlessly carried on performing.

And scoring, this time in the 38th minute with what was probably the best move of the match. Leaming's replacement, Maisy Dewell, combined with O'Brien on the right to send Collins careering clear of all-comers. She charged to the by-line and evaded a challenge before drilling a low cross across the goalmouth.

Arriving beyond the far post was Takeda, who

fizzed the ball back into the danger zone. Lake blocked her cross, but the ball landed straight at the feet of Hirano, who said 'Thankyou very much' from six yards - 4-0.

The silence from the Steve Sumner Stand in response to the goal was deafening, the usually parochial but always knowledgeable Canterbury crowd well aware that the title-holders were being given a bit of a footballing lesson by the arch-enemy, and the game was fast becoming an exercise in damage limitation from the home team's perspective.

Cue the introduction of someone who should have been on from the start, in this writer's eyes. Emma Clarke is one of the most accomplished right-backs in the country - a Football Fern in waiting, frankly - and to field a back three at her expense against an Auckland side so fluid of movement as this one … little wonder 4-0 was the half-time scoreline.

Clarke's appearance saw United revert to a back four, and suddenly the holes which the visitors were exploiting with gay abandon throughout the first half were far less frequently in evidence. Lily Bray and Nikola Dominikovich were also introduced to the fray, but the fullback's presence made a massive difference to the balance of the home team's set-up.

Collins was no longer as prominent, for starters. Nor O'Brien, for whom Britney Cunningham-Lee came on in the 53rd minute and wasted little time in looking to make her mark on proceedings.

On the hour, Emma Fletcher, Hirano and Cunningham-Lee combined with Bloomfield, who sent the substitute down the right on one of her trademark swashbuckling runs at pace before fizzing in a low cross to the near post. Arriving on cue was Collins, but so, too, was Mikaela Hunt - her presence prompted the striker to steer the ball narrowly past the post.

Four minutes later, Cunningham-Lee bundled over Wall in the penalty area, prompting referee Robinson to point to the spot, from where Lake reduced the deficit, sending the largely under-employed Alfeld the wrong way - 4-1.

Five further minutes had elapsed when United were in again. Whitney Hepburn - an improved second spell - sparked a move which also featured Kate Taylor and the ever-lively Wall, who never stopped trying to be a point of difference from an attacking perspective for the home team. On this occasion she whipped in a cross for Rennie, whose header flashed past the far post.

Back came Auckland, with Foyle at full stretch to keep out Cunningham-Lee's twenty-five yarder after fine defending by Clarke had denied both Stella Lawson and Hirano.

Canterbury responded by earning a corner at the other end of the park, one delivered to the far post by Nicholson. Bray soared above all-comers to direct a thumping header goalwards, only to be thwarted by a reflex save from Alfeld, who turned the ball over the bar.

That denial brought an end to United's best spell of the match, although they did mount another brief flurry in the final minutes, but not before Auckland had spurned a super opportunity to go nap and record their biggest win over the Mainlanders since the "A Team"'s 6-0 rout of the Cantabrians at the 1997 National Women's Tournament.

Three minutes from time, Cunningham-Lee careered down the right from half-way, leaving Hunt trailing in her wake. Upon entering the penalty area, she lured Foyle out of goal before unselfishly setting up Dewell … and over the top the ball sailed. A glorious chance, ingloriously squandered.

Cue a late flurry from United, with Alfeld grabbing a twenty-five yarder from Hepburn after Canterbury's midfield anchor had ignited another attack with the help of Taylor, who held off Cunningham-Lee before sending Dominikovich scurrying through the inside left channel.

She prodded the ball past the advancing figure of Alfeld, but agonisingly for the home team, the sphere rolled inches past the far post, guaranteeing Auckland an emphatic 4-1 victory and, with it, the outright lead in the competition.

On this display, they'll take some stopping from claiming their 21st provincial crown in the 44 seasons in which representative women's football has been contested at this level in NZ.

Canterbury: Foyle; Lake, Hunt, Taylor; Wall (Firth, 86), Whinham (Dominikovich, 46), Hepburn, Abbott (Bray, 46), Herman-Watt (Clarke, 46); Rennie, Nicholson (Dias, 76)

Auckland: Alfeld; Takeda, Anton, Philpot, Leaming (Dewell, 33); Cleverley, Bloomfield (booked, 89), Fletcher (Bradley, 90); O'Brien (Cunningham-Lee, 53), Collins (Lawson, 66), Hirano (Pijnenburg, 81)

Referee: Lindsey Robinson

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