The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website | home
240922 | 091022 | 211022 | 241022 | 281022 | 301022 | 051122 | 131122 | 181122 | 201122 | 271122 | 041222 | 091222 | Grand Final
Grand Final
"Lilywhites" Claim National Crown In Emphatic Fashion
by Jeremy Ruane
They began the 2022 season chasing a three-peat of Lotto Northern Premier Women's League titles. And while they fell short in that quest, and were also beaten quarter-finalists in the NZ Football Foundation Kate Sheppard Cup, Eastern Suburbs ensured their annual pursuit of silverware was fulfilled in emphatic fashion at Mt Smart Stadium on December 18, as they thrashed Western Springs 4-0 in the National Women's League Grand Final.
In doing so, "The Lilywhites" became the first club to win an honour which, since its inception in 1976 in the guise of the National Tournament, has always been contested by the representative sides of the various regional associations and, more recently, federations.
That was until 2021, when NZ Football revised and revamped the format of the national competition, making it a hybrid of club entries from the northern region and representative sides from south of Taupo.
The untimely appearance of Covid-19 put the skids on the new-look National League, but a year later, there was no such hindrance, and Northern Rovers, Western Springs, Eastern Suburbs and Auckland United were the four clubs whose endeavours in the Lotto Northern Premier Women's League earned them spots in the revamped competition, pitting them against Capital Football, Central Football, Canterbury United Pride and Southern United.
Suburbs were the dominant team from the outset, winning their first ten matches and eventually qualifying for the Grand Final with two rounds to spare. A week later, their opponents were confirmed, "The Hoops" booking their Grand Final berth as runners-up to the runaway leaders, "The Lilywhites" eventually winning the round-robin phase of the league by seven points.
Along the way, Stephen Hoyle's charges had scored a highly commendable 140 goals in the 38 games they had played since the season kicked off on the last weekend in March. Only three teams have scored more in a season - Claudelands Rovers (147 goals in 19 games in 2012), Three Kings United (166 goals in 22 games in 1998), and the all-conquering Eden 1987 team.
In days when women's matches were played over eighty minutes, that side struck a staggering 194 goals in 23 matches, with three of those wins being by the default 2-0 scoreline which applied in those days. Virtually everyone in that Eden side was a New Zealand international, and nine of them were involved in our historic 1-0 win over the USA in Taiwan at the end of that year … that's how good that team was!
In contrast to Suburbs' free-scoring campaign, Ryan Faithfull's "Hoops" amassed a mere 89 goals in their 36 matches in 2022 - the lowest tally of the four northern region contenders in the National Women's League. And having lost home and away to "The Lilywhites" in NWL round-robin action, they went into the Grand Final as underdogs.
Suburbs swiftly set about affirming their favouritism, dominating the early stages of proceedings with a plethora of chances, any of which could have seen them open the scoring. Charlotte Wilford-Carroll's stinging twenty-yarder, in the sixth minute following a Nicole Mettam corner, was the first broadside fired, while Mettam fired narrowly wide from the poor goal-kick arising from that opening salvo.
Olivia Page then looked to get in on the act with an eighth minute lob which landed on the roof of Angelique Tuisamoa's net. The winger's next act saw her bring Tayla O'Brien into play, and the NWL's Golden Boot winner took on three opponents before getting to the by-line and whipping in a cross.
Lily Jervis failed to clear it, allowing Deven Jackson to pounce from close range. Her shot slammed against the post, ricocheted onto the back of Tuisamoa's head and rebounded off the unfortunate goalkeeper into the net - a ninth minute own goal which delighted the favourites.
Springs looked to get back on level terms in fairly short order. Arisa Takeda, who, with Rina Hirano and Emma Pijnenburg was playing her final game for "The Hoops" before heading abroad, scampered down the right and sent a cross screaming across the goalmouth, but too far ahead of Sofia Garcia for the striker to capitalise upon.
The powerful American front-runner was ever a threat, however, and in the seventeenth minute saw her angled run rewarded with a pass which allowed her to get in behind Suburbs' rearguard and unleash an eighteen yard drive which clipped the stanchion holding up the goalnet.
Five minutes later, Jess Innes picked out Sammi Tawharu, whose defence-splitting pass allowed Hirano to surge into the penalty area. As she pulled the trigger, Suburbs skipper, Rebekah Van Dort, timed her lunge to perfection and diverted the shot inches past Brooke Bennett's left-hand post.
Cue an arm wrestle, as both teams strove to be the one which next altered the scoreboard. A few naughty challenges went in during this phase of play - O'Brien was afforded a final warning by referee Anna-Marie Keighley - but defences largely dominated, that of Suburbs in particular, with Van Dort at her commanding best, and Saki Yoshida, in front of her, producing an eye-catching performance in midfield.
Jaedici Uluvili was Springs' defensive rock, epitomised by her block tackle in the 36th minute, which ultimately allowed Tawharu to send Garcia galloping through once more. With Van Dort on her shoulder, the striker let fly with a shot which flew past Bennett but narrowly past her right-hand post as well.
Had Springs scored then, things would have got very interesting, but Suburbs' response was soul-destroying for "The Hoops". Tuisamoa produced a brilliant save to keep out Mettam's dipping twenty-five yarder seconds after Garcia's effort, but three minutes before half-time, "The Lilywhites" delivered a blow from which their opponents never
|
recovered.
Mettam secured possession on halfway and instantly picked out Jackson, who deftly turned Jervis some twenty-five yards out from goal. Her shot was blocked by Lily Taitimu, but the ball ricocheted into the stride of Yoshida, who controlled the ball deftly before expertly finding the gap between the diving figure of Tuisamoa and her right-hand post - 2-0.
Springs had to score first after the interval if they harboured any hopes of getting back into the contest, but Suburbs had other ideas. A driving forty yard run by Jackson two minutes after the resumption of play was undone by a "two-pointer" (this is the Warriors' home ground, of course!) as she sent her shot on the run sailing over Tuisamoa's crossbar.
"The Hoops" responded through Celia Mayo, who got the better of Page before delivering a pass which ignited "the battle of the RHs", as Rina Hirano and Rachel Head locked horns. The defender prevailed, aided and abetted by Bennett.
Both teams went close to scoring in the next four minutes, with Suburbs going desperately close to netting a third goal in the 49th minute. Wilford-Carroll bore down on goal through the inside-right channel, and drew the defence before setting up Jackson.
Her shot was superbly parried away from goal by Tuisamoa, but Mettam was on hand to pick up the pieces and invite O'Brien to chance her arm. She turned past an opponent before unleashing an angled drive which cannoned off the post and ricocheted off the head of the diving Tuisamoa, this time to safety.
Three minutes later, Pijnenburg finally got a break in midfield, and instantly showed the qualities which see her heading to Dutch giants Feyenoord in the new year. Her pass through the inside left channel to Tawharu was precision personified, and invited an instant shot which crashed off the inside of Bennett's right-hand post and careered across the face of goal to safety - a real let-off for "The Lilywhites".
And how they made Springs suffer as a result. Erinna Wong picked up the pieces from Tawharu's close call and sparked an attack which culminated in a dazzling O'Brien run through Springs defence to the by-line, from where she delivered a low cross into the goalmouth. It was parried by Tuisamoa straight into the stride of Jackson, who was never going to miss from six yards - 3-0, and game effectively over after 53 minutes.
Springs instantly introduced the jet-heeled Sophia Dyer to the fray, and the pint-sized powerhouse made an instant impact, drawing a save from Bennett with her first touch. But Suburbs responded via Jackson, who drew a save from Tuisamoa after Wong and Yoshida had combined to present her with the chance for a second goal in three minutes.
Substitutions began to influence proceedings, but Suburbs continued to enjoy the upper hand, Annie Byrne's eye-catching runs down the right quickly emerging as another noteworthy feature of their play. On the opposite flank, Wong linked with O'Brien, whose bid to work a one-two with Jackson was foiled by Tuisamoa's dive at the league's leading markswoman's feet in the 66th minute.
Five minutes later, Springs went desperately close to getting back into the contest. An Innes corner was spilled by Bennett, forcing Suburbs to scramble the ball past the far post for another corner. Takeda drilled this right into the danger zone, and in the ensuing melee, Bennett, despite being on her back, produced a reflex save to paw the ball off the line and to safety.
After Suburbs' custodian saved at the feet of Dyer, with Hirano and Garcia having sought to inspire a fightback via a left flank raid, the game was up for Springs eight minutes from time, as Suburbs struck their fourth goal of the game.
Substitute Juliette Lucas played a delightful pass into the stride of Jackson, who moved menacingly into the penalty area before battering the ball goalwards. Tuisamoa parried it, while Maia Lythe blocked Jackson's follow-up attempt on the line. The ball rebounded once more to Suburbs' well-performed frontrunner, who rammed it into the top corner to put the outcome well and truly beyond doubt - 4-0.
Springs somehow failed to score a consolation goal soon afterwards, Jervis failing to turn the ball home at point-blank range after Takeda's free-kick had been diverted towards her captain by Garcia.
Hirano then went on a dazzling sixty yard run, only to be crudely fouled by both Arya Blackler (shirt-pulling) and Nicole Cooper, whose scything challenge earned her the game's only yellow card.
Do you think the offender cared? The scoreboard told you all you needed to know on that front, and after the usual quota of stoppage time had been played, the 1239 fans present saw referee Keighley blow the final whistle in this marathon women's footballing year, one which saw the first club to win the Northern Premier Women's League six years running making history again over forty years later, Eastern Suburbs becoming the first club to win the National Women's League title.
History, too, for the captain, for as Rebekah Van Dort triumphantly raised the heavy trophy aloft, she emulated the feat of her father, John, who captained Metro to the Bluebird Superclub title in 1996 - quite possibly the first occasion in NZ footballing history of two generations of the same family captaining teams to club-based national league titles. How special is that?
Suburbs: Bennett; Van Dort, Head, Brooke; Page (Cooper, 61 (booked, 88)), Wilford-Carroll (Byrne, 61), Yoshida, Wong (Atkins, 86); O'Brien (Lucas, 79), Mettam (Blackler, 79), Jackson
Springs: Tuisamoa; Takeda, Jervis, Uluvili, Mayo (O'Connor, 79); Pijnenburg (Jacob, 62), Taitimu (Lythe, 79), Innes; Hirano, Tawharu (Dyer, 54), Garcia
Referee: Anna-Marie Keighley
|