Auckland Football goalkeeper Alisha Perry produced the performance of her young life on the QBE Stadium Tigerturf on 29 October, as a resilient Auckland side held Northern Lights to a 1-1 draw in their latest National Women's League encounter. That the visitors could have won this compelling contest in the dying minutes spoke volumes for their tenacity, as their opponents should have been out of sight on the scoreboard, such was the plethora of chances they created throughout proceedings. Northern swiftly settled into their stride in this encounter, and in the sixth minute produced a slick passing interchange involving Lily Jervis, Chloe Knott and Arabella Maynard. Rebekah Van Dort intervened at this point, but Saskia Vosper swiftly picked up the pieces and resurrected the attack with a fine cross which picked out Ava Pritchard, whose header was tipped round the post by Perry as she plunged to her left. Within seconds, Northern had opened the scoring. A short corner by Maggie Jenkins invited Knott to whip in a cross which Vosper met with the most deft of glancing headers, one which directed the ball through a crowded goalmouth and into the net by the far post. Buoyed by their fine start, and knowing that a win over their arch-rivals would go a long way towards sealing a place in the Grand Final in mid-December, Northern proceeded to lay siege to Auckland's goal in search of a second strike. Jenkins' sixteenth minute corner picked out Claudia Bunge, whose header was headed off the line by Sarah Morton. Moments later, another Jenkins corner invited Kelli Brown to let fly, and she sent a twenty-yarder sizzling over the bar. Northern continued to pass the ball around confidently, carving out openings seemingly at will. In the 25th minute, Jenkins wrong-footed the covering figure of Van Dort and presented Brown with another chance to let fly. This effort, from the edge of the penalty area, careered narrowly past Perry's left-hand post. Still the home team pressed, Jenkins going desperately close with an inswinging corner in the 27th minute, before Knott latched onto a loose ball and swept past three opponents before unleashing a shot which Perry saved, diving to her right. The 'keeper had it easy soon afterwards, Brown's tame shot failing to do justice to the efforts of Jenkins and Pritchard, whose pressing in the attacking third forced another cheap concession of possession by Auckland, who were having real trouble making their passes stick. Perry was as guilty as any of her team-mates in this regard, as evidenced by a poor goal-kick on the half-hour which practically begged anyone wearing a striped shirt to pick their spot. Brown took up the challenge, only to be thwarted by a superb Liz Anton block, the defender's lunge taking the sting off the shot and allowing Perry to gratefully regather a ball she had kicked not ten seconds earlier. Northern continued to probe at will, Knott and Aneka Mittendorff combining with Vosper in the 34th minute. The game's lone scorer, to this point, curled an inviting cross onto the head of Jenkins, who directed her header wide of the mark with just Perry to beat. Such was the home team's dominance that goalkeeper Lily Alfeld had barely been sighted thus far - not that she could be missed in her dayglo yellow ensemble! To make her feel part of things, Mittendorff played the ball back to her in the 35th minute, but Alfeld dallied on the ball and only just got her clearance away as Jade Parris closed in quickly, the first time Auckland had even gone close to Northern's goal. Normal service swiftly resumed. Pritchard charged through the inside right channel, only to be foiled by Anton's desperate covering block - the defender had a sound game for the visitors, and it will be a surprise if her fine NWL form isn't rewarded with a Football Ferns call-up for their upcoming two-match tour of China. After Perry had grabbed a twenty-yarder from Maynard, Auckland finally threatened as an attacking force three minutes from time, and gained instant reward for doing so with an equaliser which came totally against the run of play. A Mittendorff error was pounced on by Britney Cunningham-Lee, whose first touch, like that of Lucy Carter, had let her down badly throughout the first half. It did so again on this occasion, allowing the Young Ferns captain to rectify her error and clear the ball for a throw-in. Emma Leaming took it, and Carter sent Steph Skilton slaloming to the by-line. Having celebrated her 25th birthday since last Thursday's "Battle of the Bridge", Auckland's captain was eager to mark the occasion with a celebratory goal of her own, but from the position she was in, nothing short of a miracle would produce a goal on this occasion. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and the miracle Auckland sought duly materialised. Skilton's angled pull-back struck a retreating defender and ballooned up and over Alfeld before striking the inside of the far post and bouncing back into the goalmouth. Watching the ball's trajectory carefully was referee's assistant Lee Juno, who was perfectly placed to determine if it fully crossed the line at any stage on its journey. The moment it did, he raised his flag to

signal a goal, prompting referee Nadia Browning to award the equaliser, much to the surprise then delight of the Auckland players, and the bewilderment of their cross-town rivals - 1-1. Many of those in attendance weren't even aware a goal had been scored until they saw the Auckland players celebrating, while their Northern counterparts looked on in disbelief, moods which both teams took into the dressing rooms after the half-time whistle blew. When Auckland emerged for the second spell, they were without Parris, Ava Collins instead being unleashed in an effort to give the visitors more energy in the face of opponents who were swift to resume their first half dominance. Vosper, Jenkins and Pritchard combined for Maynard's benefit in the 51st minute, but the midfielder was left beating the ground in frustration as she shot straight at Perry, who produced an outstanding one-handed save five minutes later to turn a Jenkins piledriver round the post, after Brown and Maynard had combined to prise open Auckland's rearguard once more. Jenkins sent another shot swerving past the upright soon after, before Perry saved at the feet of Pritchard as the latter pursued a through ball from Vosper, who had a fine all-round game for the team in stripes. A swashbuckling run through four challenges by Liz Savage just after the hour mark took her to the by-line, but Skilton was wise to her opponent's plans and duly cleared her lines to avert the danger. Knott was next to leave a string of blue-clad opponents trailing in her slipstream, with Brown the ultimate beneficiary of her driving run. The striker with a penchant for scoring goals in age-grade internationals met her match in Perry, however, the 'keeper's vital block with her legs maintaining parity in the 64th minute. Auckland's 'keeper then foiled Pritchard before Morton came to her rescue with another vital intervention as Northern pounded away in seemingly relentless fashion in pursuit of a second goal. They were beginning to run out of ideas, however, and when the trigger was next pulled, it was Tessa Leong who was responsible, her twenty-five yard rocket flying inches past Alfeld's right-hand post after Skilton and Van Dort had combined to present the striker with the opportunity eighteen minutes from time. Despite there having been no end product to date, Collins had certainly added some thrust to Auckland's attack, and with Hannah Pilley now joining her in the front line, coupled with Northern's profligacy in attack, there was a growing feeling that the visitors weren't beyond claiming an unlikely come-from-behind win in this encounter. That feeling gained plenty of traction in the next five minutes. Defensive hesitancy by Lily Jervis was pounced on by Collins, only for the substitute to shoot straight at Alfeld in the 73rd minute, but it was events at the other end of the park which gave Auckland reason aplenty to believe that this was indeed their night. The blue-clad side were caught on the counter-attack by their stripe-shirted rivals in the 76th minute, with Vosper instrumental in the attack which was evolving. Brown was again the ultimate beneficiary, and she duly slipped her shot past Perry, only for the post to come to Auckland's aid. The ball rebounded into the penalty area, and within seconds, Pritchard was face-to-face with terra firma of the technological variety, a trip having sent her plummeting towards the Tigerturf. Referee Browning had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot, presenting Knott with the chance to restore Northern's early lead thirteen minutes from time. But the talented midfielder squandered the opportunity, Perry parrying her effort before recovering the rebound as the cavalry approached. Buoyed by this psychological blow, Auckland went all out for the win. Skilton's super angled ball ten minutes from time sent Morton scampering down the right to the by-line, where she evaded Claudia Bunge's challenge before picking out Collins with a cross. The substitute slipped the ball inside her to Leong, who somehow wriggled between Jervis and Mittendorff to get in a shot which fizzed past Alfeld but just past the far post as well. That was her last act of the match - cue Chloe Marthe, to which Northern responded by introducing Chloe Bellamy to the fray. With her first shot, the latter drew yet another save from Perry, while in stoppage time, the Auckland newcomer set off on a surging run past two opponents before unleashing a twenty-five yard piledriver which careered a yard at most over the bar. 'Twas the last kick of the game, referee Browning's final whistle confirming honours were once again even between these two fierce rivals, with Perry having defied the best Northern could offer to keep Auckland in a gripping contest which they could very well have nicked at the death. Northern:     Alfeld; Vosper, Mittendorff, Jervis, Bunge; Knott, Savage, Maynard; Pritchard, Jenkins, Brown (Bellamy, 86) Auckland:     Perry; Morton, Anton, Van Dort, Leaming (Ryan, 86); Skilton, Parris (Collins, 46), Carter; Russ (Pilley, 71), Leong (Marthe, 83), Cunningham-Lee (booked, 78) Referee:     Nadia Browning