The National Women's League play-off hopes of Capital Football were all but ended at McFetridge Park on November 11, as Northern Lights prevailed 4-2 in a riveting duel between two of the play-off contenders. With newly appointed Football Ferns coach Tom Sermanni looking on, Kate Loye did herself no harm in making her potential known to him by scoring one of the goals of the season in the seventh minute, a strike which gave this match the start it merited. Northern enjoyed the better of the early exchanges, and were rewarded when Claudia Bunge played the ball forward to Ava Pritchard, who directed the sphere into the stride of Liz Savage. Her cross was cleared to Loye, who unleashed a quite unstoppable flying volley into the top far corner from twenty-five yards on the angle - a simply stunning goal! Savage and Loye, just as they have been all season at club level, were at it again four minutes later, combining on the left for the goalscorer to deliver a delicious cross to the far post. Unfortunately for Northern, Jane Barnett wasn't following up in support of Pritchard, who had made a run to the near post which drew the attention of Anna Green, whose "helping hand" to nudge Pritchard off balance prompted penalty pleas aplenty from those sporting black-and-white stripes. It was a black-and-white case for referee Morgan Archer, however - "Get on with it!" Although the official will be the first to admit this wasn't her most consistent display, with someone on Capital's bench overheard muttering "What are you on?" after one decision too many against the visitors during their phase of first half dominance. The first hint of this materialised in the twelfth minute. A well-worked corner routine saw Molly Woodhead's delivery to the near post met on the volley by Kennedy Bryant, who was beginning to celebrate when the ball flew past the diving figure of Lily Alfeld, only for Emma Turnbull to appear behind her and clear it off the line. Sarah Gregorius wasn't far away with a volleyed effort soon afterwards, to which Northern responded via Alfeld's resulting goal-kick. Turnbull turned it into the stride of Loye, who played the ball in behind the defence for Pritchard to latch onto. She got the better of Asha Strom, but made life easy for Courtney Norman with a tame effort. Capital were far from done with, and after Charlotte Wilford-Carroll had stung the gloves of Alfeld, the visitors drew level in the 22nd minute. Anna McPhie worked her socks off in attack throughout proceedings, and on this occasion scythed a path through the inside left channel before steering the ball across to Dani Ohlsson. Her pass played Gregorius, darting through from behind, through the offside trap, and there's almost always only one outcome when the former Liverpool striker finds herself in that situation. Sure enough, the ball arrowed into the far corner of the net - 1-1. Five minutes later, Ohlsson broke down the right and delivered a delightful cross which skimmed the bows of the incoming figure of McPhie. Nicole Stratford tidied things up, but she and her team-mates weren't able to break the shackles for a decent period during this time - Capital weren't allowing them to play. The visitors continued to hold sway, and after Bryant went close with a twenty-five yarder, Gregorius went desperately close to giving Capital the lead ten minutes before half-time, her rising twenty yard volley creeping inches over the bar. The skipper instantly put her hands to her head - she knew that one deserved better fate. Northern began to gain traction in the game again via a series of throw-ins, which ultimately brought Saskia Vosper into play. Her long throw-ins into the goalmouth caused chaos aplenty twice inside the final six minutes of first half action, with Loye volleying a twenty-five yarder past the far post following the first of them. The second was contested in the air by Stratford and Strom, and was cleared to Loye, who touched the ball back to Stratford. The fullback with attacking tendencies wasted little time in lashing a shot goalwards, the ball striking the arm of Woodhead and instantly prompting penalty claims. Given how close Woodhead was when Stratford struck the ball, there was no way this could have been anything but ball to hand. Referee Archer was right there, saw exactly that, and ruled accordingly - Northern would have to find another way to regain the lead. The half-time team-talk allowed them to lay down such plans, and right from the start of the second spell, Northern was well in the groove, with Malia Steinmetz - largely anonymous in the first spell - a far more prominent figure in proceedings. She it was who fired the first shot of the half in anger, a 47th minute effort from the edge of the area which capped off a delightful jinking run past four defenders. Norman was at full stretch to turn the ball round the post.

Five minutes later, Savage and Loye linked once more, the latter's lob over the top inviting Barnett to surge through the inside left channel. Pritchard instantly set off on an angled run to the far post, and wasn't far away from meeting the subsequent angled cross delivered towards that upright. Nine minutes into the second spell, Northern recaptured the lead in the first of three minutes of total madness! Claudia Bunge and Barnett combined to play Pritchard through with just Norman to beat. Strom came from nowhere to flick the ball off the striker's toes and seemingly save the day, but her effort came unstuck when Pritchard poked the sphere past the approaching figure of Norman and into the empty net beyond. 2-1 to Northern, for all of sixty seconds. Straight from the kick-off, Capital earned a corner, which Green delivered onto the head of Meisha Boone on the far post. Alfeld superbly pawed out her header, and the ball was swiftly cleared to the edge of the area, where the lurking figure of Ohlsson promptly sent it back from whence it came with interest aplenty - an absolute snorter into the top far corner to make it 2-2! Back came Northern straight from the kick-off, and how they failed to score in the next sixty seconds only they will know! Turnbull and Loye combined to feed Pritchard, who rounded the stranded figure of Norman and found herself facing an open goal, but with Strom careering back in a desperate attempt to thwart her. Incredibly, the defender succeeded, not once but twice preventing Pritchard from restoring Northern's lead with the goal at the striker's mercy. The rebound from the second attempt was cleared out of the penalty area, into the stride of Stratford. She slammed a twenty yarder goalwards with tremendous ferocity, the ball flying past Norman and cannoning down off the underside of the crossbar before spinning back into play - who knows if it crossed the line? The way things were going in this most manic of minutes, it probably did, but in all the excitement, no one could keep up with play - and the ball was still in play, with Capital succeeding in clearing it back to Pritchard, who made another attempt to score again, only to direct her latest effort past the post. Unquestionably one of the wildest three minutes of football you'll ever see anywhere! For the next five minutes or so, a comparative calm came over the game - methinks players, officials and spectators alike were still coming to grips with what had just unfolded. But when Gregorius played the ball forward in the 61st minute, Ohlsson and Boone worked a one-two, only for Savage to swoop on her red-haired opponent with a telling tackle - let the mayhem resume! And it did, with two Northern goals in as many minutes soon after knocking the stuffing out of Capital. The first materialised in the 65th minute, with Vosper and Stratford combining on the right, the latter's cross picking out Barnett dashing into the penalty area, from where her first-time cushioned volley left Norman beaten all ends up. Straight from the kick-off, Gregorius set off on a swashbuckling run downfield, but ran up a cul de sac, at the end of which was Savage. She pinged the ball back from whence it came, and Pritchard was onto it in an instant. Norman saw the danger and raced out to thwart her, but the striker benefited from the rebound, and steered the ball home into an empty net. 4-2 very nearly became 5-2 five minutes later. After Sarah Alder had gone close with a steepling twenty yard effort at the other end of the park, Savage set off downfield, only to lose her footing but recover in time to evade a challenge and unleash a twenty-five yard piledriver which Norman brilliantly tipped onto the bar. The fight had gone out of Capital with that two-goal whammy, and Northern twice more threatened to go nap before the final whistle. Twelve minutes from time, Turnbull and Barnett combined to play in Pritchard once more, only for the irrepressible figure of Strom - she had a massive game! - to yet again frustrate the forward. Northern had strong penalty claims turned away by referee Archer three minutes from time when Savage was sent sprawling by Emma Main's well-timed nudge, but the home team had already inflicted enough damage upon the visitors to all but end Capital's hopes of a top-two finish and a spot in the Grand Final, a position Northern occupy with four rounds remaining. Northern:     Alfeld; Stratford, Vosper, Bunge, Savage; Steinmetz, McCarroll, Turnbull; Barnett, Pritchard (T. Green, 90), Loye Capital:     Norman; Alder, Woodhead, Strom, A. Green (Main, 79); Bryant, Wilford-Carroll (Turton, 90), Gregorius; Ohlsson, Boone (Robertson, 84), McPhie Referee:     Morgan Archer