Eastern Suburbs came from behind to stun Glenfield Rovers 4-2 at McFetridge Park on May 2 and join the previously unbeaten team atop the Lotto Northern Premier Women's League table. But there can be no denying that the departure, through injury, of Rovers' 'keeper, Pam Yates, just fifteen minutes into the match, had a significant impact on the final outcome. Glenfield started like a house on fire, with Katie Hoyle just inches away with a twenty-five yarder some twenty-five seconds into the contest, while Erin Nayler was forced to save at the feet of Jackie Pretswell barely a minute later, as her team-mates were still mentally coming to terms with the fact that the game was under way. But Suburbs quickly awoke from their slumbers, and in the sixth minute crafted a good chance when Rebecca Tegg and Melanie Gooch combined to send Brittany Dudley-Smith hurtling through with just Yates to beat. The goalkeeper read the situation well and cleared her lines accordingly. So well, in fact, that Glenfield scored as a result of Yates' clearance. Katie Rood was the recipient of the 'keeper's hefty forward thrust, and promptly sent Hannah Wilkinson racing after the ball through the inside right channel. Suburbs appeared to have the situation well in hand - both Lisa Kemp and Nayler were covering things, and the 'keeper had taken charge of matters. But she somehow missed the ball as she dived to smother it, and could only look on in horror as the in-full-flight figure of Wilkinson raced past. From the most acute of angles, she rifled a first-time drive on the run into the far corner of the net - a stunning strike, combining pace, power and deadly accuracy with aplomb, and earning the outcome such skill richly deserved. The visitors were rocked, but matters were to take a dramatic turn just two minutes later, as Dudley-Smith and Yates contested possession just inside Glenfield's penalty area. The goalkeeper prevailed at the striker's feet, but not without sustaining an injury from the tangle which curtailed her continued involvement in the match. A deep gash to Yates' inner thigh left the custodian in considerable pain, and after lengthy treatment she hobbled from the field to be replaced by a debutant goalkeeper in Briar McNamara. Grace Vincent has been a regular goalscorer against Glenfield during her Premier League career, and the sight of an untested custodian entering the fray saw the midfielder's eyes light up - she fancied her chances of extending her impressive record, particularly given the change of circumstances, and as things turned out, she didn't have long to wait. Six minutes after McNamara had taken her place between the sticks, Rebecca Sowden conceded a free-kick some thirty-five yards out from goal, seemingly out of shooting range. Vincent thought otherwise, however, and promptly let fly with venom before wheeling away in delight as the ball sailed over the head of the newcomer and into the back of Glenfield's net. Rovers' players, to a woman, stood shell-shocked. Suburbs, seeing this reaction, promptly went for the jugular. A mere two minutes after equalising, Georgia Goulding charged through the middle of the park before feeding Gooch on her left. Liz Milne - a super game - raced across to block the shot, but was powerless to prevent what occurred in the 29th minute. Suburbs earned a corner, which Dudley-Smith delivered right into the danger zone. With McNamara uncertain, and Rovers' players erring on the side of caution, Mariah Meagher planted a four-yard header into the back of the net, Sowden her only challenger as all others in striped shirts looked on in disbelief. 2-1 Suburbs, then, but the goal served to rouse Rovers from their reveries. Straight from the resumption, Hoyle smacked a thirty-yard free-kick narrowly over the crossbar, while Sowden stung the gloves of Nayler from twenty-five yards two minutes later, as the home team sought a swift riposte. But they were nearly caught on the hop eight minutes before half-time, when Vincent lobbed the ball for Dudley-Smith to chase. She managed to get the better of Rebecca O'Neill, but lifted the ball wildly wide of McNamara's goal with the 'keeper in no man's land. Rovers returned onto the attack, with Nayler forced to bravely save at the feet of both Pretswell and Rood before the home team unleashed a concerted attack in first half stoppage time, of which there was plenty given Yates' injury. It started with Sarah Gibbs and Alice Bresnahan combining down the left, but it was the thrust of Wilkinson which was its centrepiece. The powerful striker surged towards the heart of Suburbs' rearguard, muscling her way into the penalty area before the combined efforts of Nayler and the well-performed Jessie Verdon hindered her progress. But didn't stop it entirely. For Wilkinson was able to poke the ball into the stride of Rood, who was in full flight with the retreating figure of Lisa Kemp right on her shoulder, but not in a position to prevent a first-time shot into an unguarded net … The crossbar shuddered. The ball rebounded. Meagher, first to react, hooked it to safety and, like her team-mates, breathed a hefty sigh of relief at this huge let-off. Rood, Wilkinson and company, meanwhile, put hands to heads and reflected on what should have been the equaliser. You somehow sensed, at that moment, that the fates were definitely conspiring against Glenfield on this occasion, and just three minutes into the second half, such fears grew still further.

Sowden sprayed the ball wide to Rood, who jinked past a couple of opponents before clipping a delightful cross onto the head of Wilkinson. The striker met it flush, and a goal appeared inevitable as it arced over the head of the back-pedalling Nayler, who, at the last second, launched herself backwards to tip the ball over the bar - a brilliant save! Suburbs' response, nine minutes later, added further weight to the aforementioned conspiracy theory - they extended their advantage with another long-range goal which, like the strikes preceding it, one felt wouldn't have beaten the first-choice custodian had she still been on the park. Yates wasn't, of course, and Rovers' ebbing confidence was dealt a further blow by Vincent's left-foot drive from fully thirty yards, which found McNamara wanting once more - 3-1, and the league leaders' hopes of maintaining their unbeaten start to the campaign looking decidedly shaky. They kept plugging away, and found a way back into the match in the 64th minute. Katie Bowen, later to depart the pitch on a stretcher after injuring herself in a desperate yet successful attempt to thwart Dudley-Smith's stoppage time raid, threw the ball in to Sowden, whose low cross from the by-line caught Nayler short at her near post. The 'keeper spilled the ball as Kemp looked to clear it, allowing Pretswell to pounce. Nayler recovered to parry this effort, but succeeded only in diverting the ball into the path of Wilkinson - 3-2, with plenty of time for Glenfield to retrieve the situation and at least get back on level terms. McNamara gained a bit of confidence when grabbing a Leanne Tiffen header after Vincent and Meagher had combined on the right in the 67th minute, while the last-mentioned was forced into clearing the ball past her own post four minutes later after Wilkinson and Bowen - a lovely cross - had teamed up to create an opening for Pretswell and Rood to exploit. Bowen then flighted a superbly weighted ball into Rood's stride down the right fifteen minutes from time, with the speedster crossing for Wilkinson to lay the ball back into the stride of Hoyle. She displayed some superb close control to weave her way through three challenges inside five yards before lashing a ferocious drive past Nayler but just past the near post as well - the midfield general's twinkle-toed thrust deserved far better fate than that which befell it. Three minutes later, Suburbs caught Rovers on the counter-attack, and the game was well and truly up for grabs as Dudley-Smith thundered downfield from the half-way line, with McNamara all that stood between her and the match-winning goal. But the youngster's speed was being matched stride for stride and on an intercepting angle by Milne, who, on the edge of the penalty area, and just as Dudley-Smith was about to pull the trigger, produced a quite superb recovering tackle which took the ball clean off the striker's toes and kept Rovers in the contest - world class defending, no question. Rovers drew heart from this, and continued to pound away in search of an equaliser. But after Hoyle's twenty yarder cleared the crossbar by not a lot after a Sowden corner wasn't cleared, Suburbs dealt their opponents a final body-blow from which there was no way back. Given Glenfield's goalkeeping woes, there was no little irony in the fact that their usual "go-to girl", particularly when it came to donning the gloves in an emergency in recent times, was now sporting an all-white kit, after parting ways with the club she grew up with during the close-season. And in the circumstances, you just knew that Kemp was bound to be involved in the deliverance of any coup de grace. Sure enough, the fullback whipped in a wicked corner to the near post which Tegg met with a bullet header. The ball was blocked on the line, but substitute Tiffen was first to react to the rebound and gleefully prodded home Suburbs' fourth goal of the game. Time was running out for Rovers now, but straight from the kick-off they stormed downfield, Sowden and Hoyle combining to create an opening for Pretswell. On any other day, her splendid header would have crashed into the top far corner of the net, but on this occasion, it cleared the bar by an inch, two at most. Cue stoppage time, all ten minutes of it, as things panned out, given Bowen suffered her injury just after it began. Once she had been carried from the park, Glenfield mounted one last thrust - they definitely didn't go down without an almighty fight, much to their credit. But when Nayler turned Jamie Hackett's far post effort round the upright, after Rood and Wilkinson had combined once more on the right, there was no way back for the home team, and a delighted Eastern Suburbs combination were able to celebrate a hard-earned 4-2 victory. It was a win over a Glenfield Rovers side which, not for the first time in recent seasons, learnt a harsh lesson where the value of having a top quality last line of defence in the team is concerned. On this occasion, it was quite literally the difference between victory and defeat. Glenfield:     Yates (McNamara, 15); Bowen (booked, 41) (Frame, 90), O'Neill, Milne, Bresnahan; Rood, Sowden, Hoyle, Gibbs (Hackett, 72); Wilkinson, Pretswell Suburbs:     Nayler; Meagher, Lovitz, Verdon, Kemp; Goulding, Vincent, Tegg, Steele (Millynn, 57); Gooch (Tiffen, 64), Dudley-Smith (McLeod, 90 (booked, 90)) Referee:     Steve Peeters