Eastern Suburbs handed Hamilton Wanderers a 5-0 hiding at Madills Farm on May 5, as the visitors made their first visit to Auckland this season in the Lotto Northern Premier Women's League. A bizarre anomaly of the draw saw Hamilton play their first six matches of the season at home, while they make the trek north every weekend throughout May and June before next gracing their Porritt Stadium home in July. Dead right - absolutely crazy scheduling! In light of this, it's perhaps understandable that playing in unfamiliar surroundings for the first time since last season took a while for the Hamilton players to get used to - a full half of a match, as it turned out. For they produced a much improved second half effort to contain "The Lilywhites", who set about their task with a vengeance from the outset, and made Wanderers pay time and again as they produced some at times irresistible football, culminating in their "piece de resistance" - a scintillating five-woman, one-touch passing move which brought up the final goal of the match on the stroke of half-time. Suburbs were in the box seat from the off, and scored with their first attack in the fourth minute. Corina Brown picked out Tayla O'Brien on half-way, and she held the ball up well before releasing the pacy Hannah Pilley down the right. Her cross was swept home into the roof of the net from close range by Jade Parris - "The Lilywhites" were off and running. Two minutes later, Ava Collins drilled a shot narrowly past the far post from twenty yards after linking with Kate Seatter and Pilley, whose cross was punched out to the young midfielder by Hamilton goalkeeper Angelique Tuisamoa. Wanderers weren't without their opportunities in the first spell, their maiden one materializing in the tenth minute as Emma Cawte and Maddi Ollington combined for Kim-E Maguire, whose tame shot troubled Brown little. What Brown did with the ball upon receipt troubled Hamilton lots. She sparked a move which saw Kate Carlton link with Pilley, who poured on the pace to power past three opponents down the right before picking out Parris, whose first shot was blocked by Tuisamoa. The striker reacted swiftly to the rebound and steered it home. 2-0 after eleven minutes, and a few of the Hamilton players were looking a little bewildered at the situation in which they found themselves. It nearly got worse four minutes later, as a sumptuous Leah Mettam corner delivered right into the danger zone saw Megan Robertson's header hit the underside of the crossbar and result in an almighty scramble which the visitors somehow survived. Suburbs were convinced the ball had crossed the line during the mayhem, and were still grumbling about it when Cawte ignited another Hamilton raid, which featured Shae Brady working a one-two with Ollington before unleashing a shot which the pink-clad figure of Brown blocked to safety. Two goals in as many minutes half-way through the first half left Wanderers' hopes of mounting a comeback in tatters. Mettam and Lucy Carter combined with O'Brien in the 22nd minute, with the last-mentioned's angled pass presenting Pilley with a great chance to make it 3-0, one she did not spurn. Two minutes later, the game was up for Hamilton as Carlton, O'Brien and Pilley combined to carve open the visitors' left flank before the move culminated with an unerring finish from Parris. Unperturbed, back came the visitors, with Cawte again causing Suburbs problems in midfield. This time she caught Carter in possession, allowing Grace Wisnewski to surge forward before feeding Maguire, whose drive was blocked well by Brown. Suburbs had strong claims for a penalty turned away by referee Wendy McNeely in the 28th minute. O'Brien was charging towards goal through the inside right channel, and went to round the advancing figure of Tuisamoa, who bravely plunged at the striker's feet and palmed the ball away before her momentum took her into O'Brien. Had Tuisamoa not made contact with the ball first, the awarding of a penalty would not have been an issue - and quite likely a red card, too, given the 'keeper was all that stood between O'Brien and the target. But the fact the ball went out of play as a result of Tuisamoa's save influenced the official's thinking, with a corner, not a spot-kick, the outcome. Mettam's delivery forced another corner, with Parris' subsequent delivery cleared to Carter. She linked with Rebekah Van Dort to bring the corner-taker back into play again, with Parris picking out

Collins with a cross which saw the midfielder hit a looping effort over Tuisamoa but just over the bar as well. Ten minutes before half-time, Carter executed an outrageous no-look back-heeled pass to Mettam, whose teasing cross-shot had the beating of Tuisamoa, but crept narrowly past the far post, much to the fullback's disappointment. Six minutes later, Suburbs pressed again, with Mettam's ball forward for O'Brien seeing her beaten in the air by Caitlin Byrne. Unfortunately for the defender, her header back to Tuisamoa lacked the power to reach her, allowing O'Brien a second bite of the cherry. The pair came together for a second time, with Tuisamoa's clearance against the striker rebounding across the face of goal, the ball bouncing awkwardly for Pilley, whose attempt to hook it home on the volley proved unsuccessful. Either side of Tuisamoa denying efforts from Parris and Carlton, Suburbs unfurled a work of art - a goal of quite stupendous quality in its conception and execution against which no team could have defended. One-touch rat-a-tat-tat passing down the right saw Megan Robertson, Collins, Carlton and Pilley cut a swathe down Hamilton's left flank before the last-mentioned's first-time cross was swept home by Parris, who didn't have to break her stride to execute the chance. A quite brilliant goal! I've seen a fair few in the 33 years I've been reporting on the action in NZ's foremost and best women's club league competition, and this ranks right up there with the very best of them, make no mistake! It was rather fitting that it was the final goal of the game, too. That it was is due in no small part to a much-improved Hamilton display in the second spell, whereby they put a stop to Suburbs' passing game with a far better executed game plan than that which had been evident in the first half. After Pilley had gone close upon receipt of a Parris pass in the 47th minute, Cawte sent a twenty-five yarder sizzling past Brown's right-hand post four minutes later after Maguire, Muspratt and Ollington had combined to create the opening. Suburbs still created chances, however, with their fullbacks going close to getting in on the act just shy of the hour mark. A Carlton thunderbolt was too hot for Tuisamoa to handle first time round, with the 'keeper forced to paw it out from beneath the crossbar at the second attempt. Mettam drilled one just past the post after her corner was cleared back to her, while in the 65th minute, Carlton and O'Brien linked with Collins and substitute Annie Byrne, who cut inside and let fly, hitting the base of the far post. Collins pounced on the rebound and set up Parris, who directed her effort straight at Tuisamoa. Just prior to this effort, Hamilton's captain crumpled to the ground after a thumping Van Dort clearance from close range struck Maguire right above her heart, instantly pole-axing the New Caledonian international. She recovered to a degree, but not adequately enough to be able to continue to the level Maguire expects of herself. Suffice to say, she'll be feeling the effects of this blow for a few days, one expects. Twenty minutes from time, Parris set off on a surging run downfield which culminated in Annie Byrne being denied by Tuisamoa, who then grabbed a Carter drive before snaffling the rebound after Parris thrashed a shot against the crossbar following Byrne's break down the right. In the final minutes, Collins and Carlton combined to play in Byrne down the right once more. She got to the byline before delivering a low cross which an under pressure O'Brien fired over from close range, seconds before Annie Byrne was nudged off balance in the penalty area by her retreating namesake, Caitlin Byrne, an incident for which nothing was awarded. Hamilton offered very little threat in attack during the second spell, with Maguire's enforced departure severely hampering their creative options, not that they enjoyed that much possession with which to engineer any openings after half-time - Suburbs certainly dominated that statistic, just as they dominated the scoreboard. Their first half display, in particular, was of the highest order. Suburbs:     Brown; Carlton, Robertson, Van Dort, Mettam (Head, 78); Collins, Seatter (Lutu, 69), Carter; Pilley (A. Byrne, 63), Parris, O'Brien Hamilton:     Tuisamoa; Cox, C. Byrne, Foster (Kor, 80), Muspratt; Brady, Cawte, Ollington, Henderson (Clark, 61); Maguire (Ihmeling, 68), Wisnewski Referee:     Wendy McNeely