2007 National Knockout Cup winners Western Springs marked the opening day of the 2008 Northern Premier Women's League season by handing reigning champions Three Kings United their first league defeat since September 2006. “The Hoops”' deserved come-from-behind 3-1 triumph at Seddon Fields came after the clash of last season's premier honours' winners had produced a firecracker start, with three goals in the first fourteen minutes of play. Three Kings opened the scoring in the fourth minute. Betsy Hassett gathered the ball near the corner flag on the left, and evaded the lunge of Chelsey Wood before dancing her way along the by-line. Side-stepping another challenge, she fizzed in a near post cross which Merissa Smith turned past Pam Yates before the `keeper had had a chance to react. United looked to build on that advantage four minutes later. Nicole Stratford played Smith in on the right, and she evaded Jessie Verdon's challenge before firing over a deep cross from the right. Hassett steered the ball back towards Zoe Thompson, who directed an acrobatic volley straight at Yates. The `keeper hoisted the ball forward, and earned Springs their first corner of the match. How they made their Wednesday night training session pay! Liz Milne's delivery picked out the head of Abby Erceg, and her unchallenged header arrowed into the bottom right-hand corner of Aroon Clansey's net. United immediately went about restoring their advantage, with Rebecca Sowden - their best performer - playing the ball into Thompson on the edge of the penalty area. She turned Erceg superbly, then went down under the defender's challenge in the penalty area. Referee Nigel Frost waved play on, which prompted Springs to storm downfield and create another opening. Rebecca O'Neill headed the ball wide to Verdon, whose angled cross from half-way invited Renee Leota to burst through United's defence. Taking the ball in her stride, the young striker let fly, only for Clansey to fling herself to her left and tip the ball round the post. Cue another corner, and another goal. Milne's delivery this time picked out O'Neill's head, and from eight yards, she guided her unchallenged effort under the crossbar to put Springs 2-1 up after fourteen minutes. Stunned, United looked to restore parity, having squandered the early advantage. A surging thirty-yard run from Anna Green culminated in her passing to Roseanne Cox, who turned the ball into Sowden's path. The midfielder took one touch to control the ball before letting fly, only for the rock-solid Priscilla Duncan to block this seventeenth minute effort at point-blank range. The rebound fell invitingly for Green, but she sent her first-time shot blazing over the bar. Seconds later, Stratford picked out Cox with a cross-field free-kick which allowed the winger to get in behind Wood and scythe along the by-line. Her driven low cross beat Yates all ends up at her near post, with the `keeper relieved to see Milne perfectly placed behind her to clear off the line. After Smith and Kristy Hill had just failed to make

contact with a Sowden free-kick to the far post, another set-piece delivery from the midfielder was pawed to safety by Yates, an action which prompted a Springs counter-attack. Leading the charge was Grace Vincent, Springs' recruit from Eastern Suburbs, whose piledriver was blocked by United defender Jamie Osbourne. The rebound ricocheted to Leanne Tiffen, whose cross picked out Jamie Hackett and invited the striker to let fly. She did, only for Clansey to again save to her left. In the 25th minute, United's custodian was put under pressure by Leota, whose pursuit of the ball prompted Hill to play the ball back to her team-mate, the safest option in the circumstances. But Leota kept on coming, forcing Clansey to clear the ball hurriedly - straight into the on-rushing striker, in fact. The rebound ricocheted into the side-netting, much to the goalkeeper's undisguised relief. The next fifteen minutes saw a genuine arm wrestle develop for control of the match, with Duncan, O'Neill and Vincent  enjoying a slight edge over Green, Hackett and Sowden in this battle. After Leota had unleashed a dipping twenty-yarder narrowly over the crossbar, United's 42nd minute response saw Stratford release Sowden. Her pinged pass picked out Cox, whose angled cross-shot flew across the face of goal, too far ahead of the incoming figure of Thompson for her to make anything of the opportunity. When the reigning Golden Boot winner next homed in on goal, this time in pursuit of a Hassett through ball, Milne stepped in to thwart the striker, who looked very much out of sorts in her first competitive match since last year's Women's World Cup Finals. On the stroke of half-time, Verdon broke clear on the left - Stratford, not for the first time, was caught ball-watching - and clipped in a cross to the near post, which lured Clansey off her line. Hill was there also, but in between them rose Leota, who got her head to the ball but was unable to direct her effort on target. The second spell saw Three Kings set about redressing the half-time 2-1 deficit with a vengeance. Straight from the kick-off, Sarah Gibbs and Sowden combined to create an opening for Thompson, only for Yates to save at the striker's feet. Stratford then sent Thompson spearing through on the right in the 52nd minute, and her low cross had Cox as its intended target. Wood stepped in to clear the threat on this occasion, but at the expense of a corner. Sowden whipped in a beauty, an in-swinger which looked destined for the back of the net until O'Neill headed it off the line. Both goalkeepers were active inside the next eight minutes. The retreating figure of Yates gratefully grabbed a long-range effort from Stratford, after clearing the ball straight to the fullback in thwarting a Thompson raid, while Clansey careered out of her penalty area to clear from Springs substitute Hannah Wall, after Erceg had released the talented U-17 international down the left on the hour. Seconds later, Clansey produced the save of the match, a fabulous close-range denial to thwart Leota after Wood had picked out the striker with an angled ball forward. Hill completed the clearance, but Springs weren't finished yet.

Leota turned provider in the 66th minute, slipping the ball to Vincent, who, from twenty-five yards, produced some delightful artistry in the form of a delicious chip which, had it been a golf shot, Tiger Woods would have been proud of! It was certainly too good for Clansey, the flight of the ball completely deceiving the `keeper as it dipped late and crashed against the crossbar. The `keeper's instant response saw her raking clearance latched onto by substitute Lauren Murray, who careered through Springs' unsuspecting rearguard before unleashing a first-time volley which roared past Yates' right-hand post. This prompted a response from fellow U-17 striker Wall. Clansey smothered her twenty-five yarder well, but was grateful to see Milne's twenty-yard free-kick narrowly clear the crossbar, after Hill had felled Leota just outside the area before screeching her innocence to referee Frost, who could very easily have booked United's captain for her outburst. Instead, the official kept his cards in his pocket throughout proceedings, and rightly so, as there was no malice whatsoever in a match boasting enterprising play aplenty from two highly talented teams with genuine championship aspirations. Nine minutes from time, a quickly-taken Osbourne free-kick found Sowden, who sent Thompson racing through the inside-right channel, Erceg, for once, having been outwitted by her fellow Football Fern. With Yates to beat, Thompson let fly, only to groan with despair as the `keeper pulled off a fine save. Thompson's groans were louder still a minute later, as from Yates' clearance, Springs clinched victory. The architect of the goal was Duncan, whose sublimely weighted pass landed perfectly in Leota's stride, as she surged clear of Hill and bore down on goal. Clansey came hurtling out to attempt to thwart the danger, only to execute the perfect air-shot. As she landed on her derriere in disbelief, Leota slammed the ball into an empty net to the delight of the home fans, not to mention her own undisguised exuberance. But for a fine covering run by Sowden two minutes later, Leota could have had a second upon being picked out by O'Neill. And after Murray had let fly from twenty yards - Thompson caught Erceg in possession to set up the chance, Hassett surged forward before lashing a shot into Yates' gloves. The `keeper's raking clearance sent Wall scooting through United's beleaguered rearguard. In what was the last act of an absorbing contest, she did everything right in lobbing the advancing figure of Clansey, only for the ball to bounce the wrong side of the upright. Springs didn't mind, however, this 3-1 win confirmation of their championship potential in what is sure to be a closely fought race for a title which Three Kings certainly won't give up without a fight. Springs:     Yates; Wood, Erceg, Milne, Verdon; Vincent, Duncan, O'Neill; Tiffen (Wall, 46), Leota, Hackett (Bramwell, 71) TKU:          Clansey; Stratford (Longo, 69), Hill, Osbourne, Gibbs; Sowden, Green, Hassett; Smith, Thompson, Cox (Murray, 56) Referee:     Nigel Frost