There's been very little to choose between Glenfield Rovers and Eastern Suburbs throughout the 2018 Lotto Northern Premier Women's League season, and the champions and runners-up proved the point at McFetridge Park on August 19 in a 2-2 draw which pretty much summed up their season-long title tussle in ninety minutes. With this being the day Rovers were to be presented with the trophy to mark their first title triumph in seven years, they were intent on marking it with a victory over their nearest rivals, whom they'd beaten once in the league and on penalties in the Kate Sheppard Cup, a tie coach Andrew Clay rightly described as "the best game we've been involved in this year". And they set about the task of achieving that objective with gusto, first threatening through Dayna Stevens in the eighth minute, after Kate Loye and Estelle Harrison combined to play her through. Corina Brown was swiftly off her line to save at her feet on that occasion, but was kicking herself four minutes later after reacting too late to Liz Savage's cross-shot, which found the top far corner of the net after Rovers' captain had been the beneficiary of the work of Geena Gross and Loye on the right. A poor Liz Ellis clearance three minutes later nearly left Suburbs with a mountain to climb. Harrison was the recipient of the wayward attempt, and instantly linked with Stevens to reward Savage's instinctive run through from midfield. But she mis-timed her shot - Brown saved it low to her left. Suburbs' first attack of note saw them draw level in the 22nd minute. Shania Heath intercepted a pass and instantly fed Jade Parris, who linked with Lucy Carter to bring Hannah Pilley into play on the left. Her cross picked out Parris at the near post, but while she was initially thwarted by Sydney Bultitude, the striker regathered the ball and swiveled to rifle a shot across Alice Noyer and in off the far post - 1-1. When Suburbs next threatened, they took the lead, and again it was Parris who led the way. If those on the road to recovery from the dreaded ACL injury need a locally based inspiration, look no further - this is Parris' first season back since enduring that particular agony, and she's had a memorable campaign. And this goal was arguably her very best. She's scored a couple of "worldies" this season, and this latest effort is bound to feature on her all-time personal highlights reel. Gathering the ball on the left, she took on three opponents before jinking inside and, from an acute angle just inside the penalty area, bludgeoning an absolute snorter into the top far corner of the net - Noyer got her fingertips to it, but this was unstoppable! Follow that! Glenfield tried to, straight from the kick-off, with the charging figure of Harrison feeding Gross, who then worked a one-two with Rovers' inspired mid-season signing before thrashing a shot into the side-netting. Eight minutes later, the offside flag denied Gross an equaliser, after which Laney Strachan and Loye - is she poised to win a record-equalling third Lotto Northern Premier Women's League Player of the Year title? - presented Savage with the chance to let fly. Rebekah Van Dort blocked her shot, and while Rovers failed to capitalise from the resulting corner, they engineered one more opening before half-time. Loye, Strachan and Harrison combined to release Savage down the left, from where she fizzed in a cross which careered across the goalmouth, just behind the runs made by Stevens and Gross. Rovers needed just four minutes of the second spell to restore parity. Emily Oosterhof played the ball down the line for Savage, who took on and got the better of Leah Mettam before whipping in a cross to the near post, where Harrison was arriving having made a clever and well-timed angled run. Her deft touch directed the ball beyond Brown and

into the net by the far post - 2-2, and all to play for. The mood Glenfield were in, however, meant that their rivals were going to face a stern examination of their defensive credentials, but Suburbs are well served in that regard, and once again proved their prowess in this aspect of the game. How Glenfield tried to prove otherwise! If there had been a kitchen sink to hand, guarantee they'd have tossed it into the mixer, because they tried just about everything else as they practically set up camp in their opponents' half of the pitch for the bulk of the second spell. Brown made a brilliant double-save in the 52nd minute to thwart both Stevens and Loye - the former had evaded two challenges before unleashing the initial attempt. Five minutes later, Brown provided Suburbs with a brief respite from their defensive duties, her raking relieving clearance being misjudged by Oosterhof, which gave Pilley a sniff of a chance. She raced towards the ball, but was thwarted by the fast-recovering fullback, Oosterhof making amends for her blemish with a timely clearance. After Parris unleashed a thirty yard free-kick towards the top far corner of the net which Noyer turned over the bar, normal service - from Glenfield's perspective at least - resumed in the 65th minute as Harrison worked a one-two with Stevens on the edge of the area. Van Dort's timely tackle thwarted that potential opportunity, while two minutes later, Loye was only inches wide with a sumptuous twenty-five yard chip after a lovely move which featured Bultitude, Emma Turnbull, the playmaker, Harrison and Tessa Berger, for whom this title is her first in twelve seasons of playing in the best club-based league in the country. Parris mounted a rare Suburbs sortie in the 74th minute, forcing Bultitude to buckle before battering a shot from the edge of the area which brought about another save from Noyer. Back came Glenfield, Savage leading the charge. But Ellis' great covering run and challenge denied the midfielder, whose efforts to find a way through Suburbs' stoic defensive effort, much like her colleagues, were becoming increasingly desperate, with time ticking by. Substitute Maggie Jenkins fired a twenty-five yard free-kick narrowly over the bar, a foul rightly awarded by rookie referee Connor McKenzie, who made a few eyebrow-raising decisions during just his second Premier Women's League appointment which incurred the ire of both coaches at various times in this encounter. With two minutes remaining, Rovers mustered one last desperate attempt to clinch victory, but they were destined to record a third successive fixture without experiencing that winning feeling. Loye, inevitably, was the fulcrum of the attack, threading a pass through for Stevens, who clashed with Kate Carlton in the area. Both players felt the effects of this challenge, with Van Dort scrambling the loose ball to safety. The visitors survived the resulting corner - they withstood the threat of a fair few in this half - and held on for a meritorious point in a match which concluded with both teams on level terms for the third time in four encounters this season. The one clash which proved decisive was won on July 1 by Glenfield, and ultimately that match was the difference between the teams on the table - their five-point advantage would have become a one-point lead for Suburbs had "The Lilywhites" prevailed on that occasion, a measure of just how closely matched these sides have been throughout this most demanding of league campaigns. Glenfield:     Noyer; Oosterhof (Turnbull, 60), Bultitude, Berger, Strachan; Savage, McIntosh (Jenkins, 46), Loye; Gross, Stevens, Harrison Suburbs:     Brown; Carlton, Ellis, Van Dort, Mettam; Heath (Russ, 73), Seatter, Carter; Wong, Parris, Pilley Referee:     Connor McKenzie