Eastern Suburbs eventually eased to a 3-1 Lotto Northern Premier Women's League win over Western Springs at Seddon Fields on July 20, but things could have been a great deal different had Corina Brown not produced a gravity-defying save to deny "The Hoops"' an equaliser sixteen minutes from time. "The Lilywhites" started like the proverbial house on fire in conditions which fluctuated in and out of murky under the floodlights, with foggy patches at times rendering player identification from the sidelines nigh on impossible. The visitors attacked from the outset, earning a corner inside the first sixty seconds. Leah Mettam's delivery wasn't cleared by a Springs player, but Kate Seatter showed them how to do the job, skying her shot wildly over the bar from four yards. Sixty seconds later, Jade Parris gave "The Hoops" an early glimpse of her intentions for the evening, taking on three players before slipping a pass through for makeshift striker Lucy Carter. The covering figure of Emma Phelps combined with goalkeeper Selina Spiers to foil the front-runner on this occasion. Suburbs' next attack of note, in the fourteenth minute, saw Carter's clever lobbed pass present rare starter Amber Whitley with an opportunity, but Bianca Stiles' superb defending meant the tall striker didn't get a sniff on this occasion. Springs were working their way into the contest by this time, and earned a corner two minutes later which Lily Taitimu drilled right into the zone. Corina Brown could only punch the ball out as far as Jolene Muir, whose lofted effort back across goal only just failed to make contact with the far post. "The Lilywhites" stormed downfield straight away, and took the lead from the corner which resulted. Parris' delivery wasn't dealt with by "The Hoops"' defence, which allowed Rebekah Van Dort the time and space in which to control the ball then drill it through the gathered throngs from ten yards to open the scoring. Four minutes later, Parris and Carter combined to good effect on the left for the benefit of Mettam, whose teasing cross lured Spiers out of goal as Whitley hurtled in to meet it. The bounce of the ball beat both players, much to the relief of the hesitant goalkeeper. Springs looked to hit back straight away, Cat Pretty belting a twenty-five yarder past the post after Muir's tantalising cross wasn't dealt with by a Suburbs defence in which Kate Carlton was playing her last game as a 24-year-old - Lord knows she deserves to have at least that many caps for her country; one of the best defenders this writer has seen in over thirty years of covering the women's game in NZ. After Bernadette Goulding had redeemed herself by thwarting Whitley as she looked to capitalise upon Carter's headed pass after she had intercepted the defender's poor goal-kick, Whitley squandered a glorious chance to double Suburbs' advantage in the 28th minute. Carter won the ball halfway inside the Springs half and instantly fed Parris on the left. She scampered down the left before delivering a delicious cross into the goalmouth, right across the bows of the incoming figure of Whitley, who had a game best forgotten, truth be told. Within seconds, Suburbs had doubled their lead, Molly Bryans scrambling the ball home on the far post after Parris had been thwarted by brave defending at the near post upon receipt of a cross from an unidentifiable figure in the fog. Suburbs should have had at least one more goal before the interval, with Parris responsible for setting up both opportunities. The first, ten minutes before half-time, saw her corner pick out the head of Bryans. Springs' rearguard thwarted this, but only cleared the ball as far as Shania Heath, who rode a challenge before lashing her twenty-yarder narrowly over the bar. The second chance, eight minutes later, saw Parris control the ball neatly on half-way near the dugouts before surging downfield, outpacing two opponents en route to well inside "The Hoops"' penalty area, at which point the intrepid striker delivered a buffet ball to the far post - an invitation for Whitley to tap the ball home. What followed defied logic! Whitley watched the ball come across her, then realised too late that it was meant for her to finish off - an unbelievable miss which just about summed up her entire performance. Whitley had an awful game! Her positional sense was non-existent - so out of touch and seemingly out of her depth was she that it was as if she had never played before! One would have been forgiven for thinking this was the case, had this been their first sighting of this fringe first team player, but she was regularly the first substitute called upon last season, and scored four goals during that campaign. Springs dragged themselves back into the contest in the 54th minute via a superb Goulding corner, which was flighted perfectly to the near post.

Suburbs failed to clear their lines, and the ball ended up in the net. Rebecca O'Neill was credited with the goal, but if the players' body language was anything to go by, it was an "oggie", as it was Goulding to whom those in hooped shirts directed their congratulations. Straight from the kick-off, Suburbs looked to restore their two-goal advantage. Carlton - what was she doing beyond the half-way line? - burst through a tackle and found herself beyond the centre circle in Springs' half of the pitch. As she fought a nose-bleed, she instinctively looked for Parris, who latched onto the pass then turned Phelps before letting fly. Spiers was right behind the effort, and 2-1 the score remained. The goal clearly buoyed Springs' confidence, and Lily Taitimu very quickly became a growing influence on proceedings - a very promising talent, this lass, as precise with her passing as she is unflinching in the tackle. Lily Rose Dyer benefited a great deal from her namesake's toiling, and the arrival of Kim Nottingham gave "The Hoops" some extra attacking zip. But Van Dort and Carlton stood firm as the pressure mounted, pressure which prompted Suburbs to introduce Hannah Pilley and Emily Gillion off the bench with twenty minutes to go, a double substitution which turned the game back in Suburbs' favour, as it prompted a tactical tweak with Carter dropping back to midfield to nullify Taitimu's prominence. Pilley's impact was instant. Within two minutes of coming on, she was rampaging down the right at pace, with Pretty doggedly sticking with her all the way until she could stick with her no more. Pilley's cross to the near post found her accomplice in chief, Parris, arriving on cue, and a flicked header duly flashed across the face of goal and just past the far post. The resulting goal-kick wasn't much chop, and invited Parris to unleash a rasping angled drive which narrowly cleared the crossbar. This time round, Goulding connected cleanly with the goal-kick, and prompted Springs' best attack of the night, a concerted raid down the right which featured Taitimu and Dyer among those able to be made out amidst the murk. The latter's cross picked out Nottingham, whose header looked a racing certainty to level the scores as it arced over Brown, who was already falling backwards. But the best 'keeper in the league justified that title with an absolutely stunning save, seemingly defying gravity to tip the ball up and onto the bar, off which it ricocheted skywards. What goes up must come down, and the ball duly did, onto the crossbar again before bouncing down off same into the goalmouth, where Nottingham was lurking. This time, her shot was blocked at point-blank range by Van Dort, a denial which allowed "The Lilywhites" to escape unscathed from a Springs attack which, but for Brown's brilliance, would surely have enjoyed greater reward. Truth be told, that save shattered Springs' resolve - they didn't feature as an attacking force in the final fifteen minutes of the match. Their opponents, however, piled on the pressure, initially through Carter, whose twenty-five yarder was saved by Spiers. The midfielder then won the ball in her own half eight minutes from time and sent Pilley powering down the right. Her charge concluded upon reaching the edge of the penalty area, at which point she laid the ball off to Parris, whose shot was blocked by Muir for a corner, which Parris duly delivered onto the head of Carter. On this occasion, her header flashed past the post, but when Parris and Carter combined again three minutes from time, it sparked the move which saw Suburbs clinch the points. Parris' driving run from half-way was the catalyst for the move, after which Carter sent Pilley racing to the by-line. Her low angled cross found Whitley on the far post, where she showed she'd learnt her lesson from her first half miss by tapping in the visitors' third goal. From the kick-off, Emma Fletcher was dispossessed by Carter, who relished her involvement in midfield far more than in attack. She promptly picked out Pilley once more, and the speedster delivered another cross for Whitley to exploit. Muir and Spiers nearly got in each other's way as they combined to prevent the striker from reaching the ball, but Whitley's telling impact sixty seconds prior - the lone highlight of an otherwise abject personal performance - had proven decisive in this contest, and kept Suburbs' Premier Women's League title hopes alive. Springs:     Spiers; Muir, Stiles, Phelps, Goulding; Dyer, Taitimu (Nottle, 81), Pretty, Fletcher; O'Neill, Morrissey (Nottingham, 64) Suburbs:     Brown; Wong (Jansen, 60), Carlton, Van Dort, Mettam; Heath (Gillion, 69), Seatter, Bryans (Pilley, 69); Whitley, Carter, Parris Referee:     Debbie Stevens