The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website | home
12/08/07 | 04/04/10 | 02/05/10 | 05/09/10 | 03/04/11 | 15/05/11 | 22/4/12 | 05/08/12 | 16/5/14 | 2017 SWANZ Cup Final | 240618 | 260718 | 190818 | 190519
2017 SWANZ Cup Final
Glenfield And Suburbs Serve Up Cup Final Classic
by Jeremy Ruane
Eastern Suburbs and Glenfield Rovers added another riveting chapter to the pantheon of classic National Women's Knockout Cup Finals on September 10, the North Harbour club twice coming from behind to prevail 5-4 in a rip-roaring thriller at QBE Stadium.
For Rovers, it was a fourth cup triumph in the six finals they've contested during the last seven years, and it was a deserved success, for, despite what the scoreline suggests, they were easily the more dominant side throughout proceedings.
They set out their stall early, Kate Loye - a dominant midfield display which earned her the Maia Jackman Trophy as the Cup Final's MVP post-match - letting rip from twenty-five yards in the fourth minute, forcing a smothering save from Corina Brown.
Three minutes and some concerted pressure later, Kylie Jens volleyed over the bar after Georgia Brown, Liz Savage (nee Milne) - the only player to have scored in three National Women's Knockout Cup Finals, Loye and Steph Skilton had linked up to good effect.
Claudia Bunge and Dayna Stevens then combined with Skilton, whose deft lay-off rewarded Loye's looping run around her. This time, the midfielder's drive flashed across the face of goal as Rovers maintained their early onslaught.
There was no respite for Suburbs in the tenth minute, with Rebekah Van Dort's clearance being blocked by Skilton, who burst through and did Lizzie Ellis a treat before unleashing a dipping twenty yarder which clipped the crossbar.
Corina Brown's resulting goal-kick found its way to Tessa Berger, who confidently passed the ball back to goalkeeper Hayley Bindon for what should have been a routine clearance downfield.
Instead, she gifted possession straight to Erin Roxburgh, then compounded her error by bringing down the speedster in the area, prompting referee Anna-Marie Keighley to point to the penalty spot, from where Jacqui Hand fired "The Lilywhites" in front in the twelfth minute, very much against the run of play.
Rovers wasted little time in regaining the upper hand, but in the next eight minutes could only muster shots by Loye and Jens which gave Brown scant cause for concern, unlike Skilton in the 21st minute.
Savage burst forward through midfield before feeding the striker, who got the better of Ellis before letting fly. Van Dort blocked the shot, the ball spinning up and back before dropping invitingly into the stride of Skilton, whose instinctive snapshot slammed against the crossbar.
Suburbs survived that let-off, and looked to make head-way themselves via the combined efforts of Hand and Grace Jale, particularly down the left. Such attacking thrusts were rare, however, unlike those of their opponents, who finally made one count in the 27th minute.
Loye, Jens and Stevens combined on the left, the last-mentioned's cross arriving in the danger zone as Erinna Wong, Corina Brown and Georgia Brown converged on the ball. It was the Glenfield player who was smiling in the end, having squeezed home the equaliser between her Suburbs rivals and into the net beyond.
The leveller was no more than Rovers deserved for their dominance of the game to this point, and they swiftly set about taking the lead. Jens surged out of defence two minutes after the equaliser and worked a one-two with Stevens before unleashing a twenty-yarder which sizzled narrowly past the far post.
Suburbs responded with their first attack of note in the final, in the 31st minute. Kate Carlton and Nicole Mettam combined to pick out Hannah Pilley on the right. She swept the ball inside to Roxburgh, who teamed up with Hand to present Jale with a shooting chance.
Bindon was right behind this effort, but looked on with relief seconds later as Pilley spurned a great chance to fire "The Lilywhites" in front again, rolling her shot agonisingly across the face of goal and past the far post after Mettam and Roxburgh had teamed up to send the youngster scooting clear of all-comers.
Suburbs didn't have long to wait to regain the advantage, however. Ten minutes before half-time, Kate Seatter was fouled, presenting Van Dort with the opportunity to launch a free-kick which eventually found its way to Hand.
She held the ball up well before rolling it back into the stride of Seatter, who, from thirty yards, put everything she had into a thirty yard shot into the prevailing wind, which Glenfield had at their backs.
The ball held up in the gusts as it headed goalwards, deceiving Bindon in the process. The 'keeper was even more frustrated seconds later when after hitting the bar, the ball rebounded onto her back and ricocheted over the line to give Suburbs a 2-1 lead.
Their advantage lasted all of sixty seconds. Straight from the kick-off, Hannah Mackay-Wright led the Glenfield charge downfield, the fullback unleashing a dipping twenty-five yarder which Brown, leaping backwards, brilliantly tipped onto the bar. Unfortunately for the goalkeeper, Stevens was following in, and gleefully rammed home the rebound - 2-2.
Last season's beaten finalists weren't content with being on level terms, however, particularly in light of the dominance they had exerted thus far. Their pressure was concerted as they strove to take the lead before half-time, and two minutes before the interval, they thought they had done so through Georgia Brown, only for namesake Corina to fly to her left and pull off a terrific save.
Suburbs, now with the wind at their backs, began the second half brightly, Wong's cross from the left being left by Roxburgh for Pilley, who wriggled her way past the covering figure of Bunge before seeing her 46th minute shot blocked by Bindon, who was
|
right behind Carlton's thirty-yarder sixty seconds later.
Back came Rovers, with Skilton completing an unusual hat-trick of sorts five minutes into the half. Having already hit the bar twice, she proceeded to rattle it again with a teasing cross-shot which arced over the diving figure of Corina Brown, then rebounded down and off the incoming figure of Georgia Brown to seeming safety.
At least, that was the case until Savage latched onto the ball some twenty-five yards out, from where she thundered yet another shot against the Eastern Suburbs crossbar - anybody would have thought they had a side-bet on to see who could hit it most often in the Cup Final!
Glenfield were keen to see the ball hit the back of the net again, however, and in the 55th minute, the heroine of the 2016 final duly obliged. Loye's corner was cleared back to her, so she delivered a searching cross to the far post, where, lurking with intent, Berger bundled the ball over the line from close range to give her side the lead for the first time in the contest.
They didn't retain it for long. Two minutes later, Suburbs were level. Seatter pinged one from inside the centre circle down the right flank, where Pilley, full of running, was bombing on once more.
Latching onto the ball, she scythed into the penalty area before letting fly with a near post strike which Bindon somehow managed to make a meal of. Bunge raced back in a desperate attempt to spare her team-mate's blushes, but was a stride too late in executing her goal-line clearance.
Uncertainty abounded, however, as referee's assistant Heloise Simones didn't make any signal with her flag that the ball had crossed the line. It wasn't until miked-up referee Keighley, upon receipt of verbal confirmation from her colleague, signalled the goal that all present knew the outcome - 3-3.
It was a racing certainty that more goals were on the cards, and we had but six minutes to wait for the next one to materialise. Georgia Brown gathered the ball on the right and slung in a hanging cross which invited Loye to challenge Corina Brown in the air.
The 'keeper made contact with the ball, but wasn't able to execute a clean punch, much to the delight of Stevens, who squeezed the ball past Carlton to fire Glenfield back in front, 4-3.
Suburbs launched a counter-attack straight from the kick-off which saw Carlton and Mettam combining to release Pilley down the right. She scooted past Jens en route to the penalty area, where her progress was thwarted by one of Berger's perfectly timed trademark tackles.
After Loye lashed a twenty-five yarder over the bar, the midfielder latched onto a headed clearance by Bunge in the 68th minute and lobbed the ball forward for Skilton to exploit.
She was prevented from doing so by Van Dort, who out-muscled the striker, but in attempting to clear turned the ball straight into the stride of Georgia Brown, who fair battered the ball into the top corner of the net from twenty yards in the 68th minute.
5-3 Glenfield, and somehow you sensed that two-goal cushion was going to prove decisive - Suburbs now had to score twice to make it 5-5. In a Cup Final? As John McEnroe once said, "You cannot be serious!"
Did "The Lilywhites" give a monkeys what "the Mac" might think of their prospects? Heck no! They went all out to reduce the deficit immediately after going two goals behind.
With her first touch, substitute Amy Waters fired in a seventieth minute corner to the near post, which Jens headed off the line and up … and up … and down the ball eventually came, hitting the crossbar by the angle with the far post before Rovers could scramble it away to safety.
Immediately, Glenfield stormed downfield on the counter-attack, Berger and Georgia Brown combining on the left with the flying figure of Jens, who careered into Suburbs' penalty area at breakneck pace, only for Corina Brown to approach and block her low cross to safety with her legs.
Suburbs' 'keeper was in action again fifteen minutes from time, greedily grabbing a Skilton header after Savage, Jens and Stevens, with a looping cross, had combined on the left.
Suburbs' response? Ho hum, 5-4, with thirteen minutes left! Hand - with Jale, a little too subdued in this match for her team's benefit - was on manoeuvres, but foundered on Berger's challenge.
The ball broke perfectly for Pilley to stride onto, and she surged into the box before angling a shot across the diving figure of Bindon and into the far corner of the net to set up a grandstand finish - could they possibly force extra time in the time remaining?
After Stevens had landed a shot on the roof of Suburbs' net, "The Lilywhites" threw everything they had at Rovers' rearguard. But Berger, Bunge and Mackay-Wright proved nigh on impenetrable, their defensive efforts ensuring Bindon didn't have a save to make in this frantic finale.
Into stoppage time we went, with Suburbs now desperate for a late leveller. But when Seatter fired a shot over the bar in the dying seconds of the match, you sensed they had done their dash, and when the final whistle sounded seconds later, Glenfield were celebrating cup glory once more, 5-4 winners over an Eastern Suburbs side which contributed much to an epic final - one of the great games!
Suburbs: C. Brown; Carlton, Ellis, Van Dort, Wong (Whitley, 75); Mettam (Waters, 69), Seatter, Jale; Pilley, Roxburgh, Hand
Glenfield: Bindon; Mackay-Wright, Berger, Bunge, Jens; Savage, Perkins, Loye; G. Brown, Skilton, Stevens
Referee: Anna-Marie Keighley
|