A last-minute winner from Deven Jackson allowed Eastern Suburbs to secure a second-placed finish in the Lotto Northern Premier Women's League for 2016, as they edged third-placed Western Springs 1-0 in a keenly contested encounter at Bill McKinlay Park on August 26. With the prevailing gales making life challenging for both teams throughout the contest, it meant a fair few passes were going astray, but at the same time there was plenty of very good technical play on display, with slick close passing interchanges in plentiful supply. Suburbs had the better of the early exchanges, but it was "The Hoops", who had to win the match to leapfrog "The Lilywhites" on the table, who enjoyed the first opportunities in the match, the first of them materialising in the seventh minute. A poor Corina Brown clearance was pounced on by Dayna Manak, who worked a one-two with Annie Byrne - her return pass was super - before thrashing a shot under pressure narrowly past the post from twenty yards. Nine minutes later, Leah Mettam got herself in a tight spot and was stripped of the ball by Byrne, who instantly sent Rebecca O'Neill haring into the penalty area. Brown raced out to block her, but Springs' skipper took the ball round the prone 'keeper, only to fire wide of the near post from an acute angle. In the 27th minute, Liz Anton sent a ball over the top which had Suburbs claiming an offside flag which never materialised. Monique Fischer - a solid game in midfield - was the beneficiary, and promptly sent Byrne buccaneering through, only for the speedster to get it all wrong, the ball careering high, wide and far from handsomely over the target. Two minutes later, Byrne was fouled just outside the area as Springs continued to press. Emily Cooper's free-kick was gobbled up by Brown, who had no difficulty dealing with Lily Rose Dyer's tame shot five minutes later, after she had done all the hard work by latching onto an Elaine Murray pass, cutting in off the left past two, then, after losing possession, quickly retrieving it at Erinna Wong's expense. Suburbs had rarely been sighted as an attacking force to this point in proceedings - they had made promising raids, but all too often the hard work of Anton and company ensured goalkeeper Ashleigh Emery was little troubled throughout proceedings. That all changed when Jade Parris became a factor in Suburbs' attacks. She had been a peripheral figure throughout much of the half, but burst into life ten minutes before half-time, earning a corner which she delivered onto the head of Jackson. Bella Kingi was perfectly placed to clear Suburbs' first threat off the line, but when Parris fired in a twenty-five yard free-kick sixty seconds later, it scythed its way through a plethora of white- and black-clad players and somehow went past the far post without anyone making contact with it. Cue another Parris corner soon afterwards. This one was cleared back to the striker, who delivered a gorgeous cross to the far post where Grace Jale was arriving on cue. Emery produced a fine point-blank range save to deny the age-grade international the opening goal of the game. The second half was just two minutes old when Murray went marauding down the left at pace, working a one-two with Dyer en route before picking out O'Neill with her cross. The striker's flying header directed the ball into the goalmouth, where the retreating figure of Lizzie Ellis had Byrne on her shoulder as she faced her own goal. The defender did just enough to get the ball away, but only as far as Evie Millynn, who was following up from midfield. Brown raced off her line and did well to block at the feet of the Football Fern. Suburbs' custodian was at her best again four minutes later. A Cooper corner was cleared back to the set-piece specialist, who curled in a delightfully weighted cross which was tailor-made for either O'Neill or the flying figure of Byrne. Neither made contact with it, however, Brown rising between the pair of them to pluck the ball from the skies and avert the danger. Save for a tame shot from Byrne twenty minutes

from time, after solid work by Dyer on the left, Brown had little else to do during the match, with the bulk of the action in the second spell concentrated around Springs' goal. Nicole Mettam was first to threaten, her thirty yard effort in the 53rd minute being directed straight at Emery, after Anton had cleared the danger posed by the twin threats of Jackson and Parris, whose season ended prematurely on the hour as she hobbled off the park with a knee injury - a more forlorn figure after the final whistle you would not wish to see. There was plenty which happened prior to it, however, including some of the more obscure refereeing decisions seen this season. Let's just say Deb Stevens has had better nights at the office than she did on this particular occasion, with a few of her calls bemusing both teams simultaneously, not to mention the goodly gathering savouring the contest from within University-Mt. Wellington's covered stand. After Parris' departure from the fray, a stinging twenty-yarder from Jale was spilled by Emery, with the ball going through her legs before the 'keeper managed to recover the situation in front of fast-closing substitute Tayla O'Brien. That 63rd minute incident was followed five minutes later by another Emery save, a sprawling effort to deny Jale this time, following good work on the right by Wong and substitute Aimee Phillips, who created more than a little mayhem in Springs' defence during her time on the park. Sixteen minutes from time, the first of a handful of set-piece deliveries from Leah Mettam had "The Hoops" in bother aplenty. Jale was the target of the fullback's free-kick but couldn't control the ball. She was also the recipient of a superb corner to the far post three minutes later, but Jale headed this one a foot over the bar. Two minutes later, another Mettam corner this time targeted Jacqui Hand, whose point-blank header was somehow turned round the post by Emery. Cue another Mettam corner to the far post, one which Phillips headed over as "The Lilywhites" piled on the pressure, with Springs hanging on, offering little by way of an attacking threat themselves, despite introducing substitutes with the intention of turning the tide. Six minutes from time, Leah Mettam linked with Hand on the left, the pair presenting O'Brien with the ball in the area. The substitute swept past Cooper with aplomb, only to see Emery parry her resulting shot. Springs scrambled the ball to safety on this occasion, but just when it looked like what may end up being the final game of the season - Sunday's clash between Hamilton Wanderers and Papatoetoe appears highly unlikely to proceed - seemed set to end scoreless, the deadlock was broken in fine style by Suburbs. Hand got the ball rolling on the right, linking with O'Brien and Phillips, who returned the ball to her fellow substitute. O'Brien then worked another one-two, this time with Hand, all the while aware that Jackson was steaming up on her left, through the middle of the park. Upon receipt of Hand's return pass, O'Brien duly rolled the ball into Jackson's stride, and the midfielder confidently steered the ball past Emery into the bottom left-hand corner of the net to clinch a seventh successive victory for Suburbs, and with it, second place on the table. They nearly struck a second goal in stoppage time, Hand volleying narrowly wide after Anton had headed out Phillips' cross, but 1-0 was suffice to see Suburbs subdue Springs in this well-contested affair and secure a second-placed finish on the table - quite an improvement on their sixth-placed effort just twelve months ago. Suburbs:     Brown; Wong, Van Dort, Ellis, L. Mettam; Jale, N. Mettam, Jackson; Hand, Cleverley (Phillips, 56), Parris (O'Brien, 61) Springs:     Emery; Kingi, Anton, Cooper, Murray; Millynn, Manak (McWhirter, 72), Fischer (Gooch, 85); Byrne (Robertson, 72), O'Neill, Dyer Referee:     Deb Stevens