Forrest Hill-Milford United stunned NZ Football Foundation Kate Sheppard Cup holders Glenfield Rovers 3-1 at McFetridge Park on August 26 to advance to their third final in five years in the competition, which this year celebrates its Silver Jubilee. It also brought to an end Rovers' bid to match Lynn-Avon United's record of reaching seven successive finals - this would have been Glenfield's sixth consecutive final had they downed "The Swans". But the visitors came into this encounter armed with a tactical plan which coach Ben Bate admitted afterwards he had "been working on for six months. I knew we'd have to play Glenfield somewhere along the way if we hoped to win the cup, so today was the day to deploy it, and the team executed it really well". If Rovers were expecting something along the lines of what United produced, it wasn't evident. For the first 25 minutes of the match, there was only one team in this contest, and it wasn't the current cup holders, but their predecessors. "The Swans" were all over Glenfield like the proverbial rash, forcing errors and hurried clearances from the outset. They first threatened in the sixth minute, when Malia Steinmetz - monstrous in midfield - intercepted a clearance and threaded the ball through for Sammi Tawharu, who was thwarted by Alice Noyer's save at her feet. Rovers' 'keeper then saved Arabella Maynard's flying header six minutes later, Kenya Brooke's angled cross picking out the midfielder's arrival on the far post. Noyer then cleared the ball straight to Maynard, who, in tandem with Talisha Green, worked an opening for Tawharu, who wriggled through two challenges, only to be foiled by the custodian once more. In the eighteenth minute, Steinmetz squandered a great chance to open the scoring. Aneka Mittendorff's lobbed ball forward was misjudged by Serena Murrihy, which allowed Jane Barnett to pounce. She swiftly fed the Junior Ferns captain, who failed to look up at the vital moment. Had she done so, she'd have spotted Noyer back-pedalling furiously towards her goal some distance behind her, ripe for chipping … The missed chance mattered not, for within sixty seconds, "The Swans" had opened the scoring, and deservedly so. Maynard won the ball in midfield and promptly sent Barnett buccaneering in behind Emily Oosterhof. Cutting inside, she had just the advancing figure of Noyer to beat, a feat she achieved in some style - 1-0, to the delight of the "Forresters" occupying Glenfield's pined terraces. Within four minutes, they could have scored twice more, and Rovers could have had no complaints had United done so. The first opportunity came via a Barnett corner which Brooke headed into the danger zone. Noyer saw the ball failed to catch it clearly, allowing Tawharu to swoop. Geena Gross did superbly well to both block then clear the danger, albeit at the expense of another corner. This was played short, with the resulting cross picking out Hannah Mackay-Wright, whose header crashed against the near post. To this point, Glenfield hadn't even been allowed to settle into the contest. But they gained a toe-hold in the 25th minute via a Kate Loye free-kick, which Estelle Harrison - her most ineffective display in many a moon - headed onto the roof of the net. Three minutes later, Liz Savage and Geena Gross combined to send Maggie Jenkins flying down the left, from where she picked out Loye with a cross. Her header flashed across the face of goal, four minutes after which Dayna Stevens shot straight at Emily Couchman as Rovers finally started to gather some attacking momentum. United's 'keeper was to the fore again in the 34th minute, foiling Murrihy after she'd been picked out by Savage's free-kick. Five minutes later, however, Couchman was beaten all ends up by Jenkins, who had combined with Stevens and Harrison on the edge of the penalty area to create the opening. The post came to the visitors' aid, however, and you somehow got the impression at that moment that this was going to be their day, despite the crossbar denying Rose Luxton's header - from a pinpoint Brooke free-kick - in the shadows of the half-time whistle. Noyer grabbed the rebound, and also pounced on a miscued Maynard effort before the interval, after which "The Swans" were first to threaten once more, Barnett volleying past the post after Luxton had spread play wide to Green, whose teasing cross on the run found the game's lone goalscorer, to this point, racing in on the far post. When Barnett next received the ball, she doubled United's lead. Mittendorff pinged one forward for her front-running team-mate to exploit, and from

thirty yards she let rip with a shot which soared into the top far corner of the net, beating Noyer all ends up - 2-0 after 51 minutes. Glenfield were in deep trouble now, and three minutes later, they were in a huge hole as "The Swans" made it 3-0. Tawharu gathered the ball on the left and delivered a gem of a pass into the stride of Barnett, dashing through the middle in between Tessa Berger and Murrihy. They forced the striker to angle her run towards the inside left channel, but as Noyer came off her line to narrow the angle, Barnett delicately lifted the ball over her and watched it bounce slowly but surely into the unguarded net before turning to celebrate the 21st hat-trick of her career with her team-mates. The cup holders simply had to score next if they harboured any hopes of retaining their grip on the trophy, and in the 57th minute, they did just that. A Loye corner careered into the danger zone and ricocheted off a couple of players before crossing the line, Savage credited with the decisive touch by the match officials. Substitute Helena "Streak" Kelderman swiftly got into the swing of things, linking with Stevens to present Jenkins with a great chance which she sliced across the face of goal just two minutes afterwards. Sixty seconds later, Gross sent Stevens steaming down the left, from where she crossed to the far post. Kelderman shot across the face of goal on this occasion, but better chances were to fall Glenfield's way inside the final twenty minutes. Not before "The Swans" went close to restoring their three-goal advantage. Mittendorff, Tawharu, Maynard and Green executed a sweeping attack which culminated in a low cross being whipped into the near post, where Barnett was sliding in. Noyer bravely blocked her attempt at close quarters, but Barnett was first to react to the rebound, only to send her next attempt flying past the post as she shot before completing her swivel. In the 68th minute, Maynard edged out Gross in a battle for the ball on Rovers' left, and instantly brought Green into play. Barnett was soon in possession again, only this time she was playing provider for Tawharu, whose bid to get on the end of this cleverly angled pass was thwarted by the combined efforts of Berger and Noyer. Sixteen minutes from time, Glenfield squandered a glorious chance to set up a grandstand finish. Loye led the charge before feeding Jenkins, who worked a one-two with Kelderman. Her return pass put the Junior Ferns striker in on goal with just Couchman to beat, but Jenkins sent her shot blazing over the bar. United knew, at that point, that the game was theirs, and withdrew Steinmetz - crippled by cramp - two minutes later, followed by hat-trick heroine Barnett with nine minutes to play. In between those changes, however, Savage thundered a twenty-five yarder against the crossbar, while at the other end, Green's angled ball in behind the defence reared up awkwardly in front of Noyer, off whom it ricocheted over the bar - the 'keeper knew nothing about it. Seven minutes from time, Barnett's replacement, Michela Pesce, spurned a great change to wrap things up. Played through by Mackay-Wright, she had just Noyer to beat, but the 'keeper did splendidly to turn the ball to safety. Loye let rip from thirty yards as Glenfield started getting desperate - Couchman was right behind it, and after Pesce had held the ball up superbly before feeding Maynard, only for Berger to thwart her with a trademark tackle in the area, the home team laid siege to the United goal, hoping that they could pull off a miracle inside the six minutes of stoppage time which had been signaled. The newly-crowned Lotto Northern Premier Women's League champions certainly gave it a good go, with Stevens' drive being tipped into the side-netting by Couchman, who then was perfectly placed to keep out a Loye drive after Harrison's corner had been headed by former Rovers defender Mackay-Wright. But the game was up for Glenfield, and the roar from the terraces which greeted the final whistle was matched by the undisguised delight of the Forrest Hill-Milford United players, who richly deserved their 3-1 victory and, with it, their place in the Silver Jubilee edition of the NZ Football Foundation Kate Sheppard Cup Final in a fortnight's time. Glenfield:     Noyer; Oosterhof, Murrihy (booked, 44), Berger, Gross; Savage, Bultitude (Kelderman, 56), Loye; Stevens, Jenkins, Harrison FHMU:     Couchman; Mittendorff, Mackay-Wright, Brooke (Wilson, 62); Green, Steinmetz (Reddy, 76), Luxton, Maynard, Waters (booked, 33); Barnett (Pesce, 81), Tawharu Referee:     Wendy McNeely