Forrest Hill-Milford United produced one of the great ASB National Women's Knockout Cup comebacks at Galloway Park on June 29, coming from two goals down at half-time to overcome Claudelands Rovers 3-2 and advance to the semi-finals of the competition. The home team, who were close to full strength unlike the last time they played United, started off like the proverbial house on fire, with Helen Collins storming down the right past Emily Jensen before delivering a fifth minute cross to the far post. Facing her own goal, and with an opponent bearing down on her, Nicole Stratford, once of this parish, calmly steered the ball past the upright - it was a great piece of defensive work under pressure. But it was all for nought. United failed to clear Olivia Chance's resulting corner, which allowed Rebecca Brown to lob the ball back into the goalmouth. Lurking beneath the dropping sphere was Kate Loye, who, with her back to goal, instinctively hooked the ball over her head and over the flailing fingertips of Lily Alfeld, before turning to see the ball ease just under the crossbar and into the roof of the net. 1-0 Rovers, a terrific start which delighted the natives, two or three of whom were particularly keen to see the Lotto Northern Premier Women's League leaders get their comeuppance in this tie, if their reactions to some of Anna-Marie Keighley's calls were anything to go by. Yes, our foremost female referee was in charge for this tie, and distinguished herself at times with some excellent communication to individuals following specific incidents - witness her handling of a foul by Tayla O'Brien in the first half, and of a missed challenge by Jensen in the second, after the defender had recovered to halt Collins' progress. With the good, of course, came some of the less impressive aspects of her officiating - ignoring clear-cut hand-ball offences one minute, awarding free-kicks for them the next among them. Nothing in a game frustrates players - and, to a slightly lesser degree, spectators - more than inconsistent officiating, and Keighley certainly delivered on that score in this match. It's an aspect of her game which she simply must improve ahead of potential FIFA appointments at the likes of next month's FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Finals, and next year's showpiece event for the women's game in Canada. In fairness, the players, too are every bit as guilty of erring in this manner. But there are more of them to cover up the errors of their ways. Keighley and her colleagues have no such fall-back option - they need to be on their game every game, and particularly so in matches such as this one, in the country's showpiece women's club football competition. Collins certainly was on her game from the outset here, and again showed Jensen a clean pair of heels in the ninth minute before firing over a cross which Stratford cleared to Issy Coombes. The midfielder's low drive fizzed narrowly past the post. "The Swans" weren't at the races in the early stages, a situation epitomised by Daisy Cleverley in the twelfth minute. Guilty not for the first time - and by no means the last - of taking too many touches to control the ball, she was swiftly caught in possession by Kylie Jens, who promptly released Collins through the inside left channel. Rovers' remarkable goal-getter - she has scored a staggering 154 goals for the club in two spells - didn't add to her tally on this occasion, slicing the effort wildly wide of the near post. Such is Collins' potency in front of goal that, from her, better has come to be expected. The visitors were finally sighted as an attacking force in the thirteenth minute. Catherine Bott got the better of Jens down the right before fizzing in a cross to the near post, where Casey Ridsdale was arriving. So was Kate Carlton - the defender prevailed, as she often tends to. Her reading of the game, and subsequent ability to often snuff out danger before it materialises, are deserving of a far greater platform than both club and National Women's League football can muster. After this frenetic opening period, the game settled down into something of an arm wrestle, with United slowly but surely gaining the upper hand in midfield. There weren't too many chances created, however, Briar Palmer's twenty-fifth minute twenty-five yarder the exception, the winger employing deft footwork to evade two challenges and engineer the space from which she let fly. United continued to enjoy the ascendancy as they pursued an equaliser, but Carlton produced a string of timely tackles to thwart their progress just after the half-hour mark. Palmer finally found a way past her in the 34th minute, and evaded Libby Williams' challenge before setting up O'Brien, whose shot ricocheted off a defender for … a goal-kick, according to the referee, amid the amazement of United's players. Unperturbed, they pressed again soon after, O'Brien releasing Palmer down the left. She promptly let fly again, an effort Emily Hanrahan held onto at the second attempt before launching a counter-attack. Loye, Chance and Jeanette Adams combined on the left, with Collins the target of the resulting cross. Alfeld anticipated the danger well, only to spill the ball, presenting Collins with a great chance to double the lead. But before she could do so, the whistle blew … for a foul on the 'keeper! This call defied logic - quite bizarre! Claudelands got their second goal 45 seconds into stoppage time in a half bereft of any! Rovers' fans weren't complaining, however, when Brown arrived on the far post to head home a hanging cross from Adams - 2-0, the first time this season United had found themselves trailing on the scoreboard at the break. Ridsdale had made little headway in an attacking role, so United coach Mauro Donoso - never has he been more animated during a game! - withdrew her from the fray and unleashed Megan Lee on Claudelands, a substitution which proved to be inspired. Before she could make an impact, however, Rovers squandered a glorious chance to go three-up. Collins stormed down the left before slipping the ball inside to Chance, who marked one of her less influential displays with a finish best forgotten - a first-time drive which flew high, wide and far from handsomely past Alfeld's right-hand post two minutes into the half. Had she scored, it could well have been curtains for the visitors. But this cup-tie was about to get turned on its head in a big way, with two goals in a six-minute spell which saw parity restored on the scoreboard. Again, there was controversy, United being awarded a free-kick wide on the right, seconds after committing one of the aforementioned unpunished handball offences to curtail Rovers' raid. Palmer delivered a pinpoint free-kick to the far post, right onto Jensen's head - game on! Rovers sought a swift riposte, and came desperately close to getting it via United's goalscorer! Jens picked out Collins, whose delightful first touch afforded her time to reward the run of Chance with a precise pass into her stride as she cruised down the left flank. The wing wizard whipped in a cross which cannoned off the retreating figure of Jensen directly past her own post, the ball a blur as the motionless figure of Alfeld looked on, ultimately with relief. United cleared the resulting corner, with devastating consequences as far as Rovers were concerned. Lee was the outlet the visitors utilised, and she proceeded to produce, by her own admission afterwards, one of the best goals of her career.

Securing possession, she took on Carlton, and after managing to evade her clutches, rounded the covering figure of Eileish Hayes before deftly clipping the ball over the advancing figure of Hanrahan and inside the near post - a gorgeous individual goal! Eight minutes on the park, and what an impact - 2-2 the score now, and all on for young and old. Cue an absolute avalanche of action, so much so that it was every bit as challenging for this writer keeping up note-taking-wise as it was for the players carving out openings! Straight from the kick-off, Collins thundered downfield towards goal, and didn't stop after she'd rounded Alfeld. The goalkeeper's efforts forced the striker to shoot from a more challenging angle, but Collins' strike was still on target. It would have gone in, and restored Rovers' lead, but for the intervention of the recovering figure of Stratford, one of the players whom Collins had swept past en route to goal. The fullback bravely launched herself at the ball and succeeded in both heading it off the line and avoiding hitting the post herself - her second terrific piece of defensive work in the match. Still Rovers pressed, with Loye and Chance weaving their wizardry on the left in the 55th minute. The latter picked out Collins with a peach of a cross as the striker darted in between two defenders to meet it with a header, which was superbly tipped over the bar by Alfeld. More Claudelands pressure soon followed, Collins again at the sharp end of it. She initially stood up Jensen in a foot-race down the right, but the defender came back well and produced a superbly timed tackle which stopped the striker in her tracks. The resulting 58th minute corner, delivered by Chance, wasn't cleared, prompting a red-clad figure to chance their arm in a congested penalty area. Alfeld blocked the shot, with the rebound falling towards Loye, lurking in the six-yard box. Her attempt to turn it home foundered on the 'keeper's efforts - she had an outstanding game. Another Alfeld save, at full stretch low to her right, denied Collins following another Chance corner in the 64th minute, while the contest between two of the league's award winners last season - the Golden Boot and the Young Player of the Year - took another twist six minutes later, with the goal-getter getting the better of her defensive rival. Collins and Jensen were stride for stride as the Rovers striker raided once more. They entered the penalty area, where Collins sold her rival a gem of a dummy in which to engineer the space for a driven low cross. Unfortunately for Claudelands' talisman, no-one in red was on hand to do justice to her hard work as the ball zoomed across the face of goal - like the spectators, they'd probably got caught up in this terrific individual battle, as Jensen sought to achieve the rare feat of keeping Collins scoreless in a club fixture. Having weathered this onslaught, United came right back at their rivals, Cleverley's first-time volley flashing past Hanrahan's left-hand upright before Bott's buccaneering run down the right culminated in a cross. Substitute Emma Rolston did well to get her header somewhere near the target, given she had to retrace her steps to get anywhere near the ball to begin with. In the 74th minute, Rolston picked out O'Brien, who controlled the ball well - she prove highly effective in the targetman role. On this occasion, she was greatly aided by Lee's run beyond her across the top of the penalty area, which drew two defenders and created the space for O'Brien to turn and shoot. Hanrahan dealt capably with this effort, while her opposite number's brief respite was brought to an end by two attempts on goal in thirty seconds soon after. Both Loye and Collins were thwarted by Alfeld, who, after saving the second effort, launched the ball downfield. Rolston gathered it on the left, and did Williams a treat before evading another challenge and supplying Kate Seatter with a pass. United's captain controlled the ball, and as she drifted past an opponent, spotted Hanrahan off her line. Cue an inch-perfect twenty-five yard chip - 3-2 United, with fourteen minutes remaining. Claudelands were gob-smacked! Some of their fans definitely were - had United's travelling support been quick-witted enough, a rousing chorus of "It's all gone quiet over there!" wouldn't have been out of order at this juncture! Instead, they were simply relieved that after being two goals down at half-time, their team had come back to take the lead, and set up a grandstand finish, as Claudelands, urged on by their fans, threw everything at United in a bid to at least draw level and force extra time. But not before Bott, rampaging down the right, had unleashed a terrific cross-shot which only just missed the far post, and referee Keighley had kept all present on their toes by awarding a free-kick for a handball offence, having ignored two such infringements earlier in the game, even though an advantage had been gained on each occasion, however unintentional … definitely not her most memorable middle! Into the dying minutes, but while the goal defended by Alfeld was the centre of attention, it wasn't all one-way traffic, as Rolston and Palmer looked to prove in the 88th minute. Their one-two on the left paved the way for a cross to the far post, where Bott was arriving on cue. But Jens appeared from nowhere to divert the ball away from the midfielder, prompting Hanrahan to dash out of goal to take charge of the situation. But did she handle the ball outside her penalty area in doing so? Nervous looks towards referee Keighley told their own story, but neither the official nor her assistant had seen any infringement - Claudelands breathed again! And charged downfield once more, time now their enemy, as it had been since Seatter's strike. Collins beat Alfeld in the air to meet a Chance corner, only to send the ball flashing over the bar. Then Jens and Chance worked a one-two on the left which saw the latter fizz in a low cross for a welcome sight in red once more, Sarah McLaughlin, who is continuing her return to action after an eleven-month absence as a member of the ACL Club - sadly, fellow Rovers' rampager Holly Patterson has taken her place, following a recent training ground mishap. Had "Macca" been back up to full speed, you can guarantee she'd have taken this chance and taken the game to extra time in the process. But she mistimed her shot, prompting "The Swans" to scramble the ball to safety. Cue the final whistle, as this epic quarter-final was brought to an end, and the contrasting images of delight and despair were there for all to see. Mile-wide smiles; tears of frustration; faces etched in disappointment; arms raised aloft in ecstasy. 'Twas a cracking contest, which would have been worthy of the final itself. It was certainly a great advertisement for women's football. Both teams deserved to savour the spoils of victory for their efforts and endeavour, but sadly, in cup football, only one team can progress. And the team that did deserved to, due reward for finding a way to win when on the brink of defeat. Stirring stuff! Rovers:     Hanrahan; Williams, Carlton, Hayes, Jens; Brown (Leong, 77), Coombes, Loye, Chance; Collins, Adams (McLaughlin, 63) United:     Alfeld; Stratford, Windsor (Rolston, 68), Jensen, Olsen; Bott, Cleverley, Seatter, Palmer; Ridsdale (Lee, 46), O'Brien Referee:     Anna-Marie Keighley