Ellerslie brought to an end the reign of Lynn-Avon United as holders of the Uncle Toby’s Women’s Knockout Cup at North Harbour Stadium on September 15, by downing the defending champions 1-0 in an enthralling final, the first featuring two combatants from Auckland. The first-time finalists made light of their relative lack of big-match experience, compared to that of their more worldly-wise opponents, and enjoyed the better of the early exchanges. A quick Dana Humby free-kick allowed Maia Jackman to outpace Jennifer Carlisle down the right in the eighth minute, and on cutting into the penalty area, the right-sided midfielder unleashed a rising drive which fizzed over the top of Yvonne Vale’s near post. Lynn-Avon responded through captain Terry McCahill, who found herself on the end of a Jill Gilmore (nee Corner) free-kick three minutes later, but couldn’t get enough contact on the ball to steer it goalwards. Back came Ellerslie through Jackman, who was clearly intent on claiming her fourth cup winner’s medal in this competition from as many final appearances. In the eighteenth minute, she scythed open Lynn-Avon’s left flank once more, and from the byline, let loose a vicious swerving cross which initially deceived Vale. The quickly recovering goalkeeper pawed the ball out from under her crossbar, and was relieved to see the incoming Margot Bowker failing to make decisive contact with what was a difficult headed opportunity from the rebound. Ellerslie were certainly the more incisive combination at this point, and when McCahill felled the full-of-running Bowker right on the edge of the penalty area, it presented Humby with a free-kick chance, one which the dead-ball specialist was unable to take advantage of in the 26th minute. Within sixty seconds, Jackman had regained possession for her side, and evaded Rebecca Parkinson’s challenge before being left reeling upon taking the full brunt of another robust block from McCahill, who was later involved in another tangle with Bowker. Before the impact, Jackman had managed to squeeze the ball inside to Priscilla Duncan, whose surging run culminated in a rasping twenty yard drive which flew past Vale but cannoned back into play off the post. Kristy Hill steered the rebound into the sidenetting. The next fifteen minutes saw Lynn-Avon enjoying their best spell of the match thus far. Angela Vujnovich failed to make clean contact with her eighteen-yard shot when put through by Amanda Crawford, the effort being comfortably saved by Rebecca Rolls, who then watched carefully as both Amber Hearn - picked out by a superb crossfield ball from Crawford - and Sara Clapham sent the ball narrowly past the uprights in the 34th and 35th minutes respectively. Ponderous play by Zoe Albon was punished by Clapham two minutes later, the promising young midfielder surging forward before slipping a pass through to Crawford, the Uncle Toby’s Women’s International Player of the Year. But before the striker could make any head-way, in stepped Ellerslie’s player-coach, Sue Taylor, to avert the danger with a well-timed tackle. Fine work by Crawford on the right set up a chance for Vujnovich five minutes before the interval, but the striker slipped at the vital moment, and the chance was lost. It allowed Ellerslie to regain possession, move upfield and force a 42nd minute corner. Taken by Humby, it was aimed at the head of Taylor, who rose high to guide an angled downward header wide of Vale and into the bottom left-hand corner of the net - 1-0 Ellerslie, and how they celebrated the fact. Stunned, Lynn-Avon set about restoring parity before the break. Carlisle clipped the ball over the top of Ellerslie’s largely well-managed offside trap to release Vujnovich on the stroke of half-time, and the leading scorer in United’s history let fly with a left-foot screamer from the edge of the penalty area. It looked a goal all the way, until Rolls, the former New Zealand goalkeeper turned wicket-keeper, flung herself to her left and turned the ball round the post for a corner. Crawford duly whipped in the set-piece, which Rolls caught then dropped, presenting Parkinson with a chance. The ‘keeper blocked the midfielder’s effort, but was powerless to prevent Carlisle from hammering the rebound goalwards. The defender couldn’t believe her ill-fortune, however, Taylor blocking her shot on the line before clearing the danger. The second half saw Ellerslie again first to hurtle out of the starting blocks, Jackman leading the charge down the right in the 49th minute. A captivating solo run from half-way (Ian Abrahams has captured it brilliantly above) saw her swerve past both Carlisle and McCahill before entering the penalty area at pace. Vale hurtled off her line and blocked the Ellerslie flyer’s shot, the rebound ricocheting off Jackman for a goal kick. A goal then could well have spelt curtains for Lynn-Avon, but back they came, McCahill’s header of a Helen Exler free-kick lacking the power to beat Rolls in the 55th minute. After Vale, Lynn-Avon’s best-performed player on the day, had comfortably dealt with a twenty-five yarder from Hill, the goalkeeper sparked a United raid which culminated in an awful mix-up between Rolls and Claudia Hicks near the edge of Ellerslie’s penalty area. The ball fell perfectly for Doody, who shot at the gaping target, only to see Rolls back on her feet and blocking the shot, then completing a fine double-save by scrambling to push the ball away from both Doody and Vujnovich, who was homing in on the rebound intent on levelling the scores. A teasing cross-shot from Crawford gave Rolls cause for concern in the 65th minute, while soon after, Duncan, whose tireless industry in the heart of Ellerslie’s midfield won her the much-coveted Most Valuable Player of the Final prize, set off on a buccaneering run down the left which saw her take on and beat Exler before carving into the penalty area. A sturdy challenge from McCahill brought to an end a fine individual charge. The combination of substitutions and tiring legs impacted on the quality of the football witnessed in the last twenty minutes, but the uncompromising challenges from both sides continued unabated literally to the very end - love was not lost in this match, make no mistake! Otago referee Linda Ritchie certainly had her hands full, but didn’t aid her own cause with a number of inconsistent decisions, particularly with regard to the application of the advantage law, and ensuring clear-cut communication within her own team - that Lynn-Avon had to wait a good five minutes to make a substitution is inexcusable, particularly when the ball went out of play at least twice in this period! Both teams had chances in the last ten minutes, a twenty-five yard curler from Ellerslie captain Vicki Rainbow going far closer to altering the scoreline than Crawford’s speculative drive from the same distance. Not long afterwards, the final whistle sounded, much to the delight of Ellerslie’s players and supporters, whose joy in winning the club’s first women’s soccer honour since claiming the Auckland Premier Women’s Knockout Shield in its inaugural season, 1973, was, quite understandably, unrestrained. Ellerslie:          Rolls; Humby, Taylor, Hicks (J. Somerfield, 81); Jackman, Albon (Murphy, 88), Rainbow, Duncan, L. Somerfield; Bowker (McLeod, 76), Hill Lynn-Avon:     Vale; Exler, McCahill (Ray, 81), Carlisle; Doody, Hearn, Gilmore, Clapham (Yallop, 66), Parkinson (Moorwood, 59); Crawford, Vujnovich Referee:           Linda Ritchie