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Cook Islands
Goals Come Like Buses For Junior Ferns
by Jeremy Ruane
 Lauren Mathis, Terri-Amber Carlson, Hannah Wilkinson, Rosie White, Annalie Longo, Hannah Wall,
Elise Mamanu Gray, Bridgette Armstrong, Briony Fisher, Victoria Esson, Anna Green (c)
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New Zealand’s Junior Ferns eventually romped to their second successive 8-0 victory at the Oceania Football Confederation’s U-20 Women’s Championship on January 23, but they were made to work for their win by a Cook Islands combination which provided stubborn resistance for over half-an-hour on the North Harbour Stadium Tigerturf.
Try as they might, the Junior Ferns could not find a way through a well-organised Cook Islands line-up initially, goalkeeper Marjorie Toru being well protected by a plethora of determined team-mates, none more so than Apii Nicholls, Natasha Dean, captain Jennifer Akavi and Teariivahine "Mama" Henry, who were brave battlers, constant chasers and tigerish tacklers throughout proceedings, and led their team-mates by example.
Patience was the watchword for the Junior Ferns, who enjoyed a first glimpse of the way to goal in the 26th minute when Rosie White was denied the game’s maiden strike by the offside flag, as she stole in to turn home a Briony Fisher header following a short corner between hard-working captain Anna Green and the equally impressive Hannah Wall.
It was a corner from the latter which eventually undid the Cook Islands’ resistance nine minutes before half-time. Wall’s delivery was met by the head of Hannah Wilkinson, and a right royal scramble ensued. Somewhere in the middle of it was Elise Mamanu Gray, who was credited with the final touch to open her goalscoring account on the world stage.
Goals can sometimes be like buses - you can wait ages for one, then several turn up almost simultaneously! That’s exactly what happened in this match, for, within 45 seconds, White tore the Cook Islands asunder - she swooped on a loose ball, stormed past two opponents then smashed home New Zealand’s second strike.
Not content with that, the reigning OFC Women’s Player of the Year made it 3-0 in the fortieth minute. Catching Henry in possession half-way inside the opposition’s half, the striker made a beeline for goal, and neither Davis nor Toru had a prayer of stopping her - an unerring fifteen yard finish capped off a five-minute flurry which broke the island nation’s hearts.
It didn’t break their indomitable spirit, however. The underdogs continued to defy their relentless opponents, with Gray, Bridgette Armstrong, Green, Annalie Longo and Wilkinson all thwarted by steadfast defensive work before the half-time whistle, while White rattled the hoardings with a rasping drive after linking with Terri-Amber Carlson.
The second half saw the Cooks, with the wind behind them, occasionally give the Junior Ferns brief cause for concern, their most notable efforts coming in the 71st minute, when Victoria Esson raced off her line to clear the threat posed by Danielle Trego, and from a Henry free-kick from just inside New Zealand’s half five minutes later, the ball bouncing once before clearing the crossbar, much to the relief of the hitherto untested custodian.
Otherwise, it was more of the same - New Zealand pounding away in search of goals, and the Cooks doing their level best to resist their enterprising raids, assisted every so often by the offside flag and the woodwork.
The former thwarted White yet again in the 48th minute, the striker harshly denied her hat-trick as she deftly turned home a sumptuous pass from Green. Seven minutes later, the post came to the Cooks’ rescue, denying Wilkinson after she had been picked out by a cross from half-time substitute Sarah McLaughlin.
Another couple of buses pulled into the North Harbour Stadium stop just before the hour mark. The first saw Green’s tantalising through ball set up White for her hat-trick. Unselfishly, she slipped the ball across to Wilkinson, whose accomplished finish in the 57th minute proved to be her last touch of the ball in the match.
She was replaced by Liz Milne, who wasted little time in making her mark on the scoreboard, netting with her first touch of the ball in the 59th minute. McLaughlin played the ball through the inside left channel for Wall, who had moved into the forward line to accommodate the new arrival.
The versatile front-runner instantly sent the ball zooming across the bows of the incoming White as
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she looked to complete her hat-trick, but arriving beyond her was Milne, who fair smashed the ball beyond Toru and into the far corner of the net - 5-0.
The Cooks’ ‘keeper kept out a stinging drive from Green soon afterwards, following good work by Lauren Mathis, before another couple of buses pulled in within two minutes of each other, much to the dismay of the Junior Ferns’ opponents.
Green instigated the first strike, her surge down the left supplemented by some fine off-the-ball running by McLaughlin, who was rewarded with a precise pass as she raced through the inside-left channel, and promptly swept a cross into the goalmouth.
Mamanu Gray was the recipient, but she was denied by Toru’s parried save. The terrier-like White was on the scene in an instant, but scrambling defence thwarted her and managed to clear the danger, albeit temporarily.
For Milne was the recipient of the 66th minute clearance, and curled in a cross which Wall met with a full-blooded half-volley from ten yards out. The ball screamed into the top far corner, much to the scorer’s undisguised glee, of which we were treated to more within two minutes.
Fisher gathered the ball on half-way and promptly powered downfield before coming to a spectacular halt - Akavi’s crunching tackle sent the Kiwi stopper cart-wheeling into the air, and she hit the ground with a resounding thump.
As Fisher went flying, the ball broke into the stride of White, who unleashed a resounding thump of her own towards the target. Toru tipped the shot onto the post, but Wall was following in like any striker worth her salt, and was beaming with delight for a brief moment, before the plight of the still prone and unmoving figure of her tough-tackling team-mate captured the concern of all present.
The Junior Ferns had used all their substitutes by this stage, so were facing the prospect of completing the match with just ten players on the park. Fisher was eventually assisted to her feet, and was able to return to the action after lengthy treatment on the sideline, but she’ll remember this incident for some considerable time to come, make no mistake.
Wall will remember the match for different reasons, her maiden hat-trick for her country being denied her in the 73rd minute when her dipping twenty-yarder crashed against the crossbar.
Five minutes later, both Wall and McLaughlin were denied by the indefatigable figure of Toru, whose efforts to keep the Junior Ferns at bay continued throughout the bulk of the next ten minutes, much to the chagrin of, amongst others, Claudia Crasborn, Green, Wall, White and McLaughlin.
The pressure had to tell, and in the 89th minute, the substitutes combined to make it 8-0. Crasborn charged downfield before feeding Milne on her right. The overlapping fullback spotted Toru off her line and, from twenty-five yards, promptly chipped the ‘keeper to complete the scoring.
Although there could have been one more goal, in stoppage time. But the crossbar came to the Cook Islands’ rescue once again, and once again White was left to rue its intervention, as it denied her a hat-trick her industrious display richly merited.
The game ended on a sad note for New Zealand when Longo was scythed down by an ill-timed stoppage time challenge from Marissa Iroa, who was promptly booked by Fijian referee Finau Vulivuli.
That was scant consolation for the Junior Ferns, as they watched their most experienced player departing the fray on a stretcher, her ankle injury making her doubtful for their final fixture, a winner-take-all tussle with Tonga, 4-0 winners over American Samoa in the day's other clash, in which Heilala Loto'aniu and Penateti Feke, with a hat-trick which included a penalty, were on target for the victors.
New Zealand: Esson; Wall, Fisher, Armstrong, Green; Mamanu-Gray, Longo, Carlson (McLaughlin, 46), Mathis (Crasborn, 64); White, Wilkinson (Milne, 57)
Cook Islands: Toru; Kaukura (Temata, 73), Dean, Akavi, Unuka; Tare (Lineen, 58), Henry, Harmon, Nicholls; Trego (Mustonen, 82), Iroa (booked, 90)
Referee: Finau Vulivuli (Fiji)
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