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Inaugural Match
Inaugural Match
Five-Star Debut For Te Ikaroa Maori
by Jeremy Ruane
The New Zealand Maori women's team played their inaugural match at Papakura's McLennan Park on January 20, handing their Australian First Nationals counterparts a 5-0 hiding as a long-held dream to finally field Te Ikaroa football teams finally became a reality.
The Australians, or Mariya, as they are known in the Aboriginal language, could have opened the scoring inside the first ninety seconds, referee Morgan Archer unhesitatingly pointing to the penalty spot after a late challenge on Nakoya McLennan.
Ricki Reid was tasked with hitting the target from twelve yards, but while her penalty left Brooke Wylie beaten all ends up, it rebounded off the crossbar, and Laticia Quinlan, following in, fired the rebound over the top.
It was a let-off for Mauri, who wasted little time in asserting their authority on proceedings. Jayden Watts' close-range header, from a corner, was directed straight at Shekiniah Friske in the seventh minute, but that proved to be a warning shot, as two minutes later, Aotearoa opened the scoring.
A foul on Grace Jale near the corner flag saw a free-kick awarded, and Sammi Tawharu took charge of proceedings before picking out Ella Golding with her cross. New Zealand's captain guided her cushioned header wide of Friske and screamed with delight as she was engulfed by her team-mates.
After Friske had kept out a Jale piledriver, and a lovely move featuring Jale, Catherine Clark, Tawharu and Sam Waru culminated in the last-mentioned lashing a low drive narrowly past the post, Mauri doubled their advantage in the 26th minute.
Once again, it was a slick move which prised Mariya apart. Jale and Tawharu, Junior Ferns both, were the principle architects, their combination work through the middle engineering an opening for Clark to exploit down the right.
She picked out Golding with her cross, which the striker turned back into Tawharu's stride. Her thumping drive was only parried by Friske, and Golding latched onto the rebound before steering it across the prone 'keeper and into the far corner of the net.
Mauri's second goal came at a price for Mariya, as Friske injured herself in her bid to keep the ball out. It meant Aleisha Chessell took over twixt the sticks for the visitors, who, it must be said, sported a very eye-catching kit.
That goal also paved the way for a string of changes to the starting line-ups of both teams - this match was played under rolling substitutes rules, given players in both line-ups had never come close to playing representative football prior to this match.
Among those to enter the fray was Steph Trowill, making a welcome return to action after enduring injury problems galore over the last couple of years which have severely hampered her career.
Mariya were more competitive once Mauri gave their Lotto Northern Premier Women's League stars a rest, and that was the case up until the half-time break, although the visitors endured a scare just before it when Tara Jackson pounced on a stray pass back to Chessell, only have to check her progress because her left foot is only for standing on, not shooting with.
Mauri started the second half in assertive fashion, Kalani Walters-Hewson seeing her shot blocked on the line following Jackson's 47th minute corner. Two minutes later, Walters-Hewson gathered the ball on the left and proceeded to embarrass Tanaya Davis before drilling a twenty-five yarder narrowly past the post.
It was clear the player with the double-barrelled surname was in the mood to alter the scoreboard, and she didn't have long to wait to do so, although how it came about was the stuff of Chessell's worst nightmares.
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The goalkeeper received a back pass and promptly began dribbling the ball in her penalty area, only to be caught in possession by Walters-Hewson, whose delight upon firing into an empty net was unconfined - 3-0.
Mariya strove to get back into the match, with McLennan's chipped effort being grabbed by Wylie in the 54th minute. The Mauri custodian then dodged a bullet after a clash with Quinlan - referee Archer could very easily have pointed to the penalty spot - while Gemma Clegg fired narrowly past the post in the 67th minute.
Mauri, meanwhile, had threatened once more through Walters-Hewson, only for Kiah O'Toole to deny her in the act of shooting. But the introduction of fresh legs saw the natives immediately pick up their game - with Jale, Tawharu and Golding returning to the fray, Mariya's prospects instantly nose-dived.
Indeed, Jale made her presence known within sixty seconds of returning to the park in the best possible manner. In the 68th minute, she unleashed a twenty-five yard missile into the bottom corner of the net towards which Chessell didn't even move.
After the scorer of the fourth goal had sent a twenty yarder flashing over the bar, and Tanaya Davis had gone desperately close at the other end with a header which saw her beat Wylie's replacement, Mauri 'keeper Meripa Seumentafa, in the air, the natives went nap in the 75th minute.
Taelor Pickering-Parker picked out Clark with a pass which allowed her to feed Tawharu, dashing through the inside right channel. The prolific striker evaded a challenge before curling home unerringly beyond Chessell into the bottom far corner - 5-0.
The scorer spurned a glorious chance to notch a quick-fire double within sixty seconds, while Clark, Golding and Shae Brady combined to present Tawharu with another opportunity to edge ever closer to a century of goals in senior level football, only for Chessell to grab the cross greedily.
Nine minutes from time, Chessell made a fine save to deny Golding as she sought her hat-trick, a feat the 'keeper repeated five minutes from time, much to the chagrin of the Mauri captain, who, in between times, had volleyed over after a neat one-two between Clark and Pickering-Parker, and a chested lay-off by Tawharu.
Mariya tried to notch a consolation goal, with Quinlan stinging Seumenutafa's gloves before the striker was put off in the act of shooting by the fast-retreating figure of Brady, but this was not their day, a point Tawharu only narrowly failed to confirm in emphatic fashion when firing narrowly wide two minutes from time.
In the later match, the NZ Maori men's team, Manawa, made it a perfect day for Te Ikaroa, coming from behind to down Mariya 3-2 on a day the visitors finished with ten men on the park.
Captain Rhys Ruka, Harlem Simiona and Luke Sutton were on target for the victorious Manawa squad in a match which was preceded by two stunning examples of Maori and Aboriginal culture, in the form of the teams' respective pre-match challenges.
Mauri: Brooke Wylie (Meripa Seumenutafa, 68);Samantha Butler, Jayden Watts, Macy Brady, Taelor Pickering-Parker; Grace Jale, Shae Brady, Ella Golding; Catherine Clark, Sammi Tawharu, Sam Waru
Outfield Subs: Georgia Butler, Liz Takerei, Amy McQuoid, Tatjana Timmins-Scanlon, Tara Jackson, Steph Trowill, Rosa Muru, Kalani Waters-Hewson
Mariya: Shekiniah Friske (Aleisha Chessell, 27); Kiah O'Toole, Alanah McLeod, Tanaya Davis, Nikea Goodwin; Laticia Quinlan, Vaikarna McLennan, Nakoya McLennan; Summer Dann, Regan Rankine, Ricki Reid.
Outfield Subs: Taeya Olsen, Alyssa Togo-Paragalli, Gemma Clegg, Nekaya Carpenter
Referee: Morgan Archer
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NZ Maori thrashed the Australian 1st Nationals 5-0 at McLennan Park in the first-ever match played by the natives.
Following are a selection of pics from the encounter
 The squads line up for the national anthems
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 The NZ and Maori flags side-by-side at a football match for the first time ever
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 Haka!
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 Missed penalty!
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  Love that score - spesh when it's over Oz! :-) And the reward for the victors, the McRae Family Trophy
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 A special moment for the teams post-match
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 The Anzac Spirit - football style!
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 Te Iraroa Mauri
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 The vanquished Australian First Nationals can still muster a smile afterwards
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 Ella Golding (c)
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 Grace Jale
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 Amy McQuoid
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 Kalani Walters-Hewson
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 Nakoya McLennan in the eye-catching Oz kit
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 Steph Trowill
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 Meripa Seumenutafa
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 Brooke Wylie
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 Jayden Watts
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 Georgia Butler
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 Taelor Pickering-Parker
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 Macy Brady
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 Match referee Morgan Archer
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 Samantha Butler
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