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Rd 06
Champions End Rangers' Winning Start
by Jeremy Ruane
Reigning Lotto Northern Premier Women's League champions Auckland United brought West Coast Rangers' winning start to the 2024 campaign to an end at Keith Hay Park on April 27, prevailing 3-1 in a game which, for a top-of-the-table clash, disappointed on a number of fronts.
For a game of this stature, one would - and has come to - expect a superior degree of quality football on show, as well as more intensity and hunger than would be seen in a, shall we say, less challenging fixture.
Then there are key elements of the game itself - passing accuracy and precision, option-taking and technical prowess chief amongst them. Every single one of the attributes mentioned in this and the previous paragraph were sorely lacking in this encounter, which, for this writer, came nowhere near to living up to its pre-game billing.
The passing in particular was borderline atrocious, especially in the first half. You could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times five or more passes were strung together during the course of the ninety minutes.
As a spectacle, this was a very poor advert for NZ women's football, and the best league in the country. Much better is expected, because much better than this has been delivered in the past by both combatants in this fixture.
With the scoreless first half drawing to a close, and the phrase "and both lucky to get nil" having been furiously scribbled in a notebook, Chloe Knott made a goal out of nothing, with Rene Wasi the beneficiary, her lobbed effort too much for the retreating Emily Couchman to handle, affording United the lead.
They doubled it on the hour, Danielle Canham breaking up an attack before picking out Alexis Cook. Charlotte Roche pointed to where she wanted the ball played, and it duly arrived, allowing to outpace the defence and fire across Couchman into the far corner.
Rangers responded through substitute Anelise Karakostas, who beat Hannah Mitchell to a Maisy Dewell cross and headed into an untended net halfway through the half. But United needed just four minutes to restore their ultimately decisive two-goal advantage, Wasi ramming the ball home from close range at the second attempt upon being picked out by Cook's inch-perfect cross on the run.
The result afforded Auckland a one-point lead over Rangers, a result of the title-holders winning their rescheduled first round encounter with Hibiscus Coast 6-0 at Keith Hay Park on Anzac Day eve, thanks to goals from Penny Brill, Kate McConnell, Angela Pivac, Saskia Vosper and Charlotte Roche, who struck a brace inside the opening eleven minutes of the match.
Rangers are five points clear of Eastern Suburbs and Western Springs, after both suffered surprise 2-1 defeats to teams in the bottom half of the table. For the second time in six months, Ellerslie lowered "The Lilywhites"' colours on home turf, this time prevailing at Madills Farm on Anzac Day. Hollie Leona broke the deadlock halfway through the first half, scoring an "Olympico" - direct from a corner.
Three minutes before the interval, captain Leigh Aitken doubled "The Ponies"' lead, just as Suburbs were threatening to restore parity. They were
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desperate to claw their way back into proceedings in the second spell, with Petra Wedlake producing a superb save at the feet of Sofia Garcia before the prolific markswoman halved the deficit eight minutes from time.
That set up a grandstand finish, with Suburbs throwing everything at their East Auckland rivals in the time remaining. But Ellerslie held firm to score their first win of the campaign, and boy, did they need it!
2-1 was also the outcome at Riverhills Park, where Fencibles United came from behind to lower Western Springs' colours, "The Hoops" having taken the lead through Megan Lee halfway through the first half.
The visitors were missing the talents of Rebecca Burrows, but Fencibles were similarly challenged - no Zoe Brazier this week. But "Fencies" came on strong in the second spell, Millie Loxton levelling the scores before captain Rosie Missen sealed the deal eleven minutes from time.
The battle of the bottom two saw Hibiscus Coast score a decisive 5-0 win at Porritt Stadium over a Hamilton Wanderers team which was reduced to ten on the stroke of half-time, referee Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh dismissing Abbey Venmore for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Danica Urlich-Beech potted the resulting penalty, the second goal of her hat-trick in a match which also saw captain Stacey Martin and substitute Lauren Henry on target for "The Coasters", for whom this was a maiden win of the season.
As well as being outnumbered for the entire second half, "The Blue Army" also fielded a stand-in goalkeeper in Grace Cox, Sophie Campbell having been withdrawn at the interval. This result leaves them in desperate need of a win just to stay in touch with Coast and Ellerslie, but Hamilton are already looking odds-on for relegation at season's end.
If Friday night football's your thing, there's a feast of it this week, with three seventh round fixtures in the Lotto Northern Premier Women's League to choose from. "The Hoops" host Auckland at Seddon Fields, while Rangers welcome "The Lilywhites" to Fred Taylor Park on a night Fencibles make the lengthy trek from out east to the North Harbour Stadium tigerturf, where "The Coasters" lie in wait.
All three games commence at 7.30pm, while the lone game on Sunday is a 3pm affair twixt "The Ponies" and Hamilton at Michaels Avenue. If the visitors don't head home with at least a point from that match, in short, they're in trouble.
Details:
Auckland United 6 (C. Roche (2, 11), P. Brill (57), S. Vosper (68), A. Pivac (77), K. McConnell (88)), Hibiscus Coast 0 HT 2-0
Auckland United 3 (R. Wasi (45, 72), C. Roche (60)), West Coast Rangers 1 (A. Karakostas (68)) HT 1-0
Eastern Suburbs 1 (S. Garcia (82)), Ellerslie 2 (H. Leona (23), L. Aitken (42)) HT 0-2
Fencibles United 2 (M. Loxton (57), R. Missen (79)), Western Springs 1 (M. Lee (24)) HT 0-1
Hamilton Wanderers 0, Hibiscus Coast 5 (D. Urlich-Beech (6, 45 pen, 65), S. Martin (35), L. Henry (71)) HT 0-3
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