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13/09/92
Vintage Eden Display Approaches Sublimity
by Jeremy Ruane
Forty minutes of near-sublime football on the impeccable Onepoto Domain pitch set Panasonic Batteries Eden up for a comprehensive 4-0 triumph over ANZ Colour Card Glenfield Rovers in Pepsi Premier Knock-out semi-final action on September 13.
The match was a personal triumph for Gina O’Shea, who netted all four goals, but her contribution was just one-eleventh of what was the definitive complete team performance, with Lyn Pedruco, Michele Cox, Paulette Wheeler, Terry McCahill, Delwyn Lucas and Tarah Cox also in sparkling form, as the trophy holders relished the carpet-like conditions.
Rovers were on the rack inside the first ten minutes, as the sheer quality of Eden’s football left even the most ardent watching Glenfield, Ellerslie and Pakuranga supporters drooling with pleasure.
Within seconds of the kick-off, Beth Clark and Pedruco twisted and turned defenders, and Maia Jackman’s cross was perfectly placed as Clark homed in on the far post, only to be edged out by Jean Werton.
Three minutes in, Michele Cox intercepted a Julie Fleming pass and played an instinctive through-ball for O’Shea to control, then coolly chip Carol Weatherhead for the opener.
The score was doubled three minutes later, and again, another example of efficient team-work was responsible. Michele Cox rose between two defenders to flick on for Lucas, who fed Clark. Her cross was back-heeled on the far post by Jackman for O’Shea to drill home the second.
More excellent approach play created the third goal, in the nineteenth minute. The Cox sisters tackled with ferocity, Clark’s off-the-ball running and defence-splitting pass created the opening, and Weatherhead was again caught out by O’Shea’s lob.
Shell-shocked, Glenfield struggled to get a grip on proceedings, and rarely threatened. A Claire Nicholson right-wing raid - the cross dealt with by Wheeler, and two long-range efforts, from Jill Corner and Nicholson, were the closest Rovers came to troubling Michelle Townsley throughout the match.
Eden, meanwhile, were rampant. Megan Cooke was finding O’Shea to be a real handful, while the midfield match-up of Corner and Michele Cox was going heavily in favour of the Eden playmaker. With fellow midfield powerhouse Pedruco also in peak form, Rovers simply had no answer.
Their succumbing to a fourth goal, right on half-time, came as no surprise. O’Shea clipped the ball, on receipt of a marvellous defence-splitting pass from McCahill, over Weatherhead, and the scoring rout was complete.
There could have been more - both Clark and Michele Cox were narrowly astray, while McCahill saw Cooke clear her effort off the line. Jackman was closer still, her bar-battering chip deserving of better fate, as Eden coasted through the second half.
Coach Barbara Cox commended her charges afterwards. “I’m really proud of the team today. They played superbly”.
Eden: Townsley; Wheeler, McCahill, King; Jackman (Jensen), M. Cox, Pedruco, T. Cox, Lucas; Clark, O’Shea
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