The Premmy Files – Women’s Prem, Week 2
If the first week turned out to be a little wonky, the second week of the ISPS Handa Women’s Premiership for 2020 seemed to offer a whole lot more steadiness. Three matchups which all, on paper, felt pretty even. But of course that ain’t how things tend to work out in this sport.
The glamour game was down in Christchurch where Canterbury United hosted Auckland in a clash of the two winning teams from the first week. The Pride with a chance to hammer home their ever-replenishing title credentials while Auckland wanted to show that their new-look squad is more than capable of cracking that grand final qualification after missing out a year ago. In a seven week competition things heat up fast and already this game felt like it could have enormous ramifications on the rest of the season.
For the Pride, manager Alana Gunn was without star player Annalie Longo who went off injured against Southern which necessitated their only change from week one... with 16-year old Alyssa Whinham (a current U17s international) starting in her place. Auckland meanwhile made two changes from the 9-1 drubbing they gave to Central as Paige Satchell was missing but was ably replaced by fellow Footy Fern Daisy Cleverly, back from college in the States, while Jess Philpot also came in for Casey Berrier at the back. All set to go then at English Park.
The first chance of the game fell to the Cantabs straight away with Gabi Rennie unable to make contact as the ball found her in the box... though the first real hint of what to unfold was a slick little passing move between Cleverly and Japanese forward Rina Hirano flexing what Auckland had come to do. Obviously Cleverly is all class in the middle there and with Alosi Bloomfield putting in a real shift as a holding mid that gave Cleverly (and Emma Fletcher) the freedom to drift and combine with the attackers. Aaron McFarland already has this team playing some impressive football. They pass it out of defence, there’s heaps of movement up top. And only six minutes into the contest they were ahead as a throw in down the right flank ended with Fletcher (I think) in behind the defence and her cut-back was headed away by a defender but only into the path of Tayla O’Brien who absolutely lashed it into the roof of the net.
Hell of a way to get started but they didn’t let up from there, the power trio of Rina Hirano, Ava Collins & Tayla O’Brien up front were all outstanding in this first half, running at that Cantabs defence and causing havoc all over the show. However it was a pair of set pieces that opened this one right up, both taken by fullback Arisa Takeda. The first was a free kick in the 19th minute which Daisy Cleverly got the tiniest of touches on and then, gotta be honest, keeper Una Foyle made a goober of it as she tried to scoop that ball up. A really soft goal to concede... and two minutes later Cleverly did it again only this time a bit more emphatic as a corner kick was half-cleared in her direction and she volleyed it smoothly into the bottom corner first time. No saving that one. The Pride really might wanna work on their second phase defending though.
So... yeah, 3-0 to Auckland after only 21 minutes (after being 4-0 up after 21 mins last week vs Central). Scintillating stuff against the defending champs. They did cop a blow half an hour in when Emma Leaming had to be replaced with what looked to be a pretty painful hamstring injury. She was struggled to limp off the field so fingers crossed it’s not as bad as it appeared. Maisy Dewell replaced her, with Takeda switching over to the left-hand side. And in fairness to the Pride when they were able to hold the ball in the Auckland half they looked more than decent. Gabi Rennie’s pace and the overlapping runs of Lara Wall in particular were asking questions of an Auckland defence that had a hint of panic about them at times. They just couldn’t get into those areas often enough and instead it was Auckland who scored next, Ava Collins getting in behind and Takeda picking up the scraps as AC’s square ball evaded everyone. Takeda’s shot/cross was blocked on the line but Hirano was there to tap it in. Her third of the season and Auckland’s fourth of the day. 4-0 up at the half against the defending champs on their own turf... you’d have been an insane person to have scripted it.
Naturally the second half was a more routine event after all the drama of that first stanza. The result was already sorted barring a miracle and thus the heat went out of the contest, particularly as Auckland one by one brought off the power trio who’d done so much of the damage. The Pride also made subs... a triple-change at the half with Nicola Dominikovich, Emma Clark & Lily Bray all brought on to sweep up after the carnage that had preceded them. And the Pride did pull one back. Britney Cunningham-Lee gave Lara Wall a shove in the area and Rebecca Lake sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot midway on 65 mins.
Aside from that there were a few other moments of note. Cunningham-Lee almost made amends with a storming run into the Canterbury box but chose to pass instead of shoot and the move broke down, while at the other end Dominikovich broke through but her shot was placed just wide of the post against an on-rushing keeper. Plus both keepers made an excellent save each in the latter stages. Foyle got down low to push away a shot from Cleverly off the left peg going for her hatty, while Lily Alfeld somehow tipped a header from Lily Bray over the bar. Add ‘em all up and you had a 4-1 win for Auckland.
Massive result for AKL’s season with Northern and now Canterbury, both finalists from 2019, having already dropped points. Their path to the final just got a whole lot clearer and Grand Final Town ain’t big enough for the three of them. Auckland have scored 13 goals in two games thanks to nine different goal scorers and it’s hard to see any defence in this league containing them when they’re playing like they did in the first half here (and that was without Paige Satchell!). It’s easy to see that Rino Hirano and Arisa Takeda, their Japanese duo, are absolute stars... while Bloomfield had a really underrated game in the midfield too. This team is legit.
As for the Pride? It’s a rough one but they’re still in a good place and can bounce back with a win away to WaiBOP on Sunday. Annalie Longo will hopefully be back soon and if they can be a tad more decisive at the back and take away those second-chance efforts that Auckland scored from then this could have been a different contest. That three-peat won’t come easy, this was a harsh reminder of that. Also... might wanna try a back three against Auckland if they meet them in the final.
(PS - Why does the Sky Sport Next channel keep deleting/hiding all the non-Canterbury games on Wednesday morning? Bit annoying)
Moving on up the country now and Petone Memorial Park played host as Capital met Southern in a game that might as well have been a quarter-final. Neither of these teams is expected to make the top two but it’s 2020 so gotta leave the window open just a crack... however that miniscule margin of error meant that this was a must-win for either team if that dim flame isn’t to be extinguished in week two. Capital defended bravely last week against Northern, riding their luck at times but striking right on time at the end to snatch a draw... while Southern were second-best in a 4-1 loss to Canterbury. Capital still didn’t have Anna Green out there but they did have Mickey Robertson and last week’s goal-scorer Kaley Ward, making two changes from the Northern game with Olivia Ingham & Molly Woodhead in for Dani Ohlsson & Sarah Alder. Southern made three changes... Tessa Nicol swapping in for Blair Currie in goal while Lena de Ronde & Amy Hislop went from the bench to the starting line-up at the expense of Erin Roxburgh & Emily Morison.
A peek at the final score doesn’t really do this game justice. While Capital battled away with a lot of the ball, Southern’s defence proved a tricky lock to pick with the likes of Rose Morton and Tahlia Roome back there. Southern had a few glimpses on the counter, Capital had a few optimistic sighters... meaning the game was in a patient place right up until Mickey Robertson busted a 33rd minute shot right where it needed to go, the ball falling in her path and she belted it low through the traffic to put her team in front... before Kaley Ward scored a similarly opportunistic strike a few minutes later and Capital were up 2-0.
Maybe a little harsh on Southern... but it was the same thing last week against Canterbury where they weren’t able to find the outlets to ease the pressure on their defence and eventually a couple of those bangers are gonna go in. Southern responded sharply in the second half with a strong 15-20 minutes out of the break but remember that Capital held Northern out for most of that game last week and Southern don’t have nearly the firepower that those ladies do and the elusive goal that’d get them back into the match never really looked like eventuating despite the best efforts of Sam Murrell and Amy Hislop. Georgia Candy had a lot to do with that as well, another cracker for her in goal for Capital.
Then came the late show. Quarter of an hour to go and what had been a bit of a tense game was finally sorted as Kaley Ward headed in a corner kick by Libby Boobyer and five minutes later Charlotte Wilford-Carroll won Capital a penalty and of course it was Ward who stepped up to complete her hat-trick. Superb. And debutant Sam Whyte wrapped it up with a goal five minutes after coming off the bench.
5-0 to Capital and might they be a force to reckon with after all? That squad didn’t necessarily look like it when it was announced as a few notable players had disappeared elsewhere (as well as missing out on a few players who’d been playing in Wellington over the winter – Southern’s Macey Fraser springing to mind there) yet that’s two really impressive results in a row now... including the first clean sheet of the season and thus the best defence despite not yet having the services of their top defender. And of course Kaley Ward with the first hatty of 2020. Four goals in two games for her, too good... should be a belter next week when Capital host Auckland.
Things will need to tighten up rapidly for Southern on the other hand. Conceding nine goals in two games is not the way. They’re clearly missing Mikaela Hunt who’s moved to Canterbury and so far they’ve been unable to unleash their counter-attacking styles in the way they’re trying to. Plenty to work on there.
Finally it’s the game that might decide the wooden spoon: Central hosting WaiBOP at Massey University. The latter who had a bye first up, the former who were dismantled 9-1 by that rampant Auckland side. Two changes for Central with Gorgi van Lienen and last week’s goal-scorer Georgie Furnell replacing Abby Rankin and the suspended Jana Niedermayr. WaiBOP’s team was very clearly dominated by the FFDP duo of Kelli Brown & Grace Wisnewski, between them carrying a lot of weight in terms of those pesky attacking aspects of the game.
For a game which featured the two bottom teams from last season, this was quite the spectacle. Especially in the first half as they went back and forth and back again. Then forth again. It was Charlotte Lancaster who got the scoring started with a remarkable goal. Winning possession for Central on the left flank barely over the half-way line she took a few steps with the ball then noticed WaiBOP’s keeper Aimee Feinberg-Danieli out of position (understandably given the ball was nowhere near her goal) and with a low strike from way out here...
... she was able to curl the ball around and in. Ninth minute of the game. Fast-forward a step and they were still 1-0 up after 21 minutes which is notable because against Auckland they were already down 4-0 at that stage.
But WaiBOP levelled up after half an hour. A ball over the top was held up nicely by Chelsea Elliott who squared it into the road of Grace Wisnewski. Maybe Central coulda closed her down just a step more but nah once Wisnewski struck that one it was on a laser track for the top corner.
The hits kept coming. Mikaela Boxall restored the lead for Central on 41 minutes... but immediately WaiBOP countered with Kelli Brown showing plenty of expertise in stepping into a spot of space and picking out the bottom corner from the edge of the area. At which point we were on pace for a thrilling 4-4 draw but the second half assumed more of a sense of normality. Both teams have chances to win... neither team scored any of them.
2-2 was the way it ended with both teams probably a little relieved to put a point on the board nice and early. Especially Central given how badly things went last week and also especially after Kaitlyn Watts was sent off with seven minutes left for her second yellow card. You get the feeling that WaiBOP would have preferred to have had another game under their belts before this one, the bye last week maybe counted against them, but they still shaded that second half. Getting their star forwards on the scoresheet already is a big positive so just gotta figure out ways to feed them more and more.
Here’s how that table is looking after two weeks...
Tasty. Very tasty.
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