Flying Kiwis – August 31

Screen Shot 08-31-21 at 07.54 AM.JPG

Chris Wood - Burnley FC (English Premier League)

There were six changes for Burnley in their midweek EFL Cup trip to face Newcastle United, enough to freshen things up after two league defeats but not enough to tank things in a winnable tie. New additions Wayne Hennessey, Aaron Lennon, and Nathan Collins were all involved but so were regulars Ben Mee, Jack Cork, Dwight McNeil... and Chris Wood. The Woodsman joined by Jay Rodriguez up top. Newcastle meanwhile only kept two starters from the previous weekend’s game and maybe that had a lot to do with why it was such a dull contest in the first half. Jeff Hendrick was about the only bloke who turned up to play, trying to make a statement against his old Clarets team with his shooting boots well and truly dusted off.

Hendrick blew a belter of a chance soon after the break, hitting it straight at Hennessey who made a great save from about eight yards out. Joelinton also scuffed one in that same move, while Dwight Gayle would hit the crossbar from a tight angle soon after. But Burnley still packed a punch themselves. Chris Wood had to battle through a crowd of bodies to get his head on a corner kick and very nearly scored except keeper Freddie Woodman’s positioning was sharp for the save. Nope, no way through for either team. With no extra time in EFL Cup games it was straight to penalties and up stepped Chris Wood with effort number one and same as he always does he buried it.

This was the seventh time that Wood has been involved in a penalty shootout as a pro, both club and international, and after ballooning one for Leeds early in his tenure there in the first of those seven shootouts he has scored in six in a row (he’s also scored 16 penalties in a row from in-game scenarios). Hennessey then denied Allan Saint-Maximin and later on saved Miguel Almiron’s attempt as Burnley took it 4-3 on spotties after a 0-0 draw to advance to the third round where they’ll host Rochdale.

Then it was on to a Premier League match-up with Leeds United, Chris Wood against his old club. Always a funky situation, even for someone with as many former clubs as The Woodsman has, and a little after the hour mark he had something to really celebrate. This had been an odd sort of game between two teams with contrasting styles and not a lot of current form. Burnley trying to get out of a slump (that’s seen them fail to win at home for 11 games) with physicality and directness while Leeds’ poor start required guile and energy and heaps of passing and moving.

Wood was up for this one. Working hard to help set up an Ashley Barnes chance early that was tipped wide, then with a little penalty appeal for a tug on his shirt from a set piece. He headed a corner over the top (though Patrick Bamford’s header off his own post was the closest call in the first half). Always promising to see him involved. Then came the goal. James Tarkowski had just hit the crossbar with a header and the ball stayed alive, leading to a Matt Lowton shot that Wood cheekily diverted past the keeper. A small touch but a decisive one (Woodsy: “Lucky I didn’t clip my toenails yesterday!”) for what it turns out was the 30,000th ever Premier League goal...

Up and running for the new campaign. Unfortunately Leeds, when they’re clicking, are a pretty bloody good team and they’d been controlling possession throughout even if Burnley had created the better chances. You only need one good one sometimes. Less than five minutes to go and a Raphinha cross was blocked by Ben Mee, fell back to Shackleton, was saved by Pope, bounced off another defender, and rebounded to Patrick Bamford at the far post for the tap in. Random pinball football. Leeds’ first two shots on target coming in that move. Yet that was the moment. 1-1 the final score and both sides remain winless after three games going into the international window.

Chris Wood: “It’s little bit disappointing, just in the way, going up and then conceding late on. It’s a bit of a kick in the teeth. That’s life. I think we’ve done extremely well. The team was fantastic. I don’t know if we deserved the win, but I thought we ground it out making ourselves a good option for a win.”

Burnley have completed the signing of Ivorian international winger Max Cornet however so there’s a bit of excitement about him, especially from a striker like Wood hoping to dine out on the service. There’s only a day left in the transfer window so things will move fast and elements of this article could go out of date quickly... there’ll be a Flying Kiwis Transfer Season Roundup in a day or two to cover all that. This bad boy’s all about the games.

Up Next: Off ‘til Tuesday 14 September when they’re away to Everton at 7am (NZT)

Joe Bell & Gianni Stensness – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)

The rumours have been rife. Late last week it was widely reported that English Championship club Barnsley had tabled a bid somewhere in the vicinity of half a million pounds, a bid that was rejected amidst talk that there was at least one other (unnamed) Championship club interested in his services. Serious business... and with only a day remaining in the transfer window now – and an international break imminent, meaning no pesky distracting games to get in the way of the transfer talk – we can surely anticipate a little more haggling and bartering to come.

Maybe that’ll mean Joe Bell ends up leaving, maybe it won’t. But there was definitely the possibility as he walked out to face Rosenborg at home that this would be his 33rd and final Eliteserien game. This was a big one too, Rosenborg are one of the better sides in Norway and they came into this one on the back of four straight league wins as well as 7-0 and 11-1 victories in the cup. They’ve been sizzling and at half time of this one they were up 1-0. Viking arguably had the better of those 45 mins but it was Rosengard who dominated stoppage time. Third added-on minute and a free kick was repelled but Olaus Jair Skarsem collected the loose ball and circled the defensive line from the right edge at pace then slammed in from a tight angle.

Not ideal. However Viking have been going alright themselves lately and after a couple HT subs they were able to turn things around in astounding fashion. Starting with that 54th minute equaliser from Joe Bell. He’d had a crack from range earlier in the game which was saved comfortably enough down low and he’s been threatening for several weeks to score something amazing. Turns out he was saving it for when it mattered most. Sharp work to win the ball before Rosenborg could get it away and then drifting past defenders he lashed it into the top corner via his left boot, just a brilliant goal and, as the saying goes, the crowd went wild.

And if you thought that was good, then how about the winner from Zlatko Tripic ten minutes later? Took it down on his chest on the edge of the area and volleyed it in off the bounce. Bell had taken the initial corner which had been repelled to Tripic’s vicinity (can’t call that an assist though, that’d just be greedy). A ripper of a strike.

From that point on it was all about closing things out for a massive three points. Bell picked up a yellow card in the 73rd minute for doing some tough guy stuff. Then on came the reinforcements...

Gianni Stensness with the last quarter of an hour, coming on in the midfield three, to make his club debut. Straight in there at the first opportunity and a lovely thing that he got to play alongside his fellow Flying Kiwis rep given that this might be the only chance he gets if Barnsley can stump up a larger offer (might need another zero after that goal). Or the various scouts from Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands who were also reportedly paying close attention to this game.

And you know what? Carl Justesen boosted one over the top while it was still 1-1 but after that Rosenborg didn’t majorly threaten. Stefano Vecchia fired wide. Same dude took a free kick on the edge of the area in stoppage time but hit the wall, then Bell rushed out to close down the rebound effort from Erlend Dahl Reitan and deflect it out for a corner. Then deep into the fifth minute of stoppage time Reitan hit one wide on the turn and, well, that was it. Viking held on for the 2-1 win.

VFK are six points off top, and only three points off third, in sixth place. Only behind Rosenborg on goal difference. For a team that’s conceded more goals than any other outside the relegation zone they’re really getting it cooking these days... it’ll almost be a pity if Bell does depart, although that’s what Gianni Stensness is for. Or Bell could stay and golden times can continue in Stavanger. Either way.

Up Next: Sunday 12 September at 4am, away to Stabæk (NZT)

Emma Rolston - Arna-Bjørnar (Norwegian Toppserien)

That’s the way to do it. Beating the offside trap with a clever run (already combining nicely with fellow striker Meryll Abrahamsen), staying calm under pressure to round the keeper, then a deceptively sweet finish to beat the defender trying to get back to the line. A 22nd minute goal for Emma Rolston in her third league appearance for the club she signed for at the start of the month and oh would you look at that it also ended up being the winner for a key three points against Stabæk.

Arna-Bjørnar are in a decent position after a couple recent wins but the only way you get to stay comfortable is by beating teams near or below you. Stabæk are bottom of the ladder and are getting desperate, hence a contest with plenty of spice but which was always gonna be defined by a few sparse moments of quality. Rollo provided one of them. Goalkeeper Moa Edrud provided the rest with a series of crucial saves. No doubt that Stabæk did enough to at least get a point out of the match, they even hit the crossbar late on, but 1-0 was the way it ended. Hard-earned win for A-B. Get in.

Up Next: Away to Sandviken on Sunday at 4am (NZT)

Ryan Thomas – PSV Eindhoven (Dutch Eredivisie)

The wait for another kiwi male in the UEFA Champions League will last another year, sadly. This after PSV Eindhoven simply could not find a way through a 10-man Benfica team at home, no matter what they tried. They’d been in such flawless home form this season but when they needed a goal to take the tie into extra time they came up short. The consolation prize is that they still get to drop into the Europa League group stage now but let’s be honest that ain’t what they were dreaming about.

Benfica held a 2-1 lead after the first leg in Portugal, which you will have read about in last week’s edition. PSV came out unchanged from that game but struggled to get into the match against a Benfica team, under veteran gaffer Jorge Jesus, who knew that a clean sheet would put them through. They were ensuring that whistle blew loudly and often with plenty of roughness... but the strategy blew up in their faces only a third of the way into the game when Lucas Verissimo was set off for a second bookable offence. PSV would be a man up for the remaining 58 minutes.

And yet they still could not break down the defences. With ten men, Benfica became even more conservative. They weren’t given a choice. Rafa Silva did an insane amount of running around alone up front as an outlet but mostly it was about keeping as many men behind the ball as possible. Jan Vertongen came off the bench to bolster the backline. Nicolas Otamendi had a blinder (just as he did in the Copa America final). PSV were able to get the ball into wide areas easily enough yet Cody Gakpo and Noni Madueke were finding it tricky to do much from there. Long shots weren’t working. Crosses weren’t finding a target. Minutes kept ticking by and PSV were running out of time.

Then came the moment they’d been waiting for, a giveaway playing out of the back by the Portuguese side and Cody Gakpo was able to get in behind. He drew in the keeper and then squared for Eran Zahavi in the middle, the Israeli striker who’d been scoring for fun recently... but Zahavi smashed it into the crossbar. All it needed was a touch and he gave it a thunderous uppercut...

E9lRNNiWQAMwmkm.jpg

Ryan Thomas wasn’t necessarily expected to play but he was summoned with a minute plus stoppage time to go and chucked on at left back. One of those emergency subs where you’re just trying to get all the attacking weapons you’ve got out there on the field at once: Thomas can cross the ball so on he went.

But there wasn’t time to get much done other than earning a random yellow card for trying to rush the ball back for a free kick on the edge of the area (which Zahavi took and struck the wall with). PSV finished the game with 20 shots, 8 of which were on target, though not too many of them were truly threatening. It was that one Zahavi chance that stood out and it came from a Benfica error. Absolutely remarkable backs-to-the-wall performance from Benfica as they held on for the 0-0 draw and booked their place in the UCL group stage.

Coincidence: these two teams actually played each other in the European Cup final of 1988 with that game also ending 0-0 (in Stuttgart) though with PSV winning 6-5 on penalties to lift their only European Cup. They won the treble that season under Guus Hiddink. Nil-all wasn’t good enough this time however.

No time to mope. On the weekend it was back to the Eredivie yarns and if PSV don’t wanna risk that level of UCL heartbreak again then the best way to go about it is to qualify directly by winning the league. After how they rolled Ajax in the Johan Cruijff Shield they’ll rate themselves a chance too.

Roger Schmidt made only two changes to his team from the Besiktas game to the Groningen game, both in the defence. Cody Gakpo gave them a beautiful start when he scored in the seventh minute with a fizzing strike in off the post after taking a quick throw in himself and collecting it back. The early goal exactly what they needed after the midweek... but then they got sloppy. Two very soft goals for Cyril Ngonge later and Grongingen were up 2-1 with twenty minutes played. There were a couple mini-chances to make it three as well.

No need to panic. In the 27th minute they were level again as André Ramahlo won a powerful header from a corner kick and it would have been his first goal for the club had Mohamed El Hankouri not tried to head it clear off the line only to deflect it past his own keeper for the own goal instead. Central defender Ramahlo has been brilliant for them since signing on a free – linking up with his old mate Roger Schmidt for the third time after Schmidt coached him at both Bayer Leverkusen and RB Salzburg. He deserved a goal... and he’d get one deep in stoppage time. Corner kick from the same side, header won in the same area, but this time Ramahlo put it the other side of the goalie and got to keep it for himself.

PSV started the second half with momentum and Eran Zahavi eventually extended the lead with a slick finish into the bottom corner on 55 mins. That pretty much clinched it. A couple slippery moments in there but they didn’t concede again. Ryan Thomas came on for the last six minutes. His fellow sub Bruma scored a blinder right at the end to make it 5-2. Three games in and three wins for PSV, the only team left with a perfect record.

As for the Europa League campaign, here’s what the draw served up...

Screen Shot 08-30-21 at 12.19 PM.JPG

That looks tricky. Meanwhile there have been some rumours that Ryan Thomas won’t be involved in all that with Fortuna Sittard trying to get him in on loan. It’d mean more minutes but it’d mean no Europa League at the same time. Mixed emotions there but the rumours only lasted a day before Fortuna Sittard were able to close in on other targets. It’s possible another team will get on the phone. We’ll let that one simmer.

Up Next: AZ vs PSV on Sunday 12 September at 7am (NZT)

Matthew Garbett – Torino (Italian Serie A)

Matty Garbett left the Olympics after a couple unexpected starts – having only initially been named as a travelling reserve – amidst a flurry of transfer rumours. Read a bit more about that here, he’s a guy with a very active agency behind him so it’s always been a grain of salt thing (not that long ago it was Manchester City he was being linked with).

But, while you can understand a dude being eased back in after a big tournament experience like that, five club games since the last OlyWhites fixture we were still yet to see Matthew Garbett even included in a matchday squad for Falkenbergs. It was beginning to get rather suspicious. Then these yarns began emerging out of Italy...

Talk of “interest” from clubs like Brentford, Watford, and Crystal Palace are rumours. Talk of a bid being accepted, of MG having already done a medical, of a 15% sell-on fee and a contract until 2025... those aren’t rumours those are cold hard facts. The oil was good.

Thus one day later...

All sorted. There were thanks and good wishes from Falkenbergs and now the 19 year old has gotta stop those Duolingo Swedish lessons and get cracking on the Italian ones. Say what you will about some of the manufactured rumours but they’ve worked a treat. One of the more exciting prospects in the kiwi game at the moment and one of the more exciting transfers we’ve had in a wee while (and there’s been no shortage of competition there this month either). There’s even a fan comp!

In fairness, you can see why he/his agent were keen to get away from Falkenbergs. They have won their last two but that’s only been enough to get them off the bottom of the Superettan table with a single point to spare. This directly after getting relegated in last place from the Allsvenskan in 2020. Considering that Joel Stevens and Francis De Vries are getting regular games for a Värnamo team that just got promoted to the Superettan and are top of the table after 18 matches... that’s not a good sign for the trajectory of FFF. Garbett played 20 league games for the club, six of them starts. No goals but he did serve up an assist or two and he has scored in cup competition for them.

Of course it will most likely be a wee while before Garbs is in the picture to play Serie A – something that no New Zealand man has yet achieved. He’ll initially be joining the Primavera squad, the under-19s, whose season began about two days after he signed with a homer vs Roma. Didn’t go so flash as Torino lost 4-0... though Garbs did get nearly half an hour out there as a substitute. Replaced the number ten Dennis Stojkovic. Immediately amongst it.

The Torino first team meanwhile have begun with a 2-1 loss to Atalanta followed by a 2-1 loss to Fiorentina. They’re coming off a season in which they only narrowly avoided relegation and their preseason wasn’t too flash either. Then they needed penalties to get past a 10-man Cremonese team in the cup which led to them being booed off the field. Ivan Jurić is in as coach this term, picked up after a couple impressive seasons keeping Hellas Verona in the top flight despite only having a tiny budget to work with. Among their playing crew include old mate Simone Zaza, formerly a teammate of Winston Reid’s at West Ham, and Ricardo Rodriguez, briefly a teammate of Ryan Thomas at PSV. Andrea Belotti is their star man... supposing he stays.

Up Next: Torino U19s vs AC Milan U19s, 12 September TBD (NZT)

Hannah Wilkinson – Melbourne City (Australian W-League)

She’s played almost everywhere else - from university in the USA to pro tenures in Sweden, Portugal, and Germany – yet up until now Hannah Wilkinson had never partaken in a W-League campaign. But she’s about to. Signing with Melbourne City no less, where she’ll play alongside Footy Ferns teammate Rebekah Stott for the 2021-22 season.

It’s an opportunity to play closer to home and it’s also an opportunity to show what she’s capable of for a strong team (albeit after a poor season last time in which City missed the playoffs) where she’ll hopefully get plenty of attacking support. Coming off half a year with relegated MSV Duisburg and an overmatched and underprepared Football Ferns team at the Olympics that should be a happy change. Plenty of players have used the W-League as a launching pad into exciting overseas opportunities (like Olivia Chance going to Celtic for example), while it’s also a strong enough league that it’s a destination in and of itself... and would be a lot more so if there was a longer season. Wilkie’s the fifth NZer signed up for the upcoming term after Claudia Bunge, Liz Anton, Paige Satchell, and Rebekah Stott.

MCY coach Rado Vidosic: “It’s exciting to have a player with a resume like Hannah’s join us for the upcoming season. She’ll be a goal-scoring threat in the final third for us and she has shown her quality in Europe and on the international stage plenty of times in recent years. Hannah will provide us with some crucial experience and leadership on the pitch and we expect her to complement our style of play well. We look forward to her arriving in Melbourne and joining us for pre-season.”

Up Next: Waiting on that fixture list but preseason will start soon

Katie Rood - Southampton (English National League Southern Premier)

Transfer season keeps on trucking. After a couple years at Lewes in the Championship, Katie Rood has stepped down a division to sign with Southampton in the National League Division 1 - which sounds a little uninspiring until you take a deeper look at the exciting trajectory of Southampton’s women’s side.

Since being founded/revived in 2017 (better late than never), they’ve been instantly and consistently successful. They won 11 out of 12 games to win the Hampshire County Division 1 title in 2017-18 to gain promotion. Around the same time they applied unsuccessfully to be added directly to the Championship but Manchester United got that spot ahead of them so they’ve had to continue down the old fashioned path up the division. No dramas, next season they won 18 out of 18 games to lift the Southern Region Women's Football League trophy in and earn another promotion.

Unfortunately then a pandemic came along and the last two seasons have been blighted by cancellations with neither of them able to be completed. This was in the National League, the fourth tier of competition, which is split into four regional groups. Southampton were leading the South West group with 10 wins and a draw from 11 matches when that one got canned in 2019-20. Then it was four wins from four in 2020-21 when that one had to be stopped.

But the FA decided there would be promotion and relegation after all and it’d be done by application, with a criteria that’d be 75% on field and 25% off field. Southampton applied... and were successful in being pushed up into the National League Southern. Sweet as. Part of the two-pronged third tier – with the champions of the Northern and Southern divisions playing off at the end of the season for promotion. That’s what Katie Rood’s getting amongst. Upwardly mobile. Good investment and integration. Plus they’d already won their first three games at this level when she joined, keeping them undefeated in league football for more than three years.

And wouldn’t you know it she made her debut for the club mere hours after the transfer was announced, coming off the bench for the last eight minutes of a 2-0 win against Chichester & Selsey in the third game of the season. Ella Pusey scored a double before Rood replaced her. This from the Southampton website’s match report...

It wasn’t to be a hat-trick for Pusey, who was replaced on 82 minutes as Katie Rood made her debut for the club following her move from Lewes FC. The debutant made an instant impact, bursting down the left wing and beating her defender before firing towards goal; cue an appreciative round of applause from the travelling Saints fans.”

Then a few days later she got appearance number two. On for a dozen minutes against Gillingham, once again replacing Pusey although this time Ella Pusey did score that hat-trick. Granted two of her teammates were subbed off on doubles. If that sounds like a lot of goals then yeah you’d be right there, chieftain. 9-0 was the final score as Southampton’s loooong unbeaten streak was never in doubt. It was already seven-nil when Roodie entered the fray.

Up one division in the Championship, Liverpool got their season underway with a disappointing one going down 1-0 to London City Lionesses. A Rhianna Jarrett penalty in the 62nd min was the difference there. Meikayla Moore, who remember was at the Olympics up until a month ago, was only an unused sub. The Women’s Super League kicks off next week.

Up Next: Hounslow vs Southampton at 1am on Sunday (NZT)

Callum McCowatt, Elijah Just & Dalton Wilkins - FC Helsingør (Danish Division 1)

Every game, man. If it’s not one of them then it’s two of them getting on the scoresheet. On this occasion we’re talking about a midweek game against HB Køge and after Kevin Stuhr Ellegaard had made a quality save early on to keep things even, FCH got out on the attack mode and remained in that motion for most of the rest of the way. Callum McCowatt was looking dangerous. Nikolaj Hansen headed off the crossbar. Finally they got what they deserved in the 25th minute and it was Eli Just combining with McCowatt for the give and go and then driving it low and in via a hefty parry from the keeper. Could probably have saved it but it was a smooth move and worthy of a goal.

McCowatt nearly had another assist soon after but Liam Jordan couldn’t put the finishing touch on it. Should really have been further ahead already but ‘twas only 1-0 at the half and that left them vulnerable as HB Køge started the second half with a head of steam. Similar slow start to the second spell as had cost them in their previous game. Yet this time they got through it unscathed and were again the ascendant team for the last half hour. Not sure how they didn’t score a second, and there was a breathless moment or two near the end having left the door open, but they got outta there with the win they wanted. 1-0 to Helsingør. 66 minutes for McCowatt and 86 for Just. Dalton Wilkins wasn’t included in the matchday squad.

After that it was Jammerbugt away, FCH seeking to keep that unbeaten start going against one of the teams looking likely for the bottom half... and it was a damn near perfect start. Callum McCowatt dashing free at the near post to flick Daniel Norouzi’s in off his head for a fourth minute lead. They’d already gone close with Sebastian Czajkowski squaring (towards a late run from McCowatt) when he probably shoulda just backed himself after already rounding the keeper... but quarter of an hour later it was two as Czajkowski popped up on the end of a deep corner, in off his knee by the looks.

Jammerbugt were playing deep trying to soak things up and they didn’t seem to have a backup plan so this game was basically sorted already. McCowatt had a half chance late in the first stanza. Eli Just had a couple close calls early in the second. Then both combined to set up Czajkowski for the third on 51 mins. CMC slipping it through into the path of Just’s overlapping run from the left and he squared it for Czaj to polish off (albeit awkwardly).

Just was subbed off in the 67th minute (Wilkins again not in the squad, btw) so no goal for him this day. There were plenty to go around though. FCH won two penalties in the last quarter of an hour, with Tonni Adamnsen and Peter Christiansen taking one each. McCowatt had won the second one but he missed a spottie a couple games back so fair enough, back of the queue. Adamsen then scored another in the 89th minute to complete the rout.

The one thing that’d been missing from FCH’s season to date was excessive goals – five previous wins had given them a goal difference of only +7 despite zero defeats – but you can’t say that any longer. With Lyngby losing 2-1 to Horsens that means they’re alone at the summit of the table. A 6-0 win, how about that? (Btw, their Olympian bud Marko Stamenic was on the bench for FC Copenhagen this weekend too – first time he’s featured in a matchday squad for FCK this season – the way things are going they could be playing against each other next season in the top flight of Denmark).

If you’re keeping count at home, that’s a Just goal assisted by McCowatt in the first game and a McCowatt goal and assist plus a Just assist in the second game. Granted, different sources have different ideas of what constitutes an assist and it doesn’t seem McCowatt was given one for winning the penalty. No dramas. He’s still got 4 goals and 2 assists since in five games since returning from the Olympics. Eli Just has 3 goals and 1 assist in the same space of time. At least one of them has scored in each of those five games and in two of them they’ve both scored. This is factory-quantities of production.

Up Next: Danish Cup second round away to Skjold on Thursday at 4am (NZT)

Nik Tzanev – AFC Wimbledon (English League One)

Nik Tzanev started the first game of last season away to Northampton Town, a 2-2 draw, but if that was supposed to be a golden dawn for his career then it wasn’t. One further cup game in the bag and it was back to the bench for months on end as has been the case so many times for him. But he got his big break in April and went on to finally nail down the starter’s spot at AFC Wimbledon so when he came up against Northampton in the League Cup second round last midweek... safe to say plenty had changed for him in the interim.

This game was also coming off a pair of games last week in which Tzanev was superb but the Dons didn’t win either thanks to massively deflected goals. Shocking luck but stick around long enough and it’ll come back around. Against Northampton, Tzanev had his work cut out. The hosts may have been relegated last season but they were the better team throughout here (both teams rotated from the weekend’s league games tbf), ramping up the pressure as the game went on. Couple very important Tzanev saves in there. Then despite all that in the fifth minute of stoppage time, with penalties on the horizon, Anthony Hartigan had a crack from thirty yards out and the Northampton keeper dove over the top of it. Oopsies. Late winner for the Dons and a clean sheet for Tzanev to take them into the third round of the League Cup.

And their opponents in the third round? None other than Arsenal FC away. Imagine the scenes if they can spring an upset there!

No time to dwell on that yet though, Ipswich Town were hosting the Dons on the weekend and it was a scoreless first half with Tzanev gathering a low shot off Kyle Edwards which was about the only notable moment there. Neither team had exactly been free-flowin’ coming into this game so no surprises. But then things went wild in the second half. A dumb (if soft) penalty was given away by Wimbledon on the break with Tzanev sent the wrong way from the spot by Joe Pigott... who had joined Ipswich from AFC Wimbledon between seasons. Then within two minutes a great strike from Wes Burns doubled the Ipswich lead.

Ah but there’s always a twist in the tale when the Dons are playing. Ben Heneghan hit back swiftly in the 58th minute with a header after a deep free kick delivery. Then it was all a matter of which team would score next, if any. It took a while but in the fifth minute of stoppage time Heneghan won another set piece header from a similar area and this one wasn’t gathered up by the goalie with Jack Rudoni pouncing to snatch a 2-2 draw. Ipswich are still without a win. AFCW are sitting mid-table with 6 points from 5 games. The stoppage time bandits.

Up Next: Sunday at 2am vs Oxford United (NZT)

Sarpreet Singh - SSV Jahn Regensburg (German 2. Liga)

Eh, it was bound to happen sooner or later: SSV Jahn had a dud game. So it goes. Away against St Pauli they weren’t really at the races, there’s not even much to say. It wasn’t until the 74th minute that Guido Burgstaller finally scored, the same bloke adding another in the 89th minute, but Regensburg didn’t create hardly anything all game and were stuck defending in their own half for large portions at a time. The first goal came from St Pauli’s 19th shot attempt of the afternoon.

Again, they were bound to lose one eventually. They’re still top of the table and have got the international break to regroup with a particular grudge match to follow for Sarpreet Singh against the team he was loaned out to last season: FC Nürnberg. Singh played 83 minutes against St Pauli and picked up a yellow card. Also, if you didn’t hear it’s been revealed he signed a sneaky one-year extension to his Bayern contract after the FCN debacle last term. Bayern effectively said: let’s run it back on that second year. So that happened.

Up Next: Jahn Regensburg vs Nürnberg, Sunday 12 Sep at 11.30pm (NZT)

Liberato Cacace – Sint-Truiden (Belgian Pro League)

After only one win in five games, STVV finally broke the drought with a 1-0 win away to Cercle Brugge. New signing Daichi Hayashi scored in only the seventh minute of the game with a goalkeeping error helping him out there. Cacace was back in there at left back (after playing off the bench the last two games) for just his second 90-min match of the season to date and he looked as good as he has since the Olympics. Nice and involved getting up and down the flank, didn’t quite land his crosses but his defensive stuff was pretty good muscling up. They needed it too. A red card for Rocco Reitz early in the second half meant they had to close this bad boy out with ten men (Reitz had only come on at half-time... he played seven total minutes) yet that’s exactly what they did for a 1-0 win. Gives them a little breathing room.

Up Next: Nothing until Tuesday 14 September at 6am away to Beerschot (NZT)

CJ Bott - Vålerenga (Norwegian Toppserien)

Nice to see CJ Bott back among the starters at left back for VIF as they returned to the league stuff after advancing to the second qualifying round of the Champions League. But there was more than a little hangover there against Sandviken. Despite dominating the first half they didn’t really create anything and Sandviken slowly began to come into it, starting with a few sneaky long shots and edging closer and closer. Bott was replaced after 66 minutes. Still the game was scoreless. Janni Thomsen had missed a couple good looks for Vålerenga.

Then in the 78th minute Sandviken attacked down the left edge that Bott had been patrolling and a low cross was deflected into the path of Lisa Fjeldstad Naalsund who smashed it in for the winner. 1-0 to Sandviken. That result allows Sandviken to stretch out their lead at the top of the ladder with defending champs Vålerenga lingering way back in fourth, 11 points back. Doesn’t look like they’ll be repeating... but they’re still in range to catch up to second which would get them back in the Champions League.

Up Next: Thursday at 5am, first leg of the UCL qualifier at home vs Häcken of Sweden (NZT)

Vic Esson – Avaldsnes IL (Norwegian Toppserien)

One more venture into the Toppserien where Vic Esson was in the midst of some excitation as Avaldsnes came back from 2-0 down to take a draw away from their away trip to Kolbotn. Marit Clausen struck first for the home side on 20 mins, a shot from a cut-back which went through the hands of Esson. Had some steam on it but Esson would’ve backed herself to stop it... as she’d already done with about two or three solid saves already to that point. One in particular tipping one over the top at full stretch.

Avaldsnes started forcing a few saves after that yet a Tonje Pedersen goal in the 48th min then struck like a hammer blow. Simple finish from a square pass. Nothing for the keeper to do. But substitute Giovanna de Oliveira tapped one in at the far post in the 55th to get it going and then late, late on she scored her second. Keeper spilled a cross and it was an easy finish. Stoppage time at the end of the game. That’ll do it.

Up Next: Lyn vs Avaldsnes on Sunday at 1am (NZT)

Michael Woud – Almere City (Dutch Eerste Divisie)

After failing to win any of their first three games, despite coming in targetting promotion, Almere City were desperate for a win away against Roda JC. Absolutely desperate. And for a lot of it, it seemed as though that’s exactly what they’d get. Maarten Pouwels snuck in a fine finish in the seventh min for the lead and then even after Roda JC equalised in the via a screamer in the 22nd min that left Woud flat-footed they responded immediately via Bradly van Hoeven (25’) and that lead hung around for ages.

All the way up until midway through the second half when suddenly a Roda fella got in behind through the middle and was able to slide home an equaliser before Woud could close him down and then pretty soon after a handball in a defensive wall against a free kick meant a penalty. Woud dove the wrong way and bloody hell they were losing again. But Ramon Leeuwin scored a pinballing rebound of a goal in the 84th after some flappy-handed keeping and Jonas Arweiler ran onto the ball in a frantic injury time attack to win it at the death. Crazy game with both teams registering 20+ shots but Almere City finally bagged that first win to get them boiling. Take ‘em however they come.

Here’s a telly guy complaining that Woud didn’t do enough for the first goal. (“He ducked!”). Not sure if he misjudged the line of it and thought it was going wide or if he had his vision obscured. Whatever, didn’t matter. Still made five saves overall so can’t be blaming him.

Up Next: Almere vs FC Oss on Sunday at 2.30am (NZT)

Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)

Good chat. Michael Boxall well and truly restored in the backline for the Loons. It was a disaster of a start away to Houston Dynamo as they conceded on 54 seconds, not even joking. Boxall pushed out to pressure an attacker but the ball was slipped wide where the left back had disappeared. Quick ball back inside and Adalberto Carrasquilla had the goal.

The rest of the game went a lot better. Adrien Hunou had been woefully out of form but he was in the right place to tap in after a free kick into the box bounced around a bit, 16 mins played. Exactly what they needed to see with nine players out injured/unavailable including key players like Emanuel Reynoso and Robin Lod. Minnesota have had plenty of games where they’ve been close but lacked a cutting edge. They but they survived a crack off the crossbar and Will Trapp made some fine saves and then in the 73rd minute Hounou struck again after some direct attacking from a thrown down the line and boom, there it was. To get that win under those circumstances... just what the doctor ordered.

Elsewhere in the MLS? Only a seven minute cameo for Elliot Collier off the bench for Chicago as they won 1-0 against NY Red Bulls, a first half strike from Robert Beric the difference. And for Portland it was Bill Tuiloma’s turn to drop back to the bench in the CB shuffle. He was subbed on for a midfielder in the 65th min against Seattle after Seb Blanco had given them a 58th min lead, with Felipe Mora making sure of the points late on. 2-0 the final score.

Up Next: Seattle vs Minnesota, Sunday 12 September at 9am (NZT)

Ali Riley - Orlando Pride (American National Women’s Soccer League)

Ali Riley switching to left back. Orlando grinding out a 1-0 win with Ashlyn Harris making a heap of impressive saves and a 49th minute Erika Tymrak cracker from distance giving them all the scoring they needed to claim a valuable three points. Put simply, Gotham had the best of pretty much all the stat categories but this was the Orlando Pride of the early weeks of the season really battling away and scrapping to victories. Fire up, Ali...

No Abby Erceg for North Carolina this week. She was nursing a hip injury and sat out their game away to Washington Spirit. Defensively they held their own without her... but weren’t able to grab a goal up the other end. 0-0 was the final score there. As for Katie Bowen at Kansas City, she got another ninety minutes in the midfield against Racing Louisville as an own goal (17’) and a Kristen Hamilton (40’) strike put them up in the first half and they held on after Cece Kizer pulled one back (65’). Go on then, a second win of the season, 2-1 over Louisville who picked up a late red card. That was in the midweek, Bowen was back to fullback against Chicago a few days later and that one saw them lose 3-0 so hopefully a lesson learned there about where best to play her – both their wins have come with KB at CDM.

Up Next: Orlando vs Houston, Monday at 8am (NZT)

Joey Champness - GZT Giresunspor (Turkish Süper Lig)

Sneaky lil debut there. Couple minutes at the end of a 1-0 defeat against Trabzonspor. Plenty more where that came from (as in, plenty more games for Champness... not plenty more defeats... hopefully).

Up Next: Week off, then it’s away to Alanyaspor on Monday 13 Sep TBD

Nikko Boxall – SJK / Logan Rogerson - FC Haka (Finnish Veikkausliiga)

A first start for FC Haka for Logan Rogerson and he found himself up against his compatriot Nikko Boxall. Each of them played ninety minutes. Only one of them walked away happy from the contest. Boxall’s SJK were way too good, taking an early lead at home via Ariel Ngueukam and a rampant second half would seem them cruise to the win in the end.

Rogerson played on the right wing and did have a nice moment in the first half playing a long ball in behind from in his own half but his mate couldn’t finish, panic-shooting as the keeper rushed out. Then Rog had a hit for himself early in the second, putting the shuffle on his defender only for his shot to come back off the crossbar. Had that gone in then who knows at 1-1. Instead SJK doubled the lead a couple minutes later as a horrid pass back towards the halfway was picked off by Denys Oliynyk and Haka went from attack to defence in seconds. Oliynik waxed both defender and goalie with a smart cut-back before toe-poking into an empty net.

There was at least one counter attack in which Rogerson brought the danger but SJK were well on top now. Ngueukam scored his second five mins after being denied one for offside. Then straight after Rogerson lost the ball trying to dribble at pace across the backline and SJK hoofed it forward to Jake Jervis who scored less than two minutes after the third goal had gone in. 4-0 final score, definitely a day for Nikko Boxall with a clean sheet to go with his captain’s armband... though some vibrant signs from Logan Rogerson that he can be a force to be reckoned with in this league once he’s had a little more adjustment time.

Up Next: SJK are away to HIFK on Weds 8 Sep at 3.30am after Haka host the same opposition this Saturday also at 3.30am (NZT)

Andre De Jong – AmaZulu FC (South African Premier Soccer League)

See, they’ve been talking in the South African media about getting rid of Andre De Jong for the entirety of this year but he’s stuck around, he’s fought for his place, and he’s back out there getting minutes again. Third game of the new season and he got about ten mins or so off the bench at the end of a 0-0 draw against Moroka Swallows. Was an unused sub in the first two games as well. Bit of a disappointing game overall as AmaZulu should really have taken three points from that one but couldn’t find a breakthrough. Mostly it’s just cool to see ADJ back in the swing. Just in time for a bit of CAF Champions Legaue stuff after the international break.

Up Next: AmaZulu vs Big Bullets, Saturday 11 September in the CAF CL, kickoff TBD

Nobody’s serving up the kiwi footy yarns like us, support the hustle on Patreon

Also whack an ad to say cheers, sign up to our Substack mailer, and tell a mate about TNC