Flying Kiwis - October 9
Chris Wood - Nottingham Forest (English Premier League)
The Woodsman scores goals wherever he goes. After rustling the net against Chelsea, he’s now got four goals in seven matches this Premier League season. Comfortably on track to hit double-figures for the sixth time in his career... possibly even to go beyond the 14 he managed last year. There are only four players with more than him at this present moment – Erling Haaland, Bryan Mbeumo, Cole Palmer, and Luis Diaz. Ain’t this a beautiful sight...
Nottingham Forest came away with a very healthy 1-1 draw against Chelsea. At Stamford Bridge, no less. They were under all sorts of pressure to begin with while Noni Madueke went wild on the right wing but they withstood that drama and took an unexpected lead in the 49th minute via Chris Wood’s potent poaching. Madueke levelled things back up on 57’ and should have given the Blues the lead straight afterwards. But Forest’s away form has been superb and they were hanging on in there.
Then James Ward-Prowse made a blunder and, rather than allow Nicolas Jackson to run through on goal from the halfway line, he pounced on the ball like a rugby league winger trying to get the put-down on a try. Deliberate handball, he was gone. Forest played the last 26 minutes with ten men and it could have been worse when Neco Williams tripped up Marc Cucurella who then comically slid into his own manager sparking a big brouhaha between the teams. It was all Chelsea from then onwards. Wood was subbed for fresh legs and defensive cover. Mats Sels made a few brilliant saves. Joao Felix missed a sitter. Then Forest nearly stole the points themselves when Jota Silva flicked a header on target deep into stoppage time. Nottm Forest fans aren’t complaining about a battling 1-1 draw away at Chelsea though.
There’s another Chris Wood tidbit here: this was his first ever goal against Chelsea. It took him 13 games to finally get one past them, leaving only Liverpool amongst all teams that Wood has failed to score against in the Prem (with a minimum of three appearances against). He’s 0 for 12 against the Reds so perhaps he can break that duck later this season. Ipswich are also ripe for the picking when those fixtures come around. All in all he’s scored Premier League goals against 26 different clubs:
Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham, Leicester City, Bournemouth, Brighton & Hove Albion, Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace, Newcastle United, Everton, Southampton, Aston Villa, Norwich, Luton Town, Manchester United, Fulham, Brentford, Burnley, Cardiff City, Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Leeds United, Watford, Sheffield United, West Bromwich Albion, and Huddersfield
There’s no stopping the man.
Up Next: Cheeky international break, with a couple All Whites games promising even more goals
CJ Bott - Leicester City / Indiah-Paige Riley - Crystal Palace (English Super League)
For the first time this season, the first of potentially six times (though probably more like two or three) we were treated to a Flying Kiwis Derby in the WSL. Leicester City versus Crystal Palace. Both teams had been in action in the Conti Cup (aka the WSL Cup) during the week with Leicester drawing 1-1 against Bristol City before losing a penalty shootout for the bonus point. CJ Bott was in the wider squad but they didn’t use her, giving their hard-tackling fullback a deserved rest. Crystal Palace lost 2-0 to Aston Villa conceding twice in the final ten minutes (deserved goals, to be fair) but Indi Riley was also an unused sub. And although this competition is usually her time to shine, Anna Leat remains out with that head injury so she didn’t play for Villa either. She is expected to resume training within the next two weeks.
That took us to the Foxes vs Eagles in the WSL with both teams still winless after the first fortnight of matches. CJ Bott at right-back, no dramas there. Indi Riley was on the bench but would be subbed on for the final fifteen minutes. That meant the focus was mostly on CJB and that was good because CJB was heavily involved as Palace kept trying to attack down their left through Ashleigh van Weerden (0 shot-creating actions, tackled both times she tried to dribble past Bott, only 50% passing accuracy). CJ Bott had already laid down a statement in the Liverpool and Arsenal games about how her defensive prowess has somehow improved since last year and she was at it again versus Palace with another six successful tackles and a couple more clearances.
This was a strange game from Leicester though. They spent much of it sitting deep and finding themselves under threat against a promoted side who hand’t scored in either of the first two rounds... then every now and again they’d create something amazing on the break, usually with Jutta Rantala at the heart of it (and a couple of times from CJ Bott feeds forward). They were the weaker team in the first half yet they had the better chances. However, Crystal Palace were the ones who broke it open in the second spell with Annabel Blanchard getting a double (55’ & 68’ [p]). Neither goal came down Bott’s edge but yeah that was disappointing. Leicester saved their worst game so far for their most beatable opponent.
Indi Riley was subbed on after the goals and she played on the right wing so no direct battle with compatriot CJB. Not a whole lot of action at all, since Palace were knuckling down for the win at that stage. But she did get subbed on from Bott’s side so here’s a screeny with the two of them in focus...
Up Next: Aston Villa vs Leicester City at 2am on Monday; Crystal Palace vs Brighton also at 2am on Monday (NZT)
Katie Kitching - Sunderland (English Championship)
Katie Kitching leads an utterly stacked crew of WSL Championship happenings this week because Katie Kitching did this...
Now that’s a goal. Free kick specialist KK doing what she does best. Sunderland had been bang average in their first two games but they won last week and here they took a point from Charlton in a 3-3 draw – the first team to do so after Charlton previously won four in a row. Sunderland probably should have beaten them but they blew a 3-1 lead with ten minutes remaining, conceding on 81’ and 85’.
Kitching assisted the third goal that seemed to have set them up towards victory in the 78th minute. Whipped a free kick into the danger zone and Jenna Dear did the rest with a spectacular volley. This after Kitch had also served up an assist in the win against London City Lionesses last week, bursting into a lead in the goal contribution race amongst the various Champo Kiwis. These are very good areas. Just a shame they couldn’t make it a victory against Charlton.
Kitching also met a couple of compatriots during the week when her Sunderland side won 2-1 against Sheffield United in the WSL Cup group stage opener. Jacqui Hand was subbed on for the last twenty minutes of that game, while Olivia Page got her first appearance of the season for the Blades doing a full game within the central defensive trio. Hopefully a league debut follows soon for Page, who was an unused sub in the 4-2 defeat against Bristol City that followed. Jacqui Hand sat that game out with a minor injury (remember she missed preseason with the club, only signing after games had already begun). She did do an interview for the team’s match programme though...
Jacqui Hand: “It makes it much easier coming in. Especially with Maria [Farrugia, her former teammate at Lewes], playing with her last year. I’m quite good friends with her so it’s nice to have that off the field connection, but also a connection on the field with them and obviously a fellow Kiwi in Liv. It’s actually great to see so many Kiwi’s coming to play in England. The break after the Olympics which was really good, just to get some mental rest, now it’s about building up and getting back into the swing of things now here in Sheffield. I’d spoken to Ash a while back and then we reconnected, he was keen to bring me in. I think for me now it’s about wanting to make an impact and scoring some goals is definitely the goal!”
Grace Neville was amongst the assists. Check this one out from London City’s 5-1 win against cellar-dwellers Portsmouth...
Isobel Goodwin scored four goals in the rout. Neville played an hour at right-back. This was after a full game a few days earlier in the Conti Cup where LCL won 1-0 against Southampton. The Neviller’s starting to make a serious case for permanent first eleven status under the new manager, good to see good to see.
Then we’ve got the Durham girls, where a 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers in the Conti Cup came thanks to a pair of late goals, the first of which was set up by Hannah Blake. Kaila Novak did most of the work but Blakey still deserves the stat recognition after getting mashed in a late challenge as she slipped that ball up the line to her teammate...
Not only did Hannah Blake get a full game, so did Michaela Foster. Her first start for the club. Durham then went and chased that with an impressive 1-0 win against Newcastle United thanks to Molly Lambert’s 89th minute winner. Blake was subbed off after 72 mins and Foster only appeared deep in stoppage time as a time-wasting sub. Blake had all preseason to secure a starting eleven spot but Foz only arrived a fortnight ago so gotta give it time to unfold.
Up Next: Sunderland vs Newcastle in a big ol’ derby game at 2am on Monday (NZT)
Elijah Just - SKN St. Pölten (Austrian Erste Liga)
Majestic. Stunning. Beautiful. Whatever word you want to use. Eli Just’s move to St Pölten was a strange one but if he’s going to do things like this then it’ll soon make sense. That was his first goal for the club in his fourth appearance, the two most recent of those being starts. Didn’t have much to crow about in the 1-0 loss against Admira Wacker last week but against SV Ried it was the opposite. Crowing galore.
SKN were away against a team well above them on the ladder (you can hear the Austrian commentator say the word “underdog” in the clip) yet Just’s goal gave them a 1-0 lead after 40 minutes. They’d concede in stoppage time of the first half but then scored a few more and, long story short, they won 4-2. Just played 81 minutes, getting subbed soon after SV Ried had gone down to ten men and with SKN seemingly happy to hang onto a 2-1 lead. Or seemingly not because they ended up scoring twice more (and conceding again in between).
Prior to Just’s debut, SKN St. Pölten were winless with only two points from five matches. Since he’s turned up, they’ve won twice taking seven points from four. The wolves were in their slumber until EJ joined the pack. Now they’re on the prowl.
Up Next: Home against FC Liefering at 5am on Saturday 19 October (NZT)
Maggie Jenkins - Gaziantep ALG Spor (Turkish Süper Ligi)
There’s no stopping Maggie Jenkins. Her first two games in Turkey, she set up late equalisers. Her third game was nothing special... but her fourth game for ALG Spor provided her first goal for the club. Then in game number five (or “beş” in the local lingo) she was singing that original tune by setting up another late goal. 85 minutes played. Stealing onto an errant pass. Skipping past the closest defender. Through ball to Patricia Seteco and the Angolan striker did the rest...
Tell you what, right before this Jenkins had chopped into the area from the left wing and been denied what, at least by the grainy livestream footage, looked like a clear penalty kick. But it didn’t matter because she set one up from open play straight afterwards and ALG Spor won 1-0 against Beylerbeyİspor to stay undefeated with 11 points from five matches. They’re in second with only Fenerbahce ahead of them (That lot have a perfect record of five wins from five so it might be a case of aiming to stay in second place).
It’s been great work from the team... but it’s also been great work from Maggie Jenkins. Five games into her pro career she’s already got a goal and three assists. A goal contribution in all but one of her games. These goals are directly leading to good results for ALG Spor and they should have Jenkins on course to add to the lone Football Ferns cap she earned way back in 2017 as a 16-year-old... though maybe not quite yet because the national team doesn’t have a coach or any games lined up in the immediacy. Five games probably isn’t enough to go unseating any established players but by the time the Ferns next play, presumably early next year, she could have more than half a season of this mahi behind her. Jenkins was part of the wider training squad prior to the World Cup whilst still a college student so there’s no doubting she’s on the radar.
Up Next: Unfortunately, ALG Spor’s next game was supposed to be against Ereğlispor but that team has folded so instead they get two weeks off with a bye and then the international break
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
A playoff spot has been secured for Minnesota United, although it came at a cost to Michael Boxall’s personal hygiene. It was late in the game between Minnesota United and Real Salt Lake. Boxy and Brayan Vera got a bit to scrappy marking each other on a corner kick and ended up hitting the ground. Boxy let him know about it and Vera stayed down holding his face. Moments later, Vera jogged past Boxall and spat in his face. Like, hocked right at his forehead. It was nasty. There’s a slow motion replay towards the end of these highlights...
Vera also tried to drop a shoulder on him as he ran past but kinda just bounced off Boxall like a trampoline. Boxall went straight to the ref to point at the slobber he’d wiped onto his jersey and the ref didn’t do anything so he figured it was time to take matters into his own hands and confronted Vera to spark a scuffle between the sides. Boxall was booked for continuing to remonstrate and that yellow card took him over the limit for a suspension. Vera did get sent off once the VAR took the time to look at it. But Boxall had to stick with the suspension because apparently the MLS rules don’t leave room for yellow cards to be rescinded, only red ones.
MNUFC coach Eric Ramsay: “I really feel for Boxy in that situation because that’s, I reckon, one of the worst things that can happen to you on a football pitch. Pretty sour note to end the game on, unfortunately.”
That suspension wasn’t such a bad thing though. He got the clean sheet in the 0-0 draw against Real Salt Lake and then put his feet up for what turned out to be an excellent 1-0 win against Vancouver Whitecaps that lifts the Loons above those opponents and out of the play-in spots. Gets that suspension out of the way with so it won’t affect the playoffs. Fresh for the international break. Sweet as. Minnesota United have one more game remaining after the internationals and that’s against St Louis FC. If they win that then they could finish as high as fifth. One thing about Boxall’s suspension is that he now probably won’t catch Ranko Veselinovic (Vancouver) for most defensive clearances in the MLS this season. He’s currently second with 151 clearances behind RV’s 159.
Also, Portland Timbers will be part of that play-in game thanks to the combination of results that unfolded over the weekend. Theirs was a 0-0 draw against FC Dallas, with Finn Surman an unused sub for the seventh time. Since they can’t finish above or below the play-ins, perhaps he’ll get his chance away to Seattle Sounders in the final regular season match. Rest a few key players, let the tall timber New Zealander have a go. Seems legit, right?
Bill Tuiloma had a busy week. He actually got some MLS minutes for once, having gotten back into the matchday squad picture thanks to Tim Ream moving to fullback and thus clearing room for another defender on the bench. They subbed him on in the fifth minute of stoppage time in a 2-0 win against Montreal (immediately after they scored the second goal). This was an important win that seals their playoff spot. Bill Tuiloma has now made four MLS appearances in 2024. He’s also made seven reserve team appearances, including games bookending this latest Charlotte cameo. The very next day he played ninety mins with a yellow card for Crown Legacy in MLS Next Pro (a 4-1 loss to Toronto FC 2), while a week earlier he was part of a 5-2 win against Inter Miami 2 in which he did this...
But let’s not talk about the NWSL because Abby Erceg’s Racing Louisville lost 2-0 at home to Kansas City Current. That leaves them three points outside the playoff zone with three games remaining. Milly Clegg was on the bench but once again that debut will have to wait. Utah Royals did win 2-1 against a free-falling Portland Thorns side (RL’s best hope of getting top eight is Portland tumbling out) but Macey Fraser is still an excused absentee. In fact, it turns out she’s back in Christchurch. That could be one of those frisky things with a new coach and a bunch of mid-season transfers changing the situation. Or it could be personal reasons. Or, hopefully most likely, it could just be that she’s been allowed to go home early to continue her injury rehab having not played since getting hurt at the Olympics. If they decided she wasn’t going to recover in time to play again this season then that’d make the most sense.
Up Next: Sunday October 20 at 2pm at home versus St Louis FC (NZT)
Gabi Rennie - Åland United (Finnish Kansallinen Liiga)
This is what she does. It was a fantastic midweek win for Åland United to beat first-placed HKJ 2-1... and Gabi Rennie is usually amongst the goal contributions whenever they do well. Here she set up Aada Törrönen’s 43rd minute strike to open the scoring. Anni Maaria Miettunen would extend the lead ten mins into the second half before HJK grabbed one back to make it frisky. Rennie played a full game. This result isn’t going to stop HJK from winning the lead and there isn’t much hope of Åland United finishing any higher than fourth where they currently are... but it’ll go down as a shining moment in their season.
Rennie didn’t get a goal or assist in AU’s subsequent 1-1 draw against KuPS but that was a positive result as well, taking a point off the second-placed club. That leaves two more matches to go in this season. Gabi Rennie has six goals and six assists from 18 Kansallinen games – she’s the only player in Finland to hit both those marks from outside the top two clubs. Don’t forget she scored a couple more in the cup too.
Up Next: AU vs HPS at 3am on Monday (NZT)
Ben Old - AS Saint-Étienne (French Ligue 1)
Just look at this guy...
The buzzy thing about it is how much he looks like the exact same player we saw at the Wellington Phoenix. Only difference is that he’s mostly on the right wing instead of the left side but the dribbling and the energy and the strength and the hustle are identical. As, admittedly, is the final product which still needs some polish – otherwise he might have had two goals and two assists against Auxerre (his pass to send Ibrahim Sissoko through 1v1 in the second half was a beauty). With luck, we’ll see that aspect of his game emerge with time - we already saw him take a huge stride in those areas with the Nix last season.
Oldy got seventy minutes for ASSE in this Auxerre match, a performance that was pleasantly the team’s best since promotion. It’s been a sketchy adjustment but a 3-1 victory here puts them in a much more comfortable situation heading into the international break. Seven points from seven games. Out of the relegation zone. They actually doubled their goal tally in this single fixture – Georgian striker Zuriko Davitashvili scored a hatty so congrats to that man. And it’s great to see that the ASSE fans seem to have embraced Ben Old even amongst the team’s struggles.
Up Next: ASSE vs Lens on Sunday October 20 at 6am (NZT)
Kees Sims - GAIS (Swedish Allsvenskan)
Another appearance for Kees Sims in the Allsvenskan, that’s the good stuff....
Kees Sims has had an odd season after making the jump to the top division in Sweden. He started as the clear number two behind the excellent established veteran Mergim Krasniqi and managed to get three games back in April while that dude was injured. Then he missed some time away with the NZ Olympic squad, during which third-choice keeper Erik Krantz got a chance and did quite well.
Sims returned and got that red card in a game against Elfsborg in August, and perhaps that knocked his standing back because Krantz has made two starts since then despite them both being available. That includes last week in a 2-0 loss to Göteborg... but this week it was Sims’ turn in a 2-0 loss to Brommapojkarna. One start each while Krasniqi’s out injured? Seems fair enough. Krasniqi had told media that he’d risk breaking his leg in order to play the derby game against Göteborg but it appears that such extremes were not required. He missed that one and the next one and now has the international break to get himself right.
As for the game against IFB, both goals were scored soon after half-time and maybe Sims could have gotten out further to close the angles but they were each great finishes and the holes in the defensive line were much more the problem. Sims did make a nice two-handed save later on. Comfortable defeat but he played alright. He’s now made five Allsvenskan apps plus one more in the Svenska Cupen.
Up Next: Home vs Varnamo at 3.30am on Monday 21 Oct (NZT)
Kate Taylor - Dijon FCO (French Première Ligue)
A 2-0 win away to Stade de Reims and probably Kate Taylor’s best performance yet for Dijon FCO. The goals were scored early by Rose Lavaud (14’) and Wu Chengshu (20’) with Dijon managing the game smoothly from there. Three tackles, three clearances, and 30/38 completed passes for KT playing as the left-sided centre-back (game one she was RCB, the next two she’s been LCB)... and she even had a shot on target. Left-footed first-time strike from outside the area after going up for a free kick. Good power on it but straight at the keeper no fuss. That’s a first win of the campaign for Dijon after beginning with two draws. First clean sheet too. Things are tracking nicely for Kate Taylor in France... although she’s going to have a brutal task on her hands next week when they face perennial champs Olympique Lyonnais (who have already scored 16 goals in three games).
Up Next: Dijon vs Lyon at 4am on Sunday (NZT)
Matthew Garbett - NAC Breda (Dutch Eredivisie)
NAC Breda had a good win, beating NEC Nijmegen 1-0 despite being reduced to ten men with twenty to go. Dominik Janosek, who usually starts, came off the bench to score the winner (81’). But here’s the thing: Matt Garbett didn’t have anything to do with it. He had been an unused substitute the previous week as they switched up their formation to get Terrence Kongolo into a back three. That took out the winger spots where Garbs had been playing. However, they lost that game and thus reverted back to a 4-3-3 against NEC... where not only did Garbs not feature, he wasn’t even on the teamsheet. His coach suggested that Garbett and Fredrik Oldrup-Jensen were both dropped for attitude/application reasons.
Carl Hoefkens: “As far as I'm concerned, there isn't that much going on, but I think it's important within the selection to keep a certain line. It's mainly behaviour, not doing everything possible to help the team.”
Hoefkens was being coy about with those quotes, which came from his pregame chat with the ESPN crew. By the sounds of it, what happened is that Garbett and FOJ reacted poorly to being left out of the starting eleven so the coach made a point of emphasising that nobody is bigger than the team. Garbett’s certainly not in a position to take his starting role for granted (and he spent most of the promotion playoffs coming off the bench so it’d be a surprise if he thought so). But we don’t really know what happened. These things are dealt with in-house and that’s how it should be. It’s also only going to be a one game thing. We move on.
Up Next: After the international break it’s a possible Ole Academy reunion as PEC Zwolle face NAC Breda at 3.45am on Monday 21 October (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
Here’s the real headline from the kiwis in the Netherlands this week. A glorious, wonderful, spectacular, very overdue occurrence: Ryan Thomas’ return to the pitch. He’s been on the extended bench all season while still building up his fitness after his latest season-ending knee surgery (the third of his career) but forget about all that now... because with ten minutes to go in a 1-1 draw away against Heerenveen (both goals scored inside the opening ten mins), Thomas was subbed on in place of Dylan Mbayo to mark his first competitive football since 9 December 2023.
He has played some unofficial games since then, midweek closed friendlies and the like, albeit nothing substantial. It’s likely to be awhile yet before he’s challenging to start. Nevertheless, this was a massive milestone. Not that it’ll go down as one of his more memorable performances: in ten minutes plus a small dose of injury time he got six touches, completed one of two passes, and picked up a yellow card. Perhaps he’s reinventing himself as a midfield enforcer?
Ryan Thomas: “It feels good, it's been a long time. It feels good to be back as a footballer and back on the field. I’ve had a lot of time to think and had many moments when I considered quitting football, but I like to be on the field and kicking a ball around. So I chose to continue and that was the right choice in the end. I'm just as happy now as when I came here when I was eighteen. How did I convince PEC Zwolle to continue with me longer? I decided with the club that I would be the first person out at the field to support the boys and that my own time would come again naturally. I still have the excitement of playing games despite all those bad moments. I love this club and want to do everything to help this club. They have also helped me enormously in recent years, so I am very happy.”
Up Next: See above... it’s Ryan Thomas vs Matthew Garbett... assuming they both play
Katie Bowen - Inter Milan (Italian Serie A)
Good yarns over in Italy because Marija Milinkovic continues to be used as a defensive midfielder which has cleared the path for Katie Bowen to go back, after a brief interlude, to being a ninety minute player in central defence.
That situation did cop an awkward moment in the match against Roma when Milinkovic scored an own goal just before the half, accidentally heading in from a defensive corner kick, but Inter’s goalie had a blinder and Bowen and Ivana Andres did enough to keep it close and they really grew into the game in the second stanza. Didn’t look like they were going to get anything to show for it until they won a late penalty thanks mostly to the tenacity of Elisa Polli. Ghoutia Karchouni converted that thing in the 88th minute for a 1-1 draw. Internazionale continue to show that they can do battle with anyone. Five games deep and they’re still undefeated... with the best defence in the competition (four goals conceded in five matches). They’ve levelled up this year and Katie Bowen is right there with them.
Up Next: FC Como vs Inter at 5am on Sunday (NZT)
Malia Steinmetz – FC Nordsjælland (Danish Kvindeliga)
Back to the bench for Steinmetz this week, she’s still having her match fitness restored post-Olympics (though we’re almost there now, surely) and they had a tough game against HB Køge to get through. First half there were some sketchy moments, with HBK creating several chances and even hitting the crossbar at one stage. Even into the second spell, with FCN more in control, there was a brilliant save from their keeper to touch a shot onto the post and away to safety.
So they subbed on Steinmetz for the last half hour and went on to win 2-0 courtesy of goals from Alma Aagard (71’) and Anna Walter (90’)... with Walter’s clinching goal coming on the end of a low cross after Steinmetz had carried the ball forward from midfield and slipped a pass through to the winger. The assist for the assist. Another good win for FCN who remain first after eight rounds, one point clear of Fortuna Hjørring but seven points clear of third-placed Brøndby.
In other Danish footy, there’s still no sign of Ally Green at AGF whom we’ve gotta assume must be injured (in the absence of any other news), but Ava Collins did get ninety minutes with a yellow card in Kolding’s 3-0 loss against B93. AGF are last after eight weeks and Kolding are second to last. The bottom two teams eventually drop into the relegation rounds to face a bunch of the best second tier clubs.
In the men’s Superliga, Callum McCowatt was on the bench for Silkeborg for the second week in a row as he nears his return from the injury that’s plagued him since preseason. Silkeborg drew 2-2 against FC København and spent most of the game clinging on defensively after shooting to a 2-0 lead inside of half an hour. Obviously not an environment that McCowatt was going to be needed for. There was another kiwi in Denmark who got up to some shenanigans too but you can wait to read about Oscar Obel-Hall later on.
Up Next: Kolding vs FCN at 6am on Saturday (NZT)
Vic Esson - Rangers FC (Scottish Premier League)
There were two games this week and Vic Esson played the more important one. She wore the gloves for the visit from Celtic – the first Old Firm derby of the season and RFC’s first game with major title race implications too. Jenna Fife would play the 2-0 win over Motherwell that followed, no dramas there. Esson got to take on Celtic... who unlike Rangers were able to make it through their Champions League qualifiers (getting an easier draw thanks to being in the champions path rather than a league qualifier), where they’ve been drawn with FC Twente, Real Madrid, and Chelsea. Probably gonna lose all six games there but it’s a grand achievement to have made it. If not for a tiny goal difference margin then that could have been Vic Esson in the UWCL instead.
Rangers have been flawless on the domestic front and they began this match with a banger of a goal from Kirsty Howat after only five minutes for the lead. It stayed that way for an hour, although Rangers did have a goal harshly disallowed for offside while Katie Wilkinson forced a very good save with a dipping strike. Esson’s main intervention was to guess well against a 1v1, rushing up but then holding her position to psych-out her opponent who tried to lob her only to flip the ball gently into VE’s waiting hands. Eventually Rangers did go 2-0 up when Wilkinson converted a 64th min penalty after a handball. All was looking swell until RFC conceded a spot kick of their own five mins later. Esson dove the wrong way as Saoirse Noonan converted. Then Ceyla Barclais picked off a second for Celtic on 87’. Almost got there. Not quite. 2-2 draw. Keeps Rangers undefeated in first place though, nine games into the SWPL campaign.
Up Next: Rangers vs Glasgow City in another big clash, that’s on Sunday at 3am (NZT)
Andre De Jong – Stellenbosch (South African Premier Soccer League)
MT8 grand final time and a chance to add a second major trophy to the club’s cabinet after the Carling Knockout success of last season. Andre de Jong’s been in great form. He’s scoring goals. He’s setting up goals. They’re competing on multiple fronts. And a dozen minutes into the MTN8 final he flicked on a header for Lehlohonolo Mojela to score and the Stellies were up 1-0 against Orlando Pirates.
Alas, it didn’t last. Stellenbosch conceded just before the break and it stayed at 1-1 for a long time. The entire time that ADJ was out there, in fact, but then as soon as they subbed him off the game slipped away. Controversially. Orlando Pirates won a free kick while trying to push on attack and they took the free kick quickly from a couple of metres ahead of where it should have been taken. Stellies switched off and were punished by a goal, although their coach made sure to point out afterwards that it shouldn’t have stood. They went and conceded again before the end to lose 3-1 and, in all honesty, they didn’t really create enough to have expected a better outcome. Maybe if they’d scrambled into extra time, who knows. They’ve got a couple weeks off now.
Up Next: Nothing until Richards Bay away at 6.30am on 26 October (NZT)
Oscar Obel-Hall - Middelfart BK (Danish Division 2)
On the board with the new club, that’s the good stuff. This was OOB’s seventh league appearance and tenth overall match for Middelfart but they’ve all been as a substitute so no stress that it took this long for the lad. In fact, added all together he’s only played 150 minutes across those ten matches so to have a goal to show for it suddenly looks like a pretty decent strike-rate. Furthermore, we’re talking about his first senior goal. He got plenty for the academy teams at Esbjerg, where he spent the previous four seasons in Denmark, but not for the first team (eight appearances totalling 268 minutes across all comps)... so hopefully this is the start of something.
Tidy finish too. Showed a clean pair of heels in the process. OOB’s goal was the third in a 3-1 win against Akademisk BK which lifts MBK up to second on the ladder after ten matches. This is Danish third tier footy. One division below where Elijah Just spent last season, though Just’s Helsingør did spend a season at this level after getting relegated (and then immediately promoted back). Dalton Wilkins was also there at the time. Coincidentally, Helsingør have since been relegated again and guess who Middelfart plays next?
Up Next: No need to worry about international breaks here so it’s Middelfart vs Helsingør at 1am on Sunday (NZT)
Jay Herdman - Cavalry FC (Canadian Premier League)
Jay Herdman’s done a thing...
Yeah, love that. All 5’7 of the bloke rising up for a powerful back-post header. Exactly how he must have envisaged scoring his first goal for Vancouver FC... right? Herdman’s in a strange spot because he made an MLS debut for Vancouver Whitecaps back in April and continued to boss it for the MLS Next Pro side with six goals and three assists in his 20 matches there. Also went to the Olympics in amongst. But when it came time to sign a few youngster to the first team at the Whitecaps ahead of the roster freeze, Herdman wasn’t one of the blokes chosen and instead found himself loaned out to the CPL... which could be seen as a soft launch for his impending free agency.
It also might not be that. Vancouver Whitecaps might just want to see him playing competitive senior football for the rest of the year as part of his ongoing development. Whatever the intentions are, the immediate situation doesn’t change: goals and wins are what he needs. He’d made three prior appearances for Cavalry since joining them. One was a last-minute debut as a sub. The next was a slightly longer cameo, getting about ten minutes. Game three he was subbed on at half-time. Game four he started, played a little over an hour, and not only did he score but he also did this...
Cavalry went on to win 4-1 against Pacific. Not so nice for Moses Dyer who was on the other team but that’s what happens when there’s a third-minute red card and then another near the end. Yes, Pacific finished this match with nine players. Cavalry sit second and have already clinched a playoff berth with two rounds left. Pacific are sixth, behind Vancouver on the head-to-head tiebreaker, needing to nudge ahead of them in order to qualify for the play-in game. To make matters funkier, Vancouver FC is the team that Dyer is on loan from (they have shared ownership though, so it’s not really a rivalry). Team of the Week honours for Herdman on top of everything else.
Meanwhile, Cavalry have finally put a full stop on the Myer Bevan situation with a short-sharp statement which you’d imagine clears the pathway for Bevan to play for Auckland City next week in the National League:
“In March 2024, Myer Bevan informed Cavalry FC that he would not be returning to the team for the 2024 Canadian Premier League season. Cavalry FC has since granted permission to Bevan to play amateur football in New Zealand where he is residing with his partner and their two young children.”
Up Next: Cavalry vs Wanderers at midday on Sunday (NZT)
Owen Parker-Price, Dom Woolridge, Harry Moss-Edge & Sean Bright – Torslanda IK (Swedish Ettan Södra)
Happy days after a 2-0 win over Eskilsminne, who are in third place in their regional division. That’s a crucial win for Torslanda that lifts them up to 13th and out of the relegation playoff spot with five matches to go. They needed that. A couple more wins and they could even shoot up into mid-table.
This goal was number seven of the season for Parker-Price to go with the four assists he’s also delivered. Two more goals in cup footy too, taking him to 9g/4a in 25 matches in total. Understandable why he’s been so committed to the Torslanda project but it’s a bit of a shame he’s never tested himself at a higher level because he was right up there with guys like Pijnaker, Just, and Wilkins back in the Ole Academy days (McCowatt was already a step ahead at that age) and if he’s doing this for a relegation-threatened team then you can guarantee he’s got the juice to play higher.
Dom Woolridge, Harry Moss-Edge, and Sean Bright all got ninety minutes in this match as well. OPP has played in 24 Ettan Södra matches (out of a possible 25). Woolridge is also at 24 games with one goal and two yellow cards. Moss-Edge has made 23 appearances with one yellow. Bright only has 22 but that’s because he got a red card. Three of Bright’s games were as a substitute (pretty sure that was early season when he was coming back from a knock) but the rest of them have started every match they’ve played.
Meanwhile from an equivalent place on the Swedish football pyramid we’ve also got this...
Up Next: Away to Trollhattan at 6am on Tuesday (NZT)
Zac Jones – Haverfordwest County (Welsh/Cymru Premier)
Yes, you read that correctly. Seven clean sheets from eleven matches so far. Zac Jones is locking it down. Haverfordwest beat Bala Town 2-0 away most recently, so with Cardiff Met losing they’re now all the way up to second on the ladder (Hwest also beat Cardiff Met two weeks ago). Most years this club is struggling to make the top half – even when they went on that European run it was only after winning the relegation playoff rounds for the bottom half teams – although Penybont are five points clear in first so don’t get too carried away.
What’s more is that Jones has only conceded four goals in total and is yet to allow multiple in a match. Seven clean sheets compared to four goals conceded. Now that’s a ratio.
Up Next: Haverfordwest County vs Connah’s Quay at 2.30am on Sunday (NZT)
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