Flying Kiwis – October 2
Milly Clegg - Halifax Tides (Canadian Northern Super League)
Patience is a virtue but Milly Clegg’s wait for a goal in the NSL must have been grinding at her thoughts. It hasn’t been easy for her. She’s been in and out of the Halifax Tides starting team lately, often picked out wide when she does play, stuck in a team that’s scored less than a goal per game... but there had been chances along the way. Entering the latest round of the NSL, her drought had reached over 1000 minutes for Halifax Tides. But the dought is over now, rejoice...
That goal was trademark Clegg. So many of her most famous strikes have come in that exact fashion drifting wide left to collect the ball and then angling inwards to shoot. She’s scored similar goals at all levels for New Zealand, it’s only a surprise that it took so long to see it for Halifax. Between her very limited action with Racing Louisville last year and her injury at Western Sydney Wanderers, as well as the drought with Halifax, this was Clegg’s first club goal since she netted a brace for the Wellington Phoenix vs Adelaide United in March 2023. That was right after her first Football Ferns call-up. For someone with such a superb scoring record through the age grades, Clegg hasn’t actually scored a lot of them at senior level yet. But now that she’s got the taste for blood again that should take care of itself.
Halifax Tides didn’t win this game because they almost never win games... they’ve only won 3/22 this season and are currently on a 12-game winless streak. Vancouver Tides equalised after about an hour to as the teams settled for a 1-1 draw. Clegg played ninety minutes having only gotten 26 combined mins in the previous three fixtures. Sorta feels like they’ve never quite locked on the right way to use Clegg... hopefully this goal gives them some better evidence with six more matches left in the season. Plenty of time for a few more goals where this came from.
It also happens that Rebecca Lake started for Vancouver Rise in that game. That was her first start (and second league appearance overall – she also got half an hour off the bench in a CONCACAF W Champions Cup defeat against NWSL team Gotham FC). Lake played an hour at centre-back. This result clinched Vancouver’s playoff spot so she’s got heaps left to play for. Halifax are probably coming last. Calgary Wild, with Meikayla Moore and Ally Green, are the other team that’s going to miss the top four. Moore’s dropped out of the eleven lately but Green continues to get good minutes.
Up Next: Halifax vs Montreal at 11am on Thursday (NZT)
Chris Wood - Nottingham Forest (English Premier League)
It had been 14 years since Chris Wood last played in the Europa League, making four bench appearances on loan for Birmingham (scoring one goal) back in 2011-12. It has still been 14 years since Chris Wood last played in the Europa League because he got unused-subbed in Nottingham Forest’s UEL league phase opener against Real Betis.
Wood watched the entire thing from the sideline as Igor Jesus got the start ahead of him and scored twice in an excellent performance, then got replaced by Arnaud Kalimuendo for the last half hour – the same combo as we saw in the League Cup loss to Swansea City when Jesus also scored a brace. Just like in that game, Nottingham Forest conceded late to blow what should have been a comfortable win. In this case it was an 85th minute equaliser from Antony (with his right foot) that booked a 2-2 draw despite NFFC having comfortably been the better team for most of the way.
That got people talking. There was already this assumption that Wood won’t fit the Ange Postecoglou style of play so seeing a different striker, who does suit those more mobile demands, score twice in a European game begged the question as to whether Wood still deserved to be the club’s top choice number nine. How quickly things can change. Twenty goals last term and on the scrap heap two months into the next one?
The alternative to the doom and gloom was that maybe Postecoglou, who has a lot of experience with balancing league and continental campaigns, understood that Chris Wood’s only going to snap his hamstrings playing twice per week every week and that constant rotation is going to be necessary no matter which order he sees his strikers in. Igor Jesus’ mobility and energy may be great for the Europas but back in the Premier League the physicality and experience of Chris Wood remain as valuable as ever. That’s how it turned out as Nottm Forest hosted Sunderland three days later with Chris Wood named to start as one of five changes from the Real Betis game. There’s nothing he can do about people making assumptions about his fit for his new manager. There’s nothing he can do about the goals his deputy scored in games he didn’t play. But there was plenty he could do about his own performance in response to those things.
Which is why it’s devastating to say that Chris Wood clunked it against Sunderland. Given a chance in his familiar role as the target man up top, Wood had six shots and only put one on target as Sunderland won 1-0. That’s more shots in this game than he had in any match last season (including when he scored his hat-trick against Brighton). One of the astonishing parts of his 2024-25 goal haul was how incredibly efficient he was, massively exceeding his Expected Goals and getting a high percentage of his efforts on target (despite not actually taking very many shots). This was the opposite of that just like how Ange Postecoglous is the opposite of Nuno Espirito Santo.
A couple of those shots were nothing chances that nobody’s going to blame him for. But he had one glittering back-post header in particular with ten minutes to go that he spurned, with his team trailing 1-0 against a promoted team, which he simply had to do better with. Especially when his position is already under pressure. It was painful. Here’s a summary of those six shots...
23’ – Neco Williams whips in an early chipped cross recovering the second phase from a corner which lands right on Chris Wood’s head eight yards out in the middle of the goal but he powered it wide
27’ – Opportunistic glancing header leaning backwards for a Dan Ndoye cross that bounced comfortably wide though wasn’t far from meeting a Forest foot running in at the back post
45+3’ – Back post header from a Bakwa corner kick with the last act of the half, put into a pretty good area but Wood was leaning back on it under pressure and headed way too high
80’ – Omari Hutchison went past his man on the right wing and whipped a shin-height cross into the middle where some super movement from Wood got himself in front of the defender at the near post, his side-footed shot fizzing towards goal but parried away by the keeper
80’ – Follow up to the previous effort, barely made contact with it
81’ – The golden one... another cross from Hutchison, this one struck hard with beautiful shape towards Wood at the far post where he intercepted it perfectly yet pushed his header wide from six yards out
There are other factors at play here because part of Woodsy’s success last season was his combination with his fellow forwards, especially the wingers. But Anthony Elanga has been sold to Newcastle United, Callum Hudson-Odoi is in and out of the side, and even Morgan Gibbs-White has seen his role fluctuate under Postecoglou... those four were the main men under Nuno but Wood was the lone soldier of the quartet picked to start the Sunderland game. You could see the intent from all of those new guys to feed crosses towards Wood but the connections weren’t the same. The understanding and the timing aren’t there yet.
It’s also true that Chris Wood does a lot of great things which he never gets much credit for, especially his defensive workrate with his willingness to rush back for set pieces or to cover for teammates with his marking up front (e.g. if a winger makes a run beyond him and is slow to get back, Wood will usually slide wide to take his man allowing that guy time to recover). His hold-ups and links are always very good, particularly the aerial ones. Those aspects were all on display against Sunderland, plus he must be doing something right to get that many chances in the first place. Coaches notice these things... but fans usually don’t and so the calls for Igor Jesus (who is a current Brazil international, by the way) to start ahead of him have only gotten louder after Postecoglou’s wait for a win stretched into a fifth game.
There is an alternative outcome: Wood and Jesus spent about half an hour on the pitch together against Sunderland with Igor sent on as they chased a goal. No frills there, it was two-up top like the good old days. Extra target in the area for those crosses. Jesus did have one shot that drew a save but otherwise came no closer to an equalising goal than Chris Wood. That’s something to watch for because it doesn’t necessarily have to be one or the other and the two-striker idea could become especially useful in the Europa League where their midfield can be expected to control things a little more without the extra body. At least that gives another path for Wood to stay relevant if Igor Jesus turns out to be the unstoppable force that some in Nottingham already seem to think he is.
That and the double gameweeks because Postecoglou is too smart to cast aside a 20-goal Prem scorer this suddenly. In that light there was at least one positive from this stinky week and that was that Big Ange, ever the excellent man-manager, made Chris Wood his captain against Sunderland...
TV Interviewer: “We know what a leader Chris Wood is with the captain’s armband, but he’s fresh after the week just gone isn’t he?”
Big Ange: “Yeah exactly right. He wasn’t withheld during the week because of poor form or anything. It’s just that, as I said, we are scheduled the way it is and will be for quite a while and we need to make sure that all our players are getting the opportunity and yeah looking forward to seeing Chris lead the team tonight.”
Chris Wood: “Look, yeah, I think it's actually clicked rather quickly. It's a it's a different playing style to what we were under Nuno so it's it's a big change for the players to get on board with, but I think everybody has bought into it, believed in the process that he's trying to do and the ideas he's putting out, which is fantastic, and it's shown in games that we're we're dominating the ball more. We're creating more chances. We're doing extremely well. We just have to get those wins to add to it and I'm sure they'll come sooner rather than later. But it's one of those I think his ideas are there,and I think he's he's happy enough without the results coming. So now we just got to put it all together and and do that come Thursday and Sunday.”
So now we wait to see how Forest choose to line-up against FC Midtjylland in the Europas... and whether or not Chris Wood can break that 14 year continental drought.
Up Next: Nottm Forest vs Midtjylland at 8am on Friday; Newcastle vs Nottm Forest at 2am on Monday (NZT)
Marko Stamenic - Swansea City (English Championship)
Two games this week for the Swans... they drew 1-1 with Millwall in a game they played quite well in and should have won, then they won 2-1 against Blackburn Rovers in a game where they were clearly second best for most of the match. Rightio, bank them points. Stamenic played ninety against Millwall and 84 mins against Rovers, subbed near the end as they were protecting the lead.
Stamenic did miss one game with that groin injury (two if you count the League Cup match against Nottm Forest) but otherwise he’s fast established himself as one of the key players in this Swansea City squad. It’s a defensive midfield role so not a lot of goal threat. That’s fine. He’s just hanging deep and getting plenty of touches, occasionally dribbling forward, occasionally whipping those stunner long passes. Often lunging into crunchy tackles (remember the first thing he did for Swansea was to get booked within a minute of being subbed on). He’s been awesome and the fans already love him. When Sergio Busquets announced his retirement earlier in the week, the jokes in Swans fan circles were all about Stamenic being the Spanish legend’s natural heir.
And as for that League Cup run, Stam may have missed the revenge game against Nottingham Forest but he should be fit for the next round where they’ll face... Manchester City. If he features there then it’ll be the fourth time that he’s played Man City in his career despite never having been a Premier League player (yet). That’s because somehow three of his first four Champions League appearances were against MCFC – two with FC København and one with Crvena zvezda. He was yellow carded in all three of those games so that’s another aspect to track. Didn’t beat them (he didn’t win any of his seven UCL games) but his FCK side did keep them to a 0-0 draw in their home tie.
Up Next: Swansea vs Leicester City at 3am on Sunday (NZT)
Tyler Bindon - Sheffield United (English Championship)
Marko Stamenic is still the only one of the Championship Quartet who’s playing games right now. Libby Cacace remains out injured for Wrexham and Max Crocombe continues to sit on the bench for Millwall – not only in the draw with Swansea but also a midweeker where they got tonked 4-0 by Coventry... he must be due a chance in the league soon, surely. Cacace is expected to be fit again after the international break so fingers crossed he only misses one more game (not counting the two All Whites fixtures).
As for Tyler Bindon... when we last checked in with him, he’d missed a couple of matchday squads altogether and then played (and scored) for the U21s. The manager who brought him to Sheffield United on loan had been sacked. The new gaffer has put an emphasis on experience in his team. It was all a bit dark.
Since then Bindon’s been back on the bench for the Blades as they won 1-0 against Oxford and lost 2-1 to Southampton. The first game he missed was because it was straight after the international break. The second game seems to have been so that he could play that U21s game (along with a couple others), giving coach Chris Wilder an opportunity to have a look at him in a match situation. Seems like he passed that test because now he’s back in the frame, albeit without getting on the pitch.
Wilder has picked three centre-backs in his last two elevens. Japhet Tanganga’s played as sort of a hybrid right-back so it’s not a back three but it might as well be when we’re counting options. Nils Zatterstrom (who also played that U21s game with Bindon) was on the bench for Oxford but Bindon was the only CB amongst the substitutes against Southampton. In other words, he was the next man up if one of that other trio had gotten injured. That puts him fourth in the pecking order... about right for a club like Sheffield United given the state of that club (seven defeats from eight matches).
Bindon’s inexperience at this level counts against him. Even after missing a few games, there are still only four players younger than Bindon who’ve gotten more minutes than him this Championship season and Max Alleyne (Watford) is the only fellow defender among them. Another of those players is Australia’s Nestory Irankunda (also at Watford). 20-year-olds don’t start Championship games at CB very often. Bindon is miles ahead of where most defenders his age.
All things considered, this seems like a decent spot for him to knuckle down from. He was overexposed in those four appearances where a disjointed team around him left Bindon hung out to dry. But he hasn’t been banished or isolated or condemned. He’s simply been nestled into a more realistic spot for somebody of his age and experiece, particularly considering where this club is at right now. Opportunities will still come his way if he trains hard and earns them. He’ll learn more from this experience than he would from being recalled by Nottingham Forest to play for their U21s for the rest of the year. We can probably chill on this situation for a wee while, it’s fine. Not ideal but still fine.
Up Next: Hull City vs Sheffiled United at 12.30am Sunday (NZT)
Gabi Rennie - Eskilstuna United (Swedish Elitettan)
Look who’s been at it again...
This was one of the most crucial games remaining for Eskilstuna United. Yes, they’re in a title race... but they’re also in a promotion race with the top two spots going up automatically and third-place getting a playoff. This game away to Umeå was second vs third, and thanks to a 2-1 win, Eskilstuna United remain level with IK Uppsala at the top of the standings (behind on goal difference) having opened up a four-point buffer between themselves and their opponents. There are six games remaining for all involved. Win five of those and Eskilstuna Utd will be going to the Damallsvenskan.
Rennie’s goal opened the scoring after 21 mins but Umeå levelled up shortly before the break. A draw would still have been a good result. They didn’t have to settle for that though, not after Rylie Combs headed in the winner in the 90th minute on the end of a bit of head tennis in the penalty area. It gets better too because Rennie was the one who’d headed the ball back towards Combs in the six yard box so that counts as a match-winning assist on top of her earlier goal. All that in one of the biggest results of her team’s season. How about that for a day at the office?
This comes after Rennie scored both goals in a 2-0 win last week. The week before that was a 0-0 draw which followed a 1-0 win in which Rennie assisted the goal. In other words, Eskilstuna didn’t score a single goal during the month of September which Gabrielle Rennie was not directly involved in. Three goals and two assists. Overall this season she’s got 6 goals and 10 assists in 19 games... and if she can continue adding to those counts then that’d be swell because their next game could be the one that decides the title as they face the league leaders.
Up Next: Eskilstuna United vs IK Uppsala at 3am on Monday (NZT)
Kees Sims - GAIS (Swedish Allsvenskan)
GAIS drew 1-1 away against third-placed AIK this weekend, an excellent result as they chase European football and one they were entirely deserving of having scored in the ninth minute via Ibrahim Diabate and kept good possession throughout. That’s all cool but what makes this game so notable is that we also got some Kees Sims action. As the backup keeper for GAIS, he’s mostly played in cup games this year although he did get rotated in for a 3-0 win against Degerfors in July and against for a 2-0 loss against soon-to-be-champs Mjällby in late August. This one was different. This time it was injury not rotation.
Mergim Krasniqi is the usual gloveman for this club and he’s brilliant, one of the team’s most reliable players. Good veteran for Sims to learn from though it makes playing time hard to come by. Well, shortly before half-time of this match, Krasniqi landed awkwardly after diving to prevent a corner kick. GAIS managed to hack the ball clear as their keeper stayed down and would eventually be stretchered off with a suspected dislocated shoulder.
GAIS head coach Fidde Holmberg: “Of course you never want to change your goalkeeper during a match. I heard the shoulder is dislocated. He has to go to hospital. That's the information I got.”
It’s since been confirmed by the club that it was indeed a dislocated shoulder. There isn’t a set schedule for how long he’ll be out for but Krasniqi himself has told local media that he definitely won’t play again this season. That’s nasty stuff for Krasniqi and also for GAIS with five games left and Europa Conference League qualification still a possibility. But this does mean that Kees Sims is now in line to be the club’s starting goalie for the rest of this year.
Mergim Krasniqi: “I tried to brace myself with my left hand but I was too heavy for the shoulder and it burned, there was something that jumped in the shoulder. So far I don't know much. I had an X-ray yesterday and there are no fractures in my skeleton or anything. The next step is to do an MRI. It took an hour to get it back in place. They stood and fought for a long time until they got it. I lay and suffered all the second half but I was on the team bus home. I have to assume that there will be nothing more [for me this season] and will support Sims and the rest of the team so that we reach our goals.”
Sims did concede an equaliser in the 52nd minute but it took a belter of a top corner volley to beat him. This was after AIK had tried and failed to chip him from nearly halfway...
Mjällby are cruising towards the title with an 11-point lead in the Allsvenskan and Hammarby are a further five points clear of anyone else in second. But third place gets European entry too and GAIS may currently be sixth but they’re only two points adrift of AIK with a better goal difference. These are the games that Kees Sims is now in line to play...
Norrköping (H) - 11th
Djurgården (H) - 7th
IF Brommapojkarna (A) - 9th
Östers IF (H) - 14th
Malmö (A) - 5th
That’s the task ahead of him. Sims made eight appearances last season (including one off the bench). He’s gotten three so far this year with the expectation that he’s about to add five more... although he did get a red card in one game last year so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s also the case that the third-choice keeper for next year’s World Cup squad remains up for grabs, hence Sims has that for motivation too. This dude is staring directly ahead into the most consequential month of his career so far.
Up Next: GAIS vs Norrköping on Sunday at 4.30am (NZT)
Owen Parker-Price - Örgryte IS (Swedish Superettan)
Things have sure happened quickly for Owen Parker-Price. As recently as early August, he scored the winner for Torslanda in a 1-0 victory away against Oskarshamns, a closely fought game between two lower-midtable Swedish third tier clubs. For six years he’d slogged away with Torslanda (including while they were relegated beneath that level) scoring goals, creating goals, and completing an unfathomable amount of passes. It was hard not to wonder what he’d be capable of at a higher level. Then, suddenly, finally, that opportunity came along when Örgryte wandered over with an offer and now here we are. Six weeks later he’s established himself as a midfield starter for an OIS team pushing for promotion to the Swedish top division and has earned his first All Whites call-up.
OPP debuted for OIS by scoring in an early round cup fixture, helping his new club avoid an upset. He then came off the bench for 27 minutes on league debut in a 2-2 draw against Brage. A week later he got 24 mins (and assisted a goal), then after the September FIFA window he played half an hour. Örgryte won both. His starting debut came on 20 Sept in a 1-0 win against Helsingborgs where he played ninety minutes. Next game he did the same thing in a 2-0 win against Trelleborg. Then again as OIS won 2-0 against Landskrona where he was given Man of the Match...
As a team, OIS are on an 11-game unbeaten streak and are two points clear at the top of the Superettan. In 354 minutes with OPP on the pitch, they have scored eight goals and conceded just two.
OIS coach Andreas Holmberg: “I've been questioning that all along, really [how nobody else scouted him]. It's weird, is all I can say. It makes me doubt Swedish football, that they didn’t want him. Maybe that's because people thought he's a few years too old? It has become a trend that you must not be over 21 if you are going to move on. And maybe that he is a little small. But he is amazing. What a footballer. We've been trying for a long time [to sign him]. We looked at him a lot last year but he wanted to wait. Now he’s decided that the time was right. I don't know what he looked like six years ago, but if there's one thing he is as a player, it's that he's mature. He makes wise decisions all the time. He is always playable, works hard, and never looks tired.”
Yes, you read that correct, his coach now has existential doubts about Swedish football after finding such a gem of a player still battling away in the regional divisions at his age. Holmberg also said that the intention was to ease him into the team but that he’s been so good so quickly that the plan has already changed. They’re straight-up raving about him and he’s only been there six weeks. Put this in the same category as the perfect introductions that Marko Stamenic and Matt Garbett have given to their new clubs after recent transfers. Give Darren Bazeley thirty seconds on the phone with Mr Holmberg and no wonder OPP has been called up to the national team.
Owen Parker-Price: “It's been a different route here for me. I have played in division 3, division 2, division 1, and the Super League. I've played in parking lots and dirt tracks. It has been a beautiful journey. One day I might write a book about it so people can read about everything. I came here as a 20-year-old boy who didn't know what I was doing. After a couple of years I realized I was on the other side of the world without my friends, but now I have lots of ties here and really feel at home. Everyone evolves at different tempos. I always knew I had it in me. For me, it was always about my body developing, and being able to use the body in the best way. I have put in lots of jobs and am very grateful for this trip. I wouldn’t change it, but it has been different.”
As for being selected for the All Whites...
“lt'll be fun. I am very excited. It means a lot. Very. To me it shows what I have done and what people around me have done for me. It's special. Getting to play for your country is cool.”
There’s a very good chance that Parker-Price is playing Allsvenskan football next year. There’s also a better than decent chance that he’s picked for a World Cup next year.
Up Next: Sandviken vs OIS, 6am on Tuesday (NZT)
George Stanger - Kilmarnock (Scottish Premiership)
George Stanger: “I’ve spoke to the manager kinda since I’ve signed with Killie, he’s kept in touch. It’s obviously something that would be massive for me and for my family. It would be a huge honour but hte main thing with that is the only way I can get involved with that is by doing well for Kilmarnock and that’s 100% my focus at the moment. I’m not thinking about the World Cup, not thing about New Zealand, as much as that is a big goal of mine. I’m focussed on the weekend.”
That’s what he said a few days ago, very diplomatic, very professional... and very discreet because George Stanger was summoned to his first All Whites camp about two days after this was recorded so he must have already known that was coming when he answered that question. Good for him because Stanger was already doing enough with Ayr United in last season’s Championship to warrant wider national team consideration and since getting the big move to Kilmarnock in the Premiership he’s looking equally comfortable. Sneaky issue with that red card at the start of the season but he’s worked his way back into the team since then.
Stanger had a strong ninety minutes as Killie won 2-0 against Dundee United in what was the club’s first win of the season following four draws and a loss. This was the first time he’s lasted a full game too, having been subbed off late in his other starts (apart from the one he got sent off in). Coincidentally, the last time that Stanger played ninety in a Scottish Prem game was against Kilmarnock. This was as a youngster for Hamilton Academical back in January 2021. Since then he’s been all the way down to the fifth tier and back up again. What a journey.
Up Next: Killie vs St Mirren at 3am on Sunday (NZT)
Grace Neville - Ipswich Town (English Super League 2)
That there is a piece of history: the full replay of Ipswich Town’s first win in WSL2. After promotion, they’d lost 4-0 to Southampton, 1-0 to fellow promotees Nottm Forest, drawn 0-0 with Charlton... and now won 3-2 against Portsmouth. They were 2-1 down at one stage but goals from Natasha Thomas (61’) and a Paige Peake penalty (81’) got them over the line to earn a famous three points for a club that has risen steadily up the divisions in recent years. Rianna Dean (22’) got the earlier goal. Grace Neville has played every minute at right-back. As you can imagine from those results, their fullbacks have been required first and foremost for defensive duties so there’s not been too much attacking action from Neville... but after a shaky one on debut in the Southampton loss she’s done a fine job overall. Lots of recoveries. Very aggressive. She also played 68 mins in the EFL Cup group stage opener against Leicester City – Ipswich lost 5-1 against the top flight club (it was 3-1 when Neville was subbed).
This was a quiet week for the WSL2 crew. Durham rotated things for the EFL Cup game against Sheffield United with Mickey Foster rested. Hannah Blake played and was amongst their best performers, not only moving the ball beautifully and getting a couple shots on target but also making a goal-line clearance. They subbed her with ten minutes left in a 1-1 draw and Durham went on to lose the bonus point penalty shootout. Then they drew 1-1 against Crystal Palace back in the league, taking the lead through Beth Hepple in the 79th minute only to concede an equaliser on 90+5’. Ouch. Blake got 23 mins off the bench. Foster did another ninety.
On the other side, Indi Riley was on the bench but didn’t get subbed on... which is becoming annoyingly common. She wasn’t even in the squad for their midweek 2-1 loss to London City Lionesses in the EFL Cup even though you would have thought that’d be an ideal chance to get her some minutes having only featured in one game out of five so far this season. She has spoken about dealing with a concussion late last season but if that was a factor then surely she wouldn’t keep getting named on the subs list. Seems more like the new coach is doing to IPR what we’ve seen with Chris Wood and Tyler Bindon.
As for Sunderland, they had a 5-0 loss to Liverpool in the EFL Cup in which Katie Kitching got half an hour off the bench for a rotated side. Then she played 87 mins in a very good display against Southampton, just not quite enough to help her team find a winner in the second half as they settled for a point from a 1-1 draw.
Up Next: Sheffield United vs Ipswich Town at 1am on Monday (NZT)
Callum McCowatt - Silkeborg IF (Danish Superliga)
After last week’s heroics, this should come as a surprise to exactly nobody...
Team of the Week honours following his hatty against FC København, sweet as. Not so much to write home about this round as Silkeborg drew 1-1 with Vejle. McCowatt played ninety minutes and looked very sharp, with one shot on target and one off target (both from outside the box) plus a couple of key passes. SIF were a tad wasteful and didn’t do enough to turn possession into goals against the bottom-ranked team. Silkeborg themselves are third-to-last at the moment... four points ahead of Vejle but also only two points away from leaping into the top half.
Up Next: Away to AGF at 3am on Monday (NZT)
Joe Bell – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)
Check the clocks. Viking were 3-1 up with thirty seconds left in the allotted stoppage time and somehow managed to concede twice to draw 3-3 against Sarpsborg. Bodø/Glimt didn’t have a game this week so Viking have moved one point clear of them in the title race, but if they miss out on the championship by a small margin then this absolute throwaway is going to come back to haunt them. Full game for Joe Bell. Their next game is against third-placed Brann (four points behind them with a game in hand) in their toughest remaining fixture. Essential that they bounce back.
Up Next: Viking vs Brann at 1.30am on Monday (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
Gotta rate a point against AZ Alkmaar. Midweek fixture and a 2-2 draw for PEC Zwolle, get in. They followed that by losing 2-1 to FC Volendam but we’ll just focus on the other game. Thomas only played an hour against AZ, this being in the middle of three games in seven days, making that the first instance this season of him being substituted. Needless to say, he returned to logging nineties against Volendam a few days later. This is what he does now. Fit as he’s ever been. Zwolle face PSV Eindhoven next which is bound to be a significant one for Thommo now that he’s discovered the sustained fitness that he was never able to find while he was at that club.
Up Next: PEC Zwolle vs PSV at 7am on Sunday (NZT)
Olivia Chance & Liz Anton – Kolbotn (Norwegian Toppserien)
Wait, hold the phone, Kolbotn won 1-0 against Stabæk thakns to a 68th minute goal from Camilla Linberg to snap a seven-game losing streak and give themselves a little bit of hope back as they seek to avoid relegation. Stabæk are the fourth-placed team in Norway so this was a huge result. Kolbotn had to do it without Jacqui Hand who has missed the last two games, presumably with injury, although Liv Chance and Liz Anton both got full games as their team kept an unexpected and essential clean sheet. They’re still four points adrift of safety with five matches left which means they’re going to need at least two more results where this one came from. But at least now there’s some reason to think they’re capable of it.
Up Next: Kolbotn vs Hønefoss at 1am on Sunday (NZT)
Sarpreet Singh - TSC Backa Topola (Serbian SuperLiga)
After two games playing from the bench followed by Singh being an unused substitute in last week’s 4-2 loss to Cukaricki, he was back in the starting eleven for the first time since before the September international break as TSC hosted Novi Pazar... and won 1-0. Didn’t get a huge amount of Sarpreet Moments in there (the best was a little shimmy-shake in midfield leading to a long range shot on target, fizzed low but nicely saved... there was also another chance after his team had taken the lead where he ran near post for a cross but couldn’t control his finish and then afterwards nearly kicked the post in a rare display of frustration). But he lasted the whole game and his team won and that’s what we’re here for. TSC are up to sixth on the ladder with this result.
Up Next: Away to Železničar Pančevo at 5.30am on Sunday (NZT)
Jana Niedermayr - Union Kleinmünchen (Austrian Bundesliga)
It took seven attempts but FC Blau-Weiß Linz / Kleinmünchen have finally won a Bundesliga game this season. They were away to First Vienna following six straight losses and by all rights this should have been another defeat except that somehow they were able to continually scramble, scrap, clamber, and claw the ball away from their own net throughout ninety minutes of defensive desperation.
Central defender Niedermayr made at least two goal-saving blocks in the first half. Then, with quarter of an hour to go, substitute Jana Sachs tackled a defender and chipped the keeper from about 35 metres out to win the game in unlikely fashion (that was also the club’s first goal of the campaign). Kleinmünchen are still last in the standings. Niedermayr has started every game although she won’t be able to match her feat from last season of playing every single minute because she did get substituted a few weeks ago. Just the once.
Up Next: Home against Sturm at 12.30am on Sunday (NZT)
Matt Dibley-Dias - Chesterfield (English League Two)
Chesterfield first-team coach Gary Roberts: “[Dibley-Dias] had a successful operation. It is a blow for us because he is such a good player and it is a blow for the lad because he has had no luck since the start of his career. He has had a couple of injuries now, a couple at Fulham and a couple here with his ankle and now his knee. It is not good, he will be out for a couple of months. He can’t do too much as you can imagine after an operation but he is back at Fulham and he will be there for a couple of months. We will get him back when he coming towards the end of rehab.”
Okay... so we won’t be hearing from Dibs any time soon. He’s now back at Fulham for his recuperation after knee surgery although with some luck he could be back in contention for Chesterfield around the turn of the year. We do still have Nik Tzanev at Newport County in League Two... though after his superb start there things have gotten kinda stale lately. Chesterfield actually beat Newport 4-1 in the most recent fixture. Newport have taken just one point from their last eight league games and are only one point above last place. Tzanev has played every minute in League Two but he’s conceded 20 goals in those 10 games and is yet to keep a clean sheet for the club.
Up Next: That pesky old recovery process
Oliver Colloty – Elgin City (Scottish League Two)
It’s loan time for Oli Colloty. He’s dropping back down a division to play for Elgin City until the end of the season, although Peterhead do hold an option to recall him in January if they so desire. Last weekend’s 3-1 loss to Stenhousemuir was the first match this season, across three competitions, that Colloty wasn’t part of for Peterhead... but all of his League One appearances have come off the bench and only one lasted longer than twenty minutes. He has started 5/8 games in the two cup comps (Challenge Cup and League Cup), scoring once in each of them, but those fixtures are about to run dry.
Hence he’s asked for a loan in order to get more minutes and that wish has been granted, sending him to Elgin City which would have been an easy negotiation because they played them in the Challenge Cup three days before this loan move was announced. It was Colloty’s last game for Peterhead prior to this deal... he got three minutes off the bench.
Elgin City are midtable in League Two and in need of goals. Colloty was predominantly a bench player for Peterhead last season before their promotion but he did score six goals in 625 minutes in that division so he knows what he’s doing. He’s already made his debut for his new team as the first man off the bench, getting half an hour of action, in a 3-2 loss against The Spartans. Elgin City had just conceded to be down 2-1 when he was chucked on. OC may need a little bit of ramping up after his limited minutes at Peterhead but he’s moved for game time and game time is what he’s getting.
Up Next: Elgin City vs Forfar at 3am on Sunday (NZT)
Moses Dyer - Phnom Penh Crown (Cambodian Premier League)
Phnom Penh Crown were 1-0 up away against Svay Rieng and then they were 2-1 down. They managed to level the game up again but, having already dropped a few points, this was a fixture they much preferred to win against the early frontrunners and defending champions. Step up Moses Dyer. Svay Rieng had won 5/5 until Moses Dyer had his say, showing huge tenacity to keep fighting for the ball deep into stoppage time, charging into the penalty area and drawing contact as he changed his line. He won the penalty. He scored the penalty. 3-2 to PPC. That’s what we’re talking about. This was Dyer’s second league goal for Crown and he’s got four from seven games overall.
Up Next: Sunday at 9.45pm away to Kirivong Sok Sen Chey (NZT)
Ali Riley - Angel City FC (American National Women’s Soccer League)
What else is there to say? Congratulation to Aotearoa’s all-time leader for international caps and Champions League appearances, someone who has been a long-term captain of the national team and for several high-profile clubs, for a wonderful career chock-full of accomplishments. Even just the ability to step away on her own terms having battled injury for a year and a half is amazing. Just hope she’s able to add a few more NWSL appearances before the season is over to complete that comeback.
There is also, just sayin’, a trio of Football Ferns games in Mexico and USA later this month which miiiight offer a chance to say farewell to the national team she’s played 163 times for. Shout out to one of the legends, someone who went to five different World Cups. The first was in 2007 as part of a squad where the bulk of players were amateurs and mostly based in NZ with a few in America. The fifth was in 2023 which New Zealand co-hosted and where every player was professional (except for one USA uni student) and they represented clubs scattered all over the world. Ali Riley spanned those eras as a leader and a trailblazer.
Up Next: Tuesday at 3.30pm, Angel City vs Kansas City Current (NZT)
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