Flying Kiwis – February 24
Elijah Just – Motherwell (Scottish Premiership)
The bad news for Motherwell is that if they want to win a trophy this season, it’s going to have to be the Premiership. The good news is that they might genuinely be in the league title race after another week of very helpful results. But they won’t be winning the Scottish Cup because they got dropped 2-0 by Aberdeen midweek in a very contentious evening’s activities.
They’d only just beaten Aberdeen in the league but on a very chilly Wednesday evening local time, the coach opted for six changes to that team. Slightly controversial given how they were one very winnable game away from the quarter-finals with one of the three teams above them in the league already eliminated (Hearts lost on pens to Falkirk last round). Elijah Just was not one of those changes. He starts every week, he’s too important to what they do. But no matter how many changes you make, nothing’s going to prepare a team for getting a red card after two minutes of action as happened when Oscar Priestman slipped in the wet conditions and accidentally took an Aberdeen forward down just outside the area. That the VAR check ended with that being upgraded to a red was insane but so it goes. Aberdeen scored directly from the free kick to rub salt into the wound.
A high boot after twenty minutes saw Aberdeen given a red of their own (this one was deserved) and Motherwell were looking a good bet to find an equaliser, really starting to dominate once the game became 10v10... until early in the second half when a deliberate trip about forty metres away from goal stopped a counter and was elevated to a red card for Liam Gordon. Another bonkers VAR decision, so far from goal with other defenders in the area. Motherwell kept trying but a second concession after 64 mins saw them wave the white flag by replacing Eli Just. They lost 2-0 with nine men against ten. The two most disappointing results of this team’s season have come in cup games, with this stinker added to the League Cup semi-final loss 4-1 against St Mirren.
So it was that Motherwell exited the Scottish Cup at the last sixteen... but fortunately they only had to wait a couple days before they faced St Mirren away in the Premiership. Same team that smoked them in the League Cup semis. This time was different. You can probably guess what that means...
The new running count is six goals and seven assists this Premiership season for Elijah Just. He has a goal contribution in seven of his last eight league matches. Undefeated in those games too.
And that’s not all. It was also Just’s bursting run from deep and his through ball into the box that led to Maswanhise winning the penalty that made it 2-0. He kinda overhit that pass but it worked out because Maswanhise’s heavy touch enticed the challenge from the keeper. TM converted the spot kick himself. Could have gotten even worse for St Mirren had Alex Gogic not had his red card overturned by VAR before the break... but, shortly after it, Just dropped back and tackled a dude shy of halfway then turned on the ball surged forward like he does so well. His pass was aimed at Ibrahim Said only for Callum Slattery to get in the way. Slattery then sent it where it was meant to go, vulturing the assist as Said slammed the ball into the net via a deflection.
That same brother Slattery was then involved in a contentious instance when he grabbed at a St Mirren dude’s arm as they tracked back away from the ball, instigating a swinging arm and then collapsing clutching his face despite never actually getting touched. The St Mirren dude got red carded for that. Scottish VAR was off its meds this week... not that it mattered in the scheme of this game. Motherwell scored again through Emmanuel Longelo (third assist of the night for Slattery who also set up Just’s goal) and that was enough for coach Jens Berthel Askou. Off came his main man Elijah Just after 61 minutes with the team leading 4-0. They’d score a fifth shortly afterwards via Eythor Bjørgolfsson. 5-0 was the final score... absolutely emphatic way to bounce back from that cup exit. And some pleasant entertainment, despite the heavy rain, for Sir Alex Ferguson who was in the crowd watching on.
It gets better because Rangers were held 2-2 by ten-man Livingston, scoring twice in the last ten minutes merely to avoid defeat, while Celtic got a red card themselves on the way to a 2-1 loss against Hibernian getting doomed by an 87th minute goal. Hearts did win 1-0 against Falkirk to extend their Premiership lead but Motherwell also just took a lengthy stride forward. If they win their game in hand they’d only be three points behind second place. They’re already in a Conference League qualification spot as it is... but second would mean Champions League. Imagine a season in which both Celtic and Rangers finish outside the top two... hasn’t happened since 1965. Motherwell (and Hearts) have opened the doors of possibility.
Eli Just: “It’s amazing. We were a relatively new group of players in the summer so if you look at the first few games of the season, we’ve come a long way. Every week on the training field we’re developing those connections and bonding as a group. It’s brilliant... We’re trying not to look too far ahead. It’s difficult to close the gap on the teams above us when they also keep winning so for us it’s just about focus on the next game and making sure we perform well every game.”
Up Next: Motherwell vs Dundee United at 4am on Sunday (NZT)
Michael Boxall & Troy Putt – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
A new season of Major League Soccer is upon us and not only does that mean one more year of Michael Boxall excellence (he’s into the last year of his contract so it’s possible he may hang ‘em up after 2026... although on form and fitness he could probably play into his 40s so who knows?), it also means we’ve entered the Cam Knowles Head Coach era at Minnesota United. NZ’s own Knowles was elevated from assistant coach when Eric Ramsay left for the West Brom job in England (where he now has an 0-3-5 record after eight games, yikes), having served as interim for a few games two years ago. Knowles has worked a long time in the background at Portland and then Minnesota in order to earn this gig. Massive opportunity.
That gives Minnesota United a kiwi coach and a kiwi captain. They weren’t able to sign Callum McCowatt like they tried during January (although after a 4-0 Silkeborg loss to Midtjylland this week, McCowatt might be wishing they had) but Coach Knowles had another one up his sleeve: on the day of the game, the Loons announced a short-term loan deal for NZ U20s representative Troy Putt from the club’s Next Pro squad. Putt joined that team a year ago and has made 18 appearances (11 starts) with three assists. Usually an attacking player for Birkenhead United and the NZ U20s but he mostly played as a right-sided defender for Loons 2. He got a few chances during preseason and seems to have impressed everyone with his efforts – including winning the team’s preseason beep test.
Cam Knowles: “[Putt’s] effort, his work rate has been exceptional. He has trained with a relentless work ethic [throughout preseason]. When we were looking at it in the balance of the squad and what we might need, he’s a good young player. He has real elite, top-end pace. He has elite ability to work and cover ground.”
The short-term agreements are an MLS thing whereby a team can promote a reserve player for a few days, usually done as a game by game thing. Jay Herdman had a few of these with Vancouver Whitecaps a couple years ago. The trick is that you’re only allowed four of them per season... after that they have to sign you outright. Putt’s already cashed STA #1 and there’s a long way to go yet so these are very promising signs. And having brought him in, they were always going to include him on the bench. Having included him on the bench, it was reasonable to hope we might see something like this...
Hell yeah, that’s a week one MLS debut for Troy Putt. Still only 19 years old. They chucked him on for the last five minutes with the team trailing 2-1 and okay sure he didn’t score... but he was there lurking at the back post when Kelvin Yeboah popped in a late equaliser away against Austin FC, meaning that Putt was first across to celebrate with him. 2-2 final score. Good point away from home against a tricky opponent. Michael Boxall did the full thing as captain, no surprises there. He was beaten to the header for the first goal but otherwise pretty emphatic with the Loons returning to a back four formation this year under the new bossman. Boxy’s CB partner Morris Duggan scored Minny’s first equaliser. Including his three-game interim stint in 2024, Cam Knowles remains undefeated after four games as a coach (two wins, two draws).
Also, this was without Minny’s star offseason recruit James Rodriguez who isn’t quite ready yet. When he is, it’ll mean joining forces with a bloke he captained against in a 2-1 win for Colombia back in November...
There were just 19 players younger than Troy Putt who got minutes during week one and the only other foreigners on that list were Bryan Zamble of Ivory Coast and Lucas Herrington of Australia (on debut after joining from Brisbane Roar). There were only seven players older than Michael Boxall to get minutes in week one and it’s a pretty crazy list: Diego Chara, Hugo Lloris, Luis Suarez, Maximiliano Moralez, Alejandro Bedoya, Lionel Messi, and Tim Ream.
The return of Major League Soccer also means Finn Surman at the Portland Timbers and while it was perfectly normal at all to see him walk out for the opener against Columbus Crew... it was curious to see new Aussie signing Alex Bonetig alongside him ahead of a few of Portland’s more established centre-backs. A-League represent. Coach Phil Neville had them in a back four as well, having alternated between a three and a four last season though usually opting for the former.
The new combo might need some time to gel. That was made clear when a bad pass from a fullback led to them conceding after only five minutes... but fifteen minutes later they were up 2-1 so it wasn’t too much of a setback. Columbus would level up again thanks to a great hit right before the break. However, Portland found a winner with a couple minutes left in the match to claim a 3-2 victory. Pretty rusty in places but three points on the board and Finn Surman was credited with 13 defensive clearances to give himself the early jump in a stat category that he led the entire league for last year.
And a shout out to ex-All White Tyler Boyd who has moved back to California and linked up with LAFC this year, getting 28 mins off the bench in a Champions Cup debut against Real España of Honduras. LAFC won 6-1 with Denis Bouanga getting a hatty while Heung-min Son scored one and assisted three. He then played eight minutes in a 3-0 win against Inter Miami. Yes, Lionel Messi did play. Boydy’s been keeping some decent company.
Up Next: Minnesota United vs Cincinnati at 10.30am on Sunday (NZT)
Katie Kitching – Sunderland / Michaela Foster – Durham FC (English Super League 2)
Couple of Footy Ferns finding themselves as enemies one week before they link up for World Cup qualifiers. This was a good battle too. Mickey Foster in the back three for Durham, Katie Kitching on the wing for Sunderland. Hannah Blake was on the bench for Durham but she doesn’t get to play any more, stranded as a perennial unused sub over the past month. She’s also in that Ferns squad though – at least she’ll get to kick a ball or two there.
And it was Katie Kitching who scored her fourth goal of the season, ghosting one home at the near post to send her team towards a comeback win. 1-0 down at the break thanks to a Mollie Lambert goal. 1-1 as Kitch levelled the game up after 64 mins. She’d be subbed with fifteen to go... but Sunderland have other talents at their disposal and goals for Louise Griffiths (81’) and Marissa Sheva (90+1’) sent them on the way to a 3-2 victory, with Durham scoring later in stoppage time to make it a frisky finish. These are teams eight and nine on the ladder so nobody really gained much. Sunderland could challenge the top half if they win their games in hand while Durham remain three points clear of the drop zone despite the loss. This was the only game of the round, a rescheduled fixture, so nothing for Indi Riley or Grace Neville this week. They’ll hopefully be back after the international break.
By the way, this is considered a derby game between a pair of geographic rivals... and the victory for Sunderland means they’ve now won seven consecutive league matches against Durham. Seven in a row in a derby? Even Auckland FC can’t relate (at least not yet).
Up Next: Ferns duty... with the next WSL2 games not for another three weeks
Owen Parker-Price – Örgryte IS (Swedish Allsvenskan)
Owen Parker-Price spent years bossing the midfield down the divisions at Torslanda with the other Ole Academy folks. Then when he finally got his move up the divisions, everything happened so quickly. He broke into the Örgryte starting eleven. He earned an international call-up, then an international debut. He helped his new club win promotion to the top flight in Sweden. All the while he played at such a level that his coach told local media that he’d lost faith in Swedish football due to this diamond of a player having evaded everyone else’s attention for so long.
That Allsvenskan season kicks off in April and will offer OPP a little window of games at that higher level to boost his case for World Cup selection (tough yakka breaking into that midfield crew but he’s definitely close). Would imagine we see him in the squad for the Finland and Chile games in Auckland considering a few of the injuries in his position. Before that, there’s the League Cup group stage. ÖIS began with an away trip to face Värnamo – former club of Francis de Vries and one of the teams that was busy getting relegated while ÖIS were getting promoted, so this was kinda like them passing in opposite directions on the street. And would ya look at this...
These league cup games are more competitive than preseason games though obviously not taken as seriously as the Allsvenskan stuff. They’re sort of like a soft launch for the season. But they’re still serious games so it’s very promising thing to see OPP starting in the midfield and polishing off that beauty of a goal. Interestingly, his only previous goal for ÖIS was also in a cup competition (the main cup in that case) in his debut for the club.
Örgryte were leading 2-1 at half-time but their hosts turned up the heat in the second spell and to be honest ÖIS did bloody well to hang on for the 2-2 draw. That was probably their easiest game of the three with Kalmar and Mjällby both being fellow Allsvenskan opponents. Kalmar were promoted ahead of ÖIS while Mjällby... they’re the defending champs of the nation. If that doesn’t get OPP and ÖIS up to speed ahead of their top flight return then nothing will.
Across town, since both clubs are based in Gothenburg (and coached by a pair of brothers, coincidentally), we find the other New Zealander in the Allsvenskan. Kees Sims has been there for a couple years already with GAIS, serving as the second goalkeeper but nonetheless managing 16 appearances across those two seasons. He had a good run to close last season after main man Mergin Krasniqi busted his shoulder with Sims fitting in seamlessly as GAIS finished third and qualified for Europe. The club’s best season in more than three decades. He also launched himself into the All Whites squad during that spell.
GAIS have signed another goalkeeper, 21yo Danish gloveman Andreas Hermansen, but that’s more of future-proofing thing (i.e. insurance if Krasniqi or Sims leaves). He’ll be number three. Krasniqi will remain number one... but he hasn’t actually returned from that shoulder injury yet. He’s very close, slightly ahead of schedule, and might be ready for week one of the league season. But Kees Sims played all three League Cup games last season and it’s probably going to be the same this time. As it was in game one where he got a full match in a 3-0 win against Landskrona. Sweet as.
Up Next: ÖIS vs Mjällby on Monday at 7am (NZT)
Tyler Bindon – Sheffield United (English Championship)
We’re getting pretty used to seeing that Sheffield United centre-back combination. They’ve started together on eleven occasions with the Blades winning six, drawing one, and losing four. One of those losses was during the disastrous Ruben Selles period at the start of the season (0-1 vs Middlesbrough) so let’s scratch that from the record. Another involved two first half red cards (including for Tanganga) with Bindon subbed at HT as part of the adjustments (0-1 vs Charlton... the goal was scored in the opening minute of the second half). That only leaves a freaky 5-3 loss to Wrexham (in which Bindon played his only bad game since getting back into the team, scoring an own goal), and a 2-1 loss to Middlesbrough.
Games With Bindon/Tanganga CB Combo During Chris Wilder Era:
19 points from 10 games (1.90pts/gm)
+5 goal difference
All The Rest Of Them:
26 points from 23 games (1.13pts/gm)
-1 goal difference
That’s the combination that’s working for them. That’s the combination that Chris Wilder has settled upon, sticking with them even after others like Ben Mee and Mark McGuinness became available. The latest instance was a 2-1 victory against arch rivals Sheffield Wednesday in which they went 2-0 up inside twenty minutes and then kept it steady despite Kalvin Phillips getting sent off early in the second spell. Plenty of spice in this game... there had to be because not only was it a derby, Sheffield Wednesday (who’ve had a points deduction) were also playing to avoid confirming their relegation against their biggest rivals. They didn’t avoid it. Relegated in a derby, that’s gonna sting for a long time.
That was extra nice from Tyler Bindon since none of the other kiwi lads in the Championship even played. Libby Cacace is still recovering from his latest muscle issue, nothing serious but he’ll probably be another couple weeks hence he missed out on a belter of a contest as Wrexham won 5-3 against Ipswich Town. Marko Stamenic is suspended for two games for yellow card accumulation. The first of those saw Swansea City win 1-0 against Bristol City without him. They’ve got a midweeker against Preston so Stamenic will be back next week when they face Ipswich away.
And, well, the thing we feared at Millwall happened with Sunderland loanee and January signing Anthony Patterson picked ahead of Max Crocombe for their game against Portsmouth. Snapped a 23-game run of consecutive Championship starts for Crocs, following on from a bad mistake last week. Rare though that error may have been, Patterson’s been given several weeks to settle at the club and was always going to be pushing to play at some stage. The hope is that this was merely a bit of rotation to keep everyone on their toes. The worry is that this was the intention all along from manager Alex Neill.
But Patterson didn’t exactly deliver a blinder on debut as they lost 3-1 at home against Pompey – the first time in more than two months that the Lions have shipped three goals in a league game. The first goal was a parried save that was scored on the follow-up - exactly what happened with Crocombe last week so fair’s fair, right? We’ll see what happens next week, when Millwall have two games to play.
In the meantime, this was a superb chat on Ben Foster’s podcast including plenty of All Whites talk...
Up Next: Sheff Utd vs Coventry at 8.45 Thurs; QPR vs Sheff Utd at 4am Sun (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
PEC Zwolle coach Henry van der Vegt: “It’s not an overload, but it is an obstacle. At some point it becomes too risky and we don’t want that. If he’d been able to train today, he would have been in the squad but there were too many ifs and buts, so we decided to keep him out. We want to keep him fit in the long term.”
That was the explanation for Ryan Thomas missing Zwolle’s 1-1 draw away against Utrecht. Apparently he’s been dealing with a little niggle requiring him to take painkillers before the last couple games, therefore the club decided to give him a rest for this one in the hope that it’ll allow him to recover more fully. They’re optimistic he’ll be available for next week’s match against Ajax.
Nothing serious... although if you were expecting to see him next month for All Whites duty then perhaps you may want to brace yourself for bad news – if Thommo isn’t fully fit then he’s not going to fly around the world for friendly games and jeopardise his club in the midst of a possible relegation battle. Nor is Darren Bazeley going to force him to. In fact, it’d be quite a good opportunity to audition a few other candidates who deserve a last look before the World Cup squad is named. Owen Parker-Price and Lachlan Bayliss spring to mind. On that note, we might wanna pump the breaks on the Dalton Wilkins resurgence because he missed Sønderjyske’s latest outing with injury.
Up Next: Monday at 12.15am, PEC Zwolle vs Ajax (NZT)
Katie Bowen – Inter Milan (Italian Serie A)
Ah bugger, the winning streak is over and the title challenge they’d hauled themselves into just slipped a little further from their grasp after Inter Milan were beaten 1-0 by defending champs and current leaders Roma. The only goal, scored after 34 minutes, was about ten centimetres from being offside. Bowen had won a good initial defensive header but it only went as far as Roma’s Giulia Dragoni who beat an Inter midfielder to the ball and ripped a shot that was well saved... except that Evelyne Viens was played on by a lagging Inter teammate amidst the scramble and her tap-in proved the difference.
Inter had a good second half, forging some decent chances, but couldn’t pick the right spots and Roma never made even a minor a blunder to help them. Haley Bujega missed a massive chance when she air-swung from eight yards out with five mins remaining. Bowen was sacrificed for an extra attacker around that time. Alas, Roma held on and are now six points clear at the top. Inter Milano remain second thanks to Juventus drawing their match.
Up Next: Rematch with Roma in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg... but not until after the international break (which Katie Bowen is not partaking in)
Jacqui Hand – FC Basel (Swiss Super League)
Good to see Jacqui Hand having settled into the FC Basel starting line-up without hesitation, starting all three games thus far and looking pretty handy on that right wing. Fast and active and aggressive and willing to run at defenders. She’s been the team’s most consistently threatening player through these games... it’s just a shame that they’ve aligned with three of the toughest fixtures in Switzerland. They lost 2-1 to Grasshoppers in her debut, drew 0-0 with Zürich in game two, and then were beaten 2-1 after extra time by Young Boys in game three. All currently in the top four on the league standings.
That last one was a cup game, obviously, with Hand playing the whole 120 minutes. They conceded in the last minute of extras to lose. This after shipping an 87th minute winner in the Grasshoppers game. Not a pattern that they’ll want to see continue but despite the poor run of results after the winter break, they could very easily have drawn, maybe even won, the lot of them. And there’s a Jacqui Hand golazo in the works sometime soon, you just know it.
Up Next: Hit pause for the internationals
Alex Paulsen – Lechia Gdansk (Polish Ekstraklasa)
Pesky 2-0 defeat for AP and the lads against Zagłębie. Conceded twice in the first half hour (including in the third minute), one a header in off the crossbar and the other a banger from just outside the area, then bossed it in the second half but couldn’t score thanks to a conflagration of bad finishing, superb defending, and general craziness. The highlights are worth a geeze for the chaos alone. Zagłębie moved up to second with this win so it was never going to be a simple task. Kinda weird seeing Paulsen in a situation where he’s only kept one clean sheet in 13 Ekstraklasa matches (and that was in his second appearance) but the team’s gotten much better since he’s been in there and the coach seems to love him.
Up Next: Arka Gdynia vs Lechia at 8.30am Saturday (NZT)
Kate Taylor – Dijon FCO (French Première Ligue)
Taylor made her return from injury with a cameo off the bench in a French Cup match against OL Lyonnes, getting quarter of an hour in a 4-0 loss. This week she she got three times that much action after being subbed on in the 41st minute when Marion Haelewyn limped off injured. One CB returns after a month or two on the sideline (hard to tell because of the winter break) and another is promptly hurt... good to see Kate Taylor out there again though. She’ll have the international break to get herself up to primo fitness again and hopefully contend for starts when the team next plays.
As for the game? Comme ci, comme ça... Dijon were held to a 0-0 draw away to Fleury. They did pretty well to keep a clean sheet on the road but never did enough the other way to come close to winning the thing. They drew twice against Fleury last season so this specific result isn’t any different but it fits in with the wider context of Dijon having been so good at banking points against the teams outside the top four last season and not having been able to do so this time around. Hence why they’ve dropped from fourth in 2024-25 to seventh in 2025-26. They broke away from the mid-table, now they’ve sunk back into it. Comfortably clear of any relegation thoughts yet very much a down season compared to the successes of the previous campaign.
Up Next: Dijon vs ASSE at 7am on 12 March (NZT)
Suya Haering – Carl Zeiss Jena (German Bundesliga)
It’s getting ugly again for CZJ. The club seemed to be turning the corner when they won 2-1 away to Union Berlin a few weeks ago with Suya Haering, having recently earned a starting spot at left wing-back, setting up their first goal. It was her first goal contribution in the Bundesliga. But since then they’ve lost 6-0 to Bayern Munich, 4-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt, and now 5-1 to Nürnberg. Those first couple were fine, those are amazing teams that compete in European competitions – actually, Frankfurt just knocked Grace Wisnewski’s FC Nordsjælland out of the Europa Cup quarter-finals with a 7-2 aggregate scoreline. But getting thrashed by Nürnberg who are only a couple places above them was a bit of a disaster. None of the goals came down Haering’s side, at least.
In more positive news, Haering has now started six games in a row... and thanks to this little boost in prominence she was able to benefit when Lara Wall was ruled out of the upcoming Football Ferns squad. In comes Suya Haering for the first time at the senior level, picked as an injury replacement. Should get a debut at some stage across the three games. She’s been an undercover flyer for the last two years (for non-Flying Kiwis readers, at least) but that’s about to change.
Up Next: On 12 March it’s CZ Jena vs SC Sand in the DFB Pokal quarter-final (NZT)
Ben Old – AS Saint-Étienne (French Ligue 2)
None of it’s been glamorous or overly convincing... but St-Étienne have won three games in a row under new manager Philippe Montanier: 1-0 vs Montpellier, 2-1 vs Guingamp, and now 2-1 vs Stade Laval. After the wobbles at the end of Eirik Horneland’s tenure, they’ve risen back up to second place on the ladder just two points behind leaders Troyes. Ben Old has played every minute of those three games and he’s played them all at left-back. At first it was a sneaky way for him to get into the team again but with how well he seems to be settling there it might even be worth wondering whether Oldy might even see some LB time with the All Whites next month.
Against Stade Lavallois, ASSE were ahead after barely two minutes thanks to a penalty earned when Ben Old’s deep cross from the left took a bounce in the area and struck a defender’s arm. He hasn’t gotten any goals or assists from this position yet but he’s getting into the types of positions that make that inevitable. Here’s a deeper look at how he’s conducting himself in his new role (including plenty of very nice defensive contributions alongside the dribbling and ball retention), from last week’s game...
Up Next: Pau vs ASSE at 8am on Sunday (NZT)
Jana Radosavljevic – CF Marítimo (Portugese Campeonato Nacional)
It was only in April that Jana Radosavljevic tore her ACL and meniscus while on tour with the Football Ferns. She’d just been recalled for the first time in a couple years, hoping to add to her three international caps – the most recent coming in 2020. But this was on the fateful Chinese Taipei tour where the Ferns found themselves training on fields with rocks on them and the games ended up being cancelled altogether after Rado’s injury and the risk of further problems. It was a shambles. Should have just hosted the games in Aotearoa instead and maybe Rado’s knee would have been fine.
This wasn’t the first serious knee injury that she’s had... so maybe she was able to speed up the recovery process because, amazingly, Jana Radosavljevic returned the pitch at the end of January barely nine months after the injury. She played 17 minutes in a cup game against Valadares Gaia. They lost 6-0 but only one of those goals was scored while she was out there. Also, they’d already been eliminated from any possibility of making the next round so it was a dead rubber game from Marítimo’s perspective (whereas Valadares were playing for points and goal difference).
Four days later she was subbed on during extra time of a 1-1 draw against Porto in the main cup competition. Sadly, she missed a penalty in the shootout that would have clinched victory and instead they went on to lose. Jana has since made bench cameos in league games against Rio Ave and Torreense. That was a brutal injury that she suffered but she’s returned in rapid time and her club have been loyal as well, keeping her around and now building her back up again. Rado scored two goals with three assists in 18 matches last season – that was the form that got her into the Ferns squad. As it stands, Marítimo are sitting 8/10 on the ladder with 11 points from 12 games hence they’re gonna need a few more results, and all the squad help they can get, to steer clear of the danger zone.
Up Next: Sporting CP vs Marítimo on 16 March at 4am (NZT)
Andre De Jong – Orlando Pirates (South African Premiership)
Not to be a downer here but Orlando Pirates just had the worst week of their season. First they lost a massive title race game against Mamelodi Sundowns in the midweek. Beaten 2-1 with Andre De Jong only getting quarter of an hour at the end, unable to find his team an equaliser. They started well but spoiled the game by conceding twice in the ten mins before half-time. Pirates remain first despite the loss... but Sundowns can now go ahead of them by winning their game in hand. These two drew 1-1 when they played each other previously and they won’t meet again. It’s all gonna come down to who takes care of business against the rest of the field.
Then, still smarting from the midweek setback, Pirates were stunned by Casric Stars in the Nedbank Cup. ADJ started and played 79 minutes but couldn’t spark a way through against the lower-tier opponents and neither could anyone else as extra time went by with the score still 0-0 and then Casric Stars won it on penalties for a very famous upset. ADJ had a couple shots, including a stretching touch onto a square ball six yards out that he couldn’t get enough contact on to guide into the net. He was also denied by a brilliant reaction save trying to pounce on a parried save later on.
So Pirates are out of the Nedbank Cup in the last sixteen and their dream of winning the PSL got a bit more complicated after the Sundowns loss (interestingly, Sundown also got beaten in the cup). And for ADJ, it’s been a slow start at his new club. Only used as a substitute in the league so far. His two starts (and only goal) have come in the cup which they’re now eliminated from. They’ve eased him in slowly, to be expected after he joined a team that was already successful. But perhaps this past week will force a few changes.
Abdeslam Ouaddou, Pirates head coach: “I think Andre’s settled well at the club. When he came, we sat with him and the technical staff, our analyst department, and we showed him what he’s able to bring to the club. He’s a very clever player, a top man, very kind guy and very ambitious as well. When we give him time to show what he’s able to do, he tried to give his best and I’m sure that there’s a lot of the best from Andre that we’re going to see next 13-14 games that we have. I’m very happy about his commitment. Very happy about what he can bring the team. At the moment, with the numbers we have, it’s difficult to bring him quickly but I’m sure we’ll see the best from him soon.”
Andre De Jong: “There’s a few contributing factors [into why I found form at Stellenbosch], one of them is game-time, it was massive and having the support of the technical team at Stellenbosch, it was massive for me. At AmaZulu I got injured a few too many times and then was in and out of the team and at Royal AM it was a short stint, but I really found my feet at Stellenbosch, it was a great stepping stone for me. Obviously there’s been a few New Zealanders who played here before, also Michael Boxall, so prior to coming over here I actually chatted to them, and they spoke very highly of the league and the country in general. And so far, my time has been incredible, so yeah – just hoping to emulate some of the stuff Brockie did in front of goal and if it’s half of what he did it would be amazing of course.”
Up Next: Kaizer Chiefs vs Pirates at 2.30am on Sunday (NZT)
Henry Gray – Harrogate Town (English League Two)
It’s happening again. At both Chelmsford City and Braintree Town, Henry Gray turned up and the team promptly got better amidst a plethora of clean sheets. Harrogate Town could hardly have gotten any worse when he arrived, rooted to the bottom of the League Two standings, but saving their EFL status seemed an unlikely task even just a couple of weeks ago. Until the clean sheets arrived.
Harrogate had already begun to turn a corner in the previous fortnight with a 2-1 win against Cambridge and a 1-1 draw against Colchester. This week they played twice and didn’t concede in either. 1-0 away to Barrow. 0-0 at home against first-placed Bromley. Gray got lucky with a free kick that smacked his crossbar (and then a follow up fired over the top while he was still recovering his position) in the Barrow game but he also made an excellent 1v1 stop in the first half and just as important was what he didn’t do: he didn’t rush off his line and get rounded for the only goal of the game like the oppositive gloveman did. The draw against Bromley was arguably even more impressive (albeit nowhere near as crucial in the relegation battle) as they created the bulk of the chances, playing without fear against a team at the opposite end of the standings. Pity they couldn’t find a winner but things are happening for Harrogate, suddenly.
That’s four games undefeated, double their next best streak this season. They hadn’t kept a clean sheet since October (23 games ago) and now they’ve kept two in a week. In nine appearances, Henry Gray has an 81.1% save percentage, conceding fewer goals per game than either of the other two keepers used by the club this term (and by a long margin too). He’s been great.
This little burst of form has allowed Harrogate Town to climb above Newport County. Barrow are the next team directly above them and since only two clubs get relegated from League Two that means that’s all they need to muster over the last quarter of the campaign to survive. That difference is now only one point. Crawley Town are also in range a further point beyond.
Up Next: Harrogate vs Cheltenham at 8.45am Saturday (NZT)
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