Canada Break Kiwi Hearts In Cyprus
Story by Jeremy Ruane

There were plenty of tears of disappointment among the Football Ferns squad members in the GSP Stadium in Nicosia late on March 3, after their thrilling ride to the final of the Cyprus Cup came to an end at the hands of Canada, whose 1-0 victory saw them win the trophy for the second time in three years.

The Canucks created very few opportunities over the course of the first hour, during which the Football Ferns were stringing passes together for fun at times - not something done too easily against Carolina Morace’s charges.

Jenny Bindon had little to do between the sticks, such was the form of Rebecca Smith and Abby Erceg ahead of her, although the ‘keeper did have to deal with a couple of long-range efforts from Jodi-Ann Robinson and Diana Matheson either side of half-time.

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Published: 04 March 2010

Fifty-Up For “Coxy”’s Natural Successor
Story by Jeremy Ruane

On October 6, 2000, at Bill McKinlay Park, I was watching Auckland’s first game while covering the Northern Region U-17 Women’s Soccer Tournament. Inside the first ten minutes of the match, against Thames Valley, I said to those alongside me on the balcony, “I’ve just seen the natural successor to Michele Cox”.

Cox’s skill, vision, passing prowess and all-round game made her unquestionably the finest midfielder of her generation, a fact not done justice to by national selectors over the course of a decade from 1988.

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Published: 29 February 2010

Willing All Whites No Match For Mexico
Story by Jeremy Ruane

A willing All Whites combination gave Mexico a good run for their money at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on March 3, but the world’s fifteenth-ranked nation ultimately proved too good for their fellow World Cup finalists, prevailing by a comfortable 2-0 margin in front of a sell-out crowd numbering 90,526.

The All Whites gave as good as they got in the at times testy opening stages, before Mexico engineered the first opening of the match in the ninth minute. Veteran captain, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, linked with Aldo De Nigris to bring overlapping fullback Efrain Juarez into play, and he cut inside before unleashing a shot which Glen Moss saved diving to his left.

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Published: 05 March 2010

Schoolgirls Strike Back To Sink Young Ferns
Story by Jeremy Ruane / Photos By Graham Hughes

The New Zealand Secondary Schoolgirls extracted some revenge over their NZ Under-17 counterparts in the final game of their three-match series on the North Harbour Stadium Tigerturf on December 18, overcoming the series winners by a 4-3 margin which was far more comfortable than the scoreline suggests.

The Young Ferns enjoyed the better of the early exchanges, with a poor back-pass by Emily Cooper putting Erin Nayler under all sorts of pressure, the schoolgirls’ goalkeeper clearing against the fast-closing Mary Fraser and getting the benefit of the resulting ricochet in the fourth minute.

Seconds later, Nayler grabbed a shot from Hannah Wong at the second attempt, after the tall figure of Fraser had got the better of the statuesque Hannah Wilkinson, one of only two players on the pitch still in with the chance of scoring in all three games in the series.

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Published: 19 December 2009

O-League Final Spots Wide Open Going Into Last Day
Story by Jeremy Ruane

It’s going down to the wire in the 2009-10 Oceania Football Confederation Champions League, after Matchday Five action left both groups tantalisingly poised with one round of games remaining.

While Waitakere United’s clash at AS Manu Ura was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, Auckland City failed to take full advantage of their arch-rivals’ situation, being held to a 1-1 draw at AS Magenta, for whom Andre Sinedo equalised eight minutes into the second half after Daniel Koprivcic had given City the ideal start at the Stade Numa Daly thirteen minutes into the match.

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Published: 08 March 2010

Deserved Point For Plucky Canterbury At Auckland
Story by Jeremy Ruane

A plucky Canterbury United combination produced some very tidy football and earned a richly deserved point from their visit to Kiwitea Street on February 21, a result of holding reigning NZ Football Championship title-holders Auckland City to a 1-1 draw.

Auckland started strongly, Ian Hogg rampaging down the left before picking out Daniel Koprivcic in the third minute. His shot on the turn was directed straight at Tom Batty, who looked on with relief as Ki Hyung Lee’s thirty yard firecracker of a free-kick fizzed a yard over the crossbar.

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Published: 22 February 2010

e At Top As Play-Off Equation Becomes Clearer
By Jeremy Ruane

Waitakere United returned to the top of the NZ Football Championship on the last day in February after Youngheart Manawatu held reigning champions Auckland City to a draw in a round which saw Canterbury United and Team Wellington make giant strides towards claiming play-off places.

Waitakere scored three goals in a nine-minute burst just after the half-hour mark of their clash with Hawkes Bay United at Fred Taylor Park, eventually prevailing 4-1 over a team who were reduced to ten men when goalkeeper Richard Gillespie was sent off for a professional foul on Roy Krishna.

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Published: 28 February 2010

Sydney Down Melbourne To Clinch Premiership
Story by Jeremy Ruane

Sydney FC clinched the 2009-10 Hyundai A-League premiership crown on Valentine’s Day, downing reigning champions Melbourne Victory 2-0 in a closely contested affair at the Sydney Football Stadium, after third-placed Gold Coast United bottled their chance to stake a claim for a top-two finish when losing their second successive match on Saturday evening.

The first outstanding issue to be decided was resolved in the first game of the round, with Wellington Phoenix confirming a fourth-placed finish by scoring a 3-0 win over Central Coast Mariners at a wet Westpac Stadium, not that the 14,327 fans present cared a great deal about the conditions.

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Published: 15 February 2010

Wellington Sink Newcastle To Make Preliminary Final
By Jeremy Ruane

Wellington Phoenix are just one game away from the Hyundai A-League Grand Final after coming from behind to sink Newcastle Jets 3-1 after extra time in a thrilling semi-final at Westpac Stadium on March 7.

Urged on by 32,792 fans - another record attendance for the game in New Zealand - Wellington started like a house on fire, with Leo Bertos’ first minute corner picking out the head of Andrew Durante, whose header was cleared off the line by the combination of Newcastle goalkeeper Ben Kennedy and striker Ali Abbas.

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Published: 08 March 2010

Comprehensive First Half Sets Up Lynn-Avon Cup Win
Story by Jeremy Ruane / Photos by Graham Hughes

National Women’s Knockout Cup holders Lynn-Avon United retained the trophy in style at North Harbour Stadium on September 20, overwhelming Cup Final debutants Claudelands Rovers 5-1 in a one-sided final which was over as a contest by half-time.

With Katie Hoyle - the Javier Mascherano of NZ women’s football - at her imposing best as she single-handedly dominated midfield, United strangled the life out of their young rivals, scoring some superb goals as they completed the treble of Northern Premier Women’s League Premiership, NPWL Grand Final and the one they want to win most of all, and have now won nine times, the National Knockout Cup.

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Published: 21 September 2009

Olympic Overhaul Three Kings To Claim Chatham Cup
Story by Jeremy Ruane / Photos By Graham Hughes

Wellington Olympic came from behind to down Three Kings United 2-1 and win the 2009 Chatham Cup Final - their maiden triumph in the competition - at North Harbour Stadium on 20 September.

Both teams had yet to be beaten in league or cup action this season, and when United took the lead inside the first three minutes, it gave the Northern League First Division leaders the ideal start in the campaign’s showpiece fixture, a match they were bidding to win in memory of Ken Sargent, the club’s long-serving stalwart, who died a week before the biggest date in Three Kings’ history.

Glenn Eie roamed down the right before slipping the ball inside to Sam Mathews. His progress was thwarted by defenders, whose influence was suddenly negated by an outrageous back-heel from the midfielder, which set up Luiz Del Monte to thrash the ball past the stranded Nic Van Hattum from ten yards - 1-0 to the underdogs.

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Published: 21 September 2009

Northern League Honours Recognise Season’s Stars
Story by Jeremy Ruane

Strong showings from individuals in less well-performed teams were recognised when the 2009 Lotto Northern Regional Football League awards were presented on the weekend.

Onehunga Sports’ top goalscorer, Omi Takuyuki, took out the Northern Premier League’s Player of the Year award, his eight-goal haul and all-round performances earning him the coveted honour, and playing a major part in securing “The Green Machine”’s Premier League status for another season.

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Published: 06 October 2009

Three Kings Prevail In Fiftieth Clash Of The Titans
Story by Jeremy Ruane

The greatest rivalry in New Zealand women’s football turned fifty on 16 August, and Lynn-Avon United and Three Kings United marked the occasion with yet another hard-fought battle to add to the plethora which have preceded this Ken Maunder Park affair, this time in the Northern Premier Women’s League Top Four Play-Offs.

This latest duel won’t rank as one of the most memorable matches between these giants of the women’s game in this country, with tactical nuances far more prevalent than scoring opportunities throughout this closely contested encounter.

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Published: 17 August 2009

Supreme Award Crowns ‘Macca’’s “Amazing” 18 Months
Story by Jeremy Ruane

She only turned eighteen in June, but she has experienced more thrills in the past eighteen months than most young women her age can even dream about.

She’s Sarah McLaughlin, one of a special crop of young female Kiwi footballers who are taking the game by storm as we enter the second decade of the 21st Century.

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Published: 27 December 2009

Last-Gasp Equaliser Sees Empire Oust Colonial Upstarts
Story by Jeremy Ruane

A last-gasp equaliser from Toni Duggan spared the blushes of the “Empire” at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Finals in Santiago on November 27, and served to break the hearts of the “Colonial Upstarts”, who were just thirty seconds away from a famous victory and a special place in New Zealand’s footballing history.

The Junior Ferns were denied the honour of becoming the first NZ representative team, male or female, to qualify for the knock-out stages of a FIFA tournament by England’s late leveller at the Estadio Municipal de la Florida.

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Published: 30 November 2008

North Korea Claim Maiden U-17 Women’s Final
Story by Jeremy Ruane / Photos By Graham Hughes

North Korea scored a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over the USA at North Harbour Stadium on 16 November to become the first nation in history to win the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.

The triumph, at the conclusion of a tense and gripping final, means the Asian giants are unquestionably the queens of age-grade women’s football across the world, as they also hold the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, which they won in Russia in 2006.

The USA got off to the perfect start after just 102 seconds. A long throw-in from Cloee Colohan wasn’t dealt with by the North Korean defence, and the ball bounced into the far corner of the net despite the despairing attempts of Hong Myong Hui to keep it out - she must have made contact for the goal to be awarded, although it was certainly unclear from video footage who did get the vital touch.

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Published: 16 November 2008

Some Final Thoughts
Story by Jeremy Ruane

As I’m typing this, I’m eastward bound over the Tasman Sea, and the gorgeous Cameron Diaz is the star turn on the in-flight movie as the final leg of what has been a longer than anticipated trip home draws to a close.

Why so? Our flight from Shanghai was some three hours late in departing, thanks to a lovely electrical storm which provided its own entertainment, in the form of lighting up the airfield at Shanghai Pudong at regular intervals. Only one flight took the risk of taking off during its wrath, and nothing more was heard from it after its departure - one assumes that it made its destination intact.

It meant a rather frustrating time for those on board our aircraft, and doubtless the situation was repeated on others also. Some folk had to rearrange connecting flights, but thankfully that wasn’t the case for me - this delay just ate up the time I’d have spent wandering around the shops in the transit lounge at Kingsford Smith (the name by which Sydney Airport is properly known).

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Published: 16 August 2008

Back-To-Back Gold Medals For Argentina
Story by Jeremy Ruane

Argentina clinched successive gold medals in the Olympic Men’s Football Tournament on Saturday, downing Nigeria 1-0 in Beijing’s “Birds’ Nest” to claim the crown at the Games of the 29th Olympiad.

Lionel Messi cleverly set up the winning goal just shy of the hour mark for Angel di Maria, whose chipped strike clinched victory for the Argentines in an uninspiring match not aided by the fact it was played in ferocious 42C heat.

Water-breaks were the order of the day as the players endured the challenging conditions in the midday sun, with Nigeria unable to get the better of Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Romero, despite having their fair share of chances to do so in a match watched by 89,102 fans.

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Published: 23 August 2008