Kiwi Women Overseas
Story by Jeremy Ruane

With the US college scene having just kicked off, hard on the heels of another European football season, it’s an appropriate time to check out the progress of our Kiwi Women Overseas for the first time in the 2010-11 campaign - info is correct to the end of August.

Heading the news is Chelsea’s recent recruitment of Football Ferns captain HAYLEY MOORWOOD on a one-year deal, the London giants one of eight teams which will be contesting the inaugural English Women’s Super League, when it kicks off in March.

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Published: 02 September 2010

Three Kings Set Up Cracking Final With Claudelands
Story by Jeremy Ruane

Three Kings United set up what should be a cracking National Women’s Knockout Cup Final against Claudelands Rovers some time next month by defeating Marist Wellington 4-0 at Te Whaea Park on 8 August.

United were too fit, too fast and too clinical for the Central Region Premier Women’s League champions, who were facing an uphill battle in their maiden semi-final inside the first minute of the match.

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Published: 08 August 2010

Spectacular Caversham Comeback In Chatham Cup
Story by Jeremy Ruane

Caversham made a spectacular comeback at Ferrymead Bays’ expense to steamroller their way into the Chatham Cup semi-finals, as the last four teams in the competition were determined on the last full weekend in July.

“Cavvy” were 2-1 down with two minutes to play when Patrick Fleming scored a stunning equaliser to force extra time at Barnett Park, and the Dunedinites took full advantage in the extra half-hour, going goal crazy to eventually prevail 7-3.

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Published: 25 July 2010

Coastal Spirit Take Out Title As Marist Win Kelly Cup
Story by Jeremy Ruane

They did it the hard way, but Coastal Spirit could finally uncork the champagne on August 28 as they clinched the Mainland Premier Women’s League title with a game to spare, despite being held to a 1-1 draw at Bexley Reserve by Woolston Technical.

Spirit’s Monique Barker and Tech’s Molly Cairns exchanged first half goals in another tight affair between these teams, with Woolston maintaining their record as the only side Coastal Spirit have failed to overcome in their four league clashes this season.

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Published: 29 August 2010

Goal Difference Decides Central League Title
Story by Jeremy Ruane

CENTRAL REGION PWL
Marist Wellington retained their Central Region Premier Women’s League title on goal difference from Upper Hutt City on August 1, clinching the crown with a 5-1 victory over Seatoun.

The scene for a dramatic Sunday afternoon’s action was set on Friday night, with Waterside Karori, for so long out of sorts and out of form, responding to the return of their stars by upsetting Marist 2-1 at Te Whaea Park.

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Published: 01 August 2010

Champions Come From Behind To Surge Ahead
Story by Jeremy Ruane

East Coast Bays underlined their Lotto Northern Premier League Championship-winning credentials at Kiwitea Street on Saturday, coming from behind to thump Central United 5-1 and extend their lead at the top of the table to eight points, with two games in hand.

Responding to an early Adam McGeorge goal for an under-strength Central side, the newly crowned champions levelled through George Suri five minutes before half-time, and went to town in the second spell through goals from Jack Beguely, Suri again, Phil Edginton and Daniel Morgan-Howell, who wrapped up the scoring thirteen minutes from time.

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Published: 28 August 2010

Late Fowler Penalty Keeps Perth On Top
Story by Jeremy Ruane

A controversial stoppage time penalty from the Hyundai A-League’s superstar striker, Robbie Fowler, clinched a 2-2 draw for Perth Glory at league newcomers Melbourne Heart on 29 August, and kept the Western Australian club on top of the table on goal difference from Adelaide United.

Melbourne came desperately close to claiming their first win of the season at AAMI Park, but the point they got from the draw was enough to lift them off the bottom of the ladder, a position now occupied by reigning champions Sydney FC.

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Published: 30 August 2010

Old Boy Barbarouses Fires Brisbane Past Wellington
By Jeremy Ruane

A goal seventeen minutes from time by former Wellington Phoenix youngster Costa Barbarouses fired Brisbane Roar to a 1-0 victory over the New Zealand team and into a share of top spot on the Hyundai A-League ladder on 27 August, in front of 7,339 fans at Suncorp Stadium.

The game began brightly, with Brisbane’s impressive possession football seeing them gain the upper hand in the early exchanges. In just the third minute, Mark Paston was forced to turn an Henrique shot around the post after the fleet-footed Brazilian had worked a neat one-two with Barbarouses and burst into the penalty area.

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Published: 28 August 2010

Young Ferns Undone By Early Sydney Goals
Story by Jeremy Ruane

New Zealand’s Young Ferns finished their three-match Australian tour on July 15, finding themselves on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline at the hands of reigning W-League champions Sydney FC at Valentine Sports Park.

The Young Ferns found themselves a goal down after three minutes after failing to clear a corner, and by the time they had recovered their composure Sydney had doubled their lead, a defensive error in the ninth minute leaving the tourists with the proverbial mountain to climb.

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Published: 16 July 2010

Frauleins’ Failure Prompts Food For Thought
Story by Jeremy Ruane

With the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Finals having just concluded, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on the Junior Ferns’ efforts at Germany 2010, and provide a bit of food for thought regarding the failure of our frauleins in Deutschland in July.

Anyone reading this will know the extent of my devotion to and support of NZ women’s football. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve taken as long as I have to compile this story - instant emotion-charged responses are too often regretted afterwards. (As would have been the case had the original version of this story been released … there was a lot of anger and frustration unleashed in something which will remain unpublished, be assured!)

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Published: 02 August 2010

So Near Yet So Far As All Whites Do NZ Proud
Story by Jeremy Ruane

It was hard to know whether to be happy or sad when the final whistle sounded at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on June 24, to signal the end of a scoreless battle between Paraguay and New Zealand.

Sad because the result signalled the end of the All Whites’ World Cup campaign, a third successive draw not enough to see them progress out of their group, meaning they will be wondering what might have been as they head home from South Africa undefeated.

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Published: 25 June 2010

Big Week Ahead For Football Ferns Trio
Story by Jeremy Ruane

It’s a big week for a trio of New Zealand’s Football Ferns this week, as they prepare to make their professional debuts in competitions around the globe.

Kirsty Yallop’s career with Kristianstad DFF in the Swedish Damallsvenskan starts with a home game against Sunnana SK, the former club of Football Ferns team-mate Rebecca Smith.

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Published: 05 April 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 Draw Caps Busy Week For Oceania
Story by Jeremy Ruane

Auckland City and Waitakere United have once again been drawn together in the 2010-11 OFC Champions League, after the draw for the tournament was released by the Oceania Football Confederation on the eve of the World Cup Finals.

The Queen City duo will first clash on the weekend of November 13-14, when the beaten finalists in the 2009-10 competition will enjoy home advantage, while Kiwitea Street will play host to their return encounter on February 26-27, 2011.

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Published: 12 June 2010

Former Winners Claim Prized Honours Again
Story by Jeremy Ruane

Previous recipients of the major individual honours in New Zealand football returned to the winners’ circle en masse at the 2009 NZ Football awards evening on May 7, as the national body marked the tenth anniversary of its international honours with a function at the unlikely yet cosy setting of Fables Antique Rugs’ showroom in Parnell.

A finalist in the Nike International Player of the Year category every year throughout the decade, All Whites captain Ryan Nelsen claimed the award for a fifth time on a night Christopher Wood scored back-to-back Nike International Young Player of the Year titles.

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Published: 09 May 2010

Carrying On The Role Of A Footballing Pioneer
Story by Jeremy Ruane

Approximately 600 mourners from near and far gathered at the Romaleigh Funeral Home on May 13 to pay their final respects to one of the all-time-greats of New Zealand women’s football, Debbie Lamb.

Her death five days earlier, at the criminally young age of 46 following a two-year battle with cancer, came at a time when a new phase in her footballing career, coaching youngsters, was just starting to take off.

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Published: 16 May 2010