All Whites Held To Historic Draw By Iraq
Story by Jeremy Ruane

The All Whites concluded their FIFA Confederations Cup campaign at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on June 20 by producing their best performance of the tournament en route to recording some New Zealand footballing history.

They were held to a scoreless draw by Asian champions Iraq, a result which saw the Oceania champions record their first-ever point at a senior FIFA men’s tournament, following in the footsteps of the Football Ferns’ feat in drawing with Japan at the 2008 Olympic Games.

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Published: 23 June 2009

Tension Tightens In Race For Top Four
Story by Jeremy Ruane / Photos By Graham Hughes

The race to make the top four play-offs in the Lotto Northern Premier Women’s League took a key twist on June 21, as Claudelands Rovers won 1-0 at Glenfield Rovers to edge three points clear of the beaten team, and close to within a point of third-placed Eastern Suburbs.

Jackie Pretswell scored the decisive goal four minutes into the second half of a tight contest at McFetridge Park to give Claudelands’ play-off prospects a significant boost, and edge the reigning NPWL Top Goalscorer one goal closer to the current top markswoman, Lynn-Avon United’s Hayley Moorwood.

The table-toppers continued on their unbeaten way with a 6-0 victory over Fencibles United at Ken Maunder Park, where Sarah Gregorius, Emma Kete and Sam Selwyn were each responsible for two goals.

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Published: 21 June 2009

Mother Nature 1, Three Kings & Lynn-Avon 0
Story by Jeremy Ruane / Photos by Graham Hughes

A waterlogged pitch put paid to a tantalisingly poised tie of the round in the National Women’s Knockout Cup on June 28, as women’s footballing juggernauts Three Kings United and Lynn-Avon United fell victim to the whims of Mother Nature during their clash at Keith Hay Park.

Both teams went at it hammer and tongs in a typically tense, tight contest, with deft touches and neat control vying with numerous uncompromising challenges and selfless running for attention as these fierce rivals looked to gain the upper hand in their respective quests for a place in the last eight of the competition.

Constant rain added a further ingredient to the mix, and meant conditions conducive to quality football became increasingly challenging, particularly on the dugouts side of the ground.

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Published: 28 June 2009

Glenfield Too Good For Sub-Par Suburbs
Story by Jeremy Ruane

Glenfield Rovers scored a welcome and well-deserved 3-0 victory over a sub-par Eastern Suburbs combination at McFetridge Park on May 17 to close to within a point of the beaten third-placed team on the Lotto Northern Premier Women’s League table.

Rovers proved far too good for their rivals in this encounter, although the early exchanges suggested that this would be a closely fought affair. Indeed, Suburbs engineered the first chance of note, with Grace Vincent and Melanie Gooch combining to set up the late-arriving Rebecca Tegg in the tenth minute. The captain’s shot was blocked by Michele Hogg.

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Published: 18 May 2009

Race For Top Four Intensifying
Story by Jeremy Ruane

The race for a place in the top four of the Northern Premier League is intensifying after Saturday’s thirteenth round action, with the teams placed third through sixth covered by just two points.

Manurewa and reigning champions Central United closed right up on the teams above them with solid wins on the road. Last season’s First Division champions prevailed 3-1 at Bay Olympic, for whom Selwyn Hodges’ second half goal wasn’t enough to stave off defeat at the hands of strikes by ‘Rewa’s Marvin Eakins, Nathan Coe and Eamon O’Brien at Olympic Park.

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Published: 27 June 2009

‘Red Eleven’’s Blue Move Opens Door To Kirsty’s Future
Story by Jeremy Ruane

When Lynn-Avon United midfield dynamo Kirsty Yallop peeled off her treasured red number eleven jersey after playing her part in a 5-0 thrashing of arch-rivals Three Kings United in mid-May, few present will have appreciated the significance of the occasion.

That match marked one of the final times ‘KY’ will play for the team she first graced as a precocious 14-year-old in 2001, for it is far beyond these shores where the Football Ferns’ star’s footballing future now lies.

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Published: 16 June 2009

Ten-Man New Zealand Nigeria-Bound
Story by Jeremy Ruane / Photos By Graham Hughes

New Zealand clinched back-to-back OFC U-17 Championship crowns at North Harbour Stadium on April 24, downing Tahiti 2-0 to qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup Finals in Nigeria later this year without conceding a goal, and despite playing for forty-five minutes without their full compliment of players.

Fijian referee Rakesh Varman sent off Kiwi midfielder Jack Hobson-McVeigh for committing his second bookable offence on the stroke of half-time, and while the second incident merited a yellow card, the first - in the 41st minute for time-wasting, was simply poor refereeing, given Hobson-McVeigh was removing a second ball from the pitch prior to taking a free-kick.

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Published: 24 April 2009

Seatoun Hit The Wall As Tie Of The Round Abandoned
Story by Jeremy Ruane / Photos by Graham Hughes

Seatoun, beaten semi-finalists in each of the last five National Women’s Knockout Cup campaigns, saw their quest to make the final four for the sixth successive season dashed at Dave Farrington Park on June 28, as they hit the proverbial wall.

Hannah Wall, that is. The Football Ferns starlet hit the fading force in Wellington women’s football where it hurts at Dave Farrington Park, scoring a goal in each half as she inspired Waterside Karori to a 3-1 victory and a first-ever appearance in the last eight.

Zarnia Cogle’s last-minute screamer was of consolation value only for Seatoun, against whom Yumi Nguyen also found the net in a match transferred to the home of Miramar Rangers after Karori Park was deemed unplayable.

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Published: 28 June 2009

Holders Ousted As First Division Leaders Advance
Story by Jeremy Ruane

There will be a new name on the Chatham Cup in 2009, as five Northern League teams booked their places among the last sixteen contenders in New Zealand football’s venerable knockout competition, including the First Division leaders.

Manurewa brought to an end the reign of Chatham Cup holders East Coast Bays at Memorial Park on Saturday, prevailing 7-6 on penalties after ‘Rewa’s Graham Kay and Bays’ George Suri had scored extra time goals to leave the game locked up at 1-1 after two hours of action.

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Published: 13 June 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

Three And Easy For Germany
Story by Jeremy Ruane / Photos By Graham Hughes

Germany cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over England at North Harbour Stadium on 16 November to claim a third-placed finish in the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals.

The European champions started the first half brightly, with Alexandra Popp and Lynn Mester both going close inside the first three minutes, the respective opportunities provided by Marie-Louise Bagehorn and Dzsenifer Marozsan.

England responded through Danielle Carter in the seventh minute, the striker dashing down the left before checking inside the covering run of Leonie Maier and letting fly from the edge of the penalty area. German ‘keeper Almuth Schult tipped the shot to safety.

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Published: 16 November 2008

Ecstatic Young Ferns Make A Statement
Story by Jeremy Ruane

The Young Ferns camp was understandably ecstatic after winning their final match in a two-year campaign which has culminated in hosting the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals.

“This is huge for New Zealand women’s football!”, declared coach Paul Temple after his young charges humbled South American champions Columbia 3-1 at Wellington Stadium.

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Published: 06 November 2008

Frill-Free Koreans Flatten Disappointing Danes
Story by Jeremy Ruane

North Korea became the first team to advance to the semi-finals of the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals on 8 November, after scoring three goals in the last seventeen minutes to down a disappointing Denmark combination 4-0 at a sun-soaked Wellington Stadium.

The Asian champions asserted themselves straight from the kick-off, and within four minutes had gone desperately close from a corner. Kim Uj’s delivery wasn’t cleared, allowing Hyon Un Hui to unleash a twenty yarder through the crowded goalmouth. Lene Gissel smothered the effort.

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Published: 08 November 2008

French Mauled By Magnifique Japan
Story by Jeremy Ruane

Football fans at Waikato Stadium were treated to an absolutely stunning ninety minute spectacle when Japan and France locked horns on 2 November, as Young Nadeshiko lit up the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals with a magnificent 7-1 mauling of their European rivals to book their place in the quarter-finals.

Despite the scoreline suggests, it wasn’t all one-way traffic. Within thirteen seconds of the kick-off, Pauline Crammer bore down on defensive hesitance between Minori Chiba and goalkeeper Saki Nakamura, the latter taking charge of the situation at the very last second as the French striker looked to score the fastest goal of the Finals.

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Published: 08 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