Dunedin Tech claim historic win
The Kate Sheppard Cup is headed to the bottom of the South Island for the first time.
Dunedin Technical capped their remarkable run in women’s football’s national knockout competition on Sunday, beating Auckland’s Forrest Hill Milford 4-2 at QBE Stadium in their first appearance in the decider.
The win was their third in a row on the road, following triumphs over Coastal Spirit in Christchurch in the quarterfinals, and Wellington United in the capital in the semifinals.
Defender Mikaela Hunt got them on the board in the 10th minute, when she headed home from a Shontelle Smith corner, and with an early lead, the prospect of an upset became very real indeed.
Forrest Hill may have been the favourites but they aren’t a team that tends to dominate big games and, without agegroup international Aneka Mittendorf in their defence, they looked a little less assured at the back.
Technical doubled their lead in the 17th
minute, when Lara Wall went on a run down the left, passing one centre back, Chloe Wilson, with ease, then eluding another, Hannah Mackay-Wright, before firing her shot past keeper Emily Couchman and into goal off the crossbar.
Forrest Hill’s best moments early on came when Football Ferns Malia Steinmetz and Jane Barnett were able to combine with age-group international Sam Tawharu, but Technical did a good job of disrupting things and making that hard.
Barnett did pull one back for Forrest Hill in the 21st minute, controlling a ball that was lofted forward, and holding off two defenders before beating Technical keeper Jade Middleditch at her near post.
Hopes of a comeback were dashed soon after, however, as a defensive calamity from Forrest Hill allowed Technical to restore their two-goal advantage just five minutes later.
Winger Mikayla Gray had the ball on the right side of the area, and somehow attracted the attention of four defenders, leaving striker Emily Morison free in the middle to receive the ball with only Couchman to beat, and she duly did.
The fourth came four minutes after that, from a free kick taken just inside Forrest Hill’s half. Shontelle Smith’s ball should have been dealt with easily, but instead it met Hunt’s head and ended up in the back of the net.
It could have been 5-1 at the break, but for a last-ditch intervention from Forrest Hill defender Kenya Brooke to stop a threeon-one attack.
Four minutes into the second half, Barnett scored her second goal with a lob from the edge of the box, a superb individual effort.
As far as sparks for a comeback go, it was exactly what was needed but they couldn’t muster a sustained threat, and it was Technical who went closer to scoring again.
Smith hit the crossbar with an audacious long-range attempt as the hour mark neared, while Morison missed a chance to poke home from close range in the 71st minute and Wall then hit the crossbar less than a minute later.