Canty Pride held to draw
Canterbury United Pride have fought back to secure a 2-2 draw with Northern in the National Women’s Football League, but they will be wondering how they didn’t go on and win.
They hit the woodwork four times in total – twice early in the first half, before Northern took the lead, and twice late in the second, as they were chasing a winner – and were also thwarted on several occasions by goalkeeper Anna Leat, who made a number of fine saves.
The hosts took the lead after 18 minutes at QBE Stadium in Auckland, when Malia Steinmetz finished neatly at the end of an opening passage where the Pride had been in the ascendancy, and Cara Lonergan then made it 2-0 in the
41st minute, capping off a
20-minute spell that was Northern’s best of the game.
Canterbury began to take control early on in the second half, as should be expected from a team that has a pair of Football Ferns starters in Longo and Meikayla Moore.
It was Longo who got them on the board, curling a free kick into the top-left corner from just outside the box, dead centre, in the
58th minute.
She then turned provider, setting up Rennie with a ball in from the left. There was a suggestion Rennie was offside, but the referees said nothing, and she was able to bundle the ball over the line and make it 2-2 with just under half an hour to play.
From there, it was the Pride who looked the more likely, with their best chance coming in the 73rd minute, when Rennie got in behind down the right and found Longo in the middle, who hit the bar, with the ball then falling to Macey Fraser, who had her shot tipped onto the crossbar by Leat.
Northern were missing several starters – defenders Saskia Vosper and Liz Savage, midfielder Kate Loye, and striker Sam Tawharu – and would have been pleased to have still got a point from the
match. The draw means Northern remain at the top of the table, with seven points, heading into their bye week, while defending champions Canterbury are just behind them on four, and will return home to host Southern United, who have the same tally, but have played one game more.
Southern added one point on Saturday, when they had a 0-0 draw at home with Waikato-Bay of Plenty, who sit last, as the only team without a win.
In the third match of the round, Capital picked up their first points of the season, beating Central 1-0 at Memorial Park in Petone, thanks to a Maggie Jenkins goal 10 minutes into the second half. Next weekend Capital travel north to play WaiBop in Cambridge, while Central host Auckland.