DERBY CLASH

on

Island Bay United 2 Brooklyn Northern United 4
Women's Capital Premier Division
Wakefield Park, Wellington
Sunday 23rd April, 2017
Attendance : 30ish

It was a stunningly beautiful sunny day and I'm at a park where despite this it's still windy and a bit chilly - yes I was at Wakefield Park! I was there for a derby game between two clubs that once were so close in proximity they shared the same club rooms. They no longer share the Island Bay club rooms but they are still pretty close, as the BNU official twitter account noted on the morning of the game, that they would be seeing many familiar faces at the game today.

Lou Newman (IBU) & Tessa Finnigan (BNU) The JourneyFan

The Island Bay United "Sharkettes" are newcomers in the Capital Premier division, winning promotion after an unbeaten season last year. They have new coaches this season and also several new players and so far have managed one win in their first three games.

BNU finished sixth in the table last season, but have had a great start to the season and sat top of the table with three wins from three games, scoring 13 and conceding only one going into this game.

I arrived just after kick off and just at the time Island Bay United's Sarah Cook put the ball in the net to make it 1-0. 4 minutes later BNU's Sophie Wilkinson evened up the scores when she lobbed the ball over the keeper into the goal.

The game was closely contested and settled in the middle of the park with both teams playing well but neither really creating many chances and there wasn't much of note to write about in the first half until just before half time. 

Charlotte Wood (IBU) takes out Bianca Heffernan (BNU) The JourneyFan
BNU's Bianca Heffernan broke through towards goal, seeing the keeper, Charlotte Wood, advancing she pushed the ball wide to go around her, and then got clattered by Wood who ran straight into her. The ref blew for a penalty, and after the injuries were attended to (and Heffernan left the field), amazingly only showed a yellow card to the keeper. He later explained that  as the ball was going away from goal it wasn't a direct goal scoring opportunity, so under the new rules only a yellow card was shown. He had obviously forgotten about the dangerous play rule that should have applied as Wood was nowhere near the ball when she took out Heffernan and should have been shown a straight red.

BNU scored the resulting penalty and went into the break 2-1 up. Whether it was the reaction to the penalty incident or just a good talk from coaches Brian Blellock & Sandy Aitchison at half time, BNU came out looking the better team and took only 2 minutes to increase their lead when Sophie Wilkinson sent a chip into the top of the goal. 10 minutes later she had her hat-trick and the game looked sewn up. 

Sophie Wilkinson (BNU) makes it 3-1 The JourneyFan
 
Island Bay United did well in the middle of the park but weren't able to create anything much up front, missing the attacking prowess of last season's top scorer Carena Oosterbann.They did get another goal with 8 minutes left on the clock, Anja Madsen, who was playing Central League with Stop Out last season, scored direct from a corner.

Anja Madsen (IBU) celebrates her goal The JourneyFan

This gave the Sharkette's a bit of a boost and they pushed forward more to try and get another but the miserly BNU defence dealt with the threats and saw out the game 4-2 and remain unbeaten on top of the table.



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