The Canterbury United Pride have claimed their fourth National Women’s League title in six years with an enthralling 3-2 victory over the Northern Lights after extra-time at Trusts Arena in Auckland this afternoon.

While Monique Barker notched the deciding strike, competition MVP Annalie Longo proved the difference between a pair of very evenly-matched teams, scoring twice in the first half as Canterbury went on to bring the title back to Christchurch in thrilling fashion. FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup heroine Gabi Rennie also played a key role in the win, having a hand in all three goals for the Pride.

“It feels amazing, I’m just over the moon with the campaign as a whole and then today’s 120 minutes of battling hard,” Canterbury coach Alana Gunn said.

“It was a thrilling game and I think it showed that both teams were full of quality to take it to extra-time like that. We managed to get into the lead and then were happy to I guess take a battering and holding it out,” she added.

“You can’t fault that Cantabrian will to be the best and to win – that’s what we came here to do and we’ve done it.”

That taste of victory appeared a long way off early on though as the Northern Lights began brightly and took the lead when Jane Barnett capitalised on some hesitant defending to drove home a strike from just inside the box.

But the minor premiers were only in front for ten minutes, Longo equalising when the Lights failed to clear a Rennie cross and the Football Ferns playmaker pounced on the loose ball to fire it past goalkeeper Anna Leat. Longo had her second just past the hour mark when Rennie again caused problems for Northern, picking up an under-hit pass before feeding her captain to slot home from close range.

The South Islanders weren’t able to go into the break a goal up though, Northern captain Claudia Bunge getting her head to a deep corner with just five minutes left on the clock to make it 2-2.

The second half failed to live up to the goal-laden excitement of the first but was just as gripping as a hard-fought encounter continued to unfold at a sun-soaked Trusts Arena. With the heat taking its toll and many players with heavy legs after recently returning from international duty, clear-cut chances proved hard to come by in an energy-sapping second spell and extra time was needed to finally separate the sides.

The thorn in Northern’s side again proved to be Rennie, the pacey winger breaking down the right and evading a challenge before crossing for substitute Monique Barker to tuck away what proved to be the winner towards the end of the first half of extra time.

The Lights piled on the pressure in the closing stages but struggled to find a way through the Pride’s resolute defence as the visitors held on to claim yet another title after surrendering it to Auckland Football last year.

“It’s obviously disappointing for us because we felt like we could have got more out of the game,” Northern coach Gemma Lewis admitted.

“But, at the same time, the girls put a shift in and did everything they could. I didn’t know if we were going to be able to last extra time but we actually ended up being the more dominant team and really went for it. So I’m super-proud of them, it’s disappointing but we’ll reflect on this and I’m sure we’ll see it as a successful campaign.”

Match Details

National Women’s League Grand Final
Northern Lights 2 (Jane Barnett 6’, Claudia Bunge 40’)
Canterbury United Pride 3 (Annalie Longo 16’, 31’, Monique Barker 102’)
AET, HT: 2-2, FT: 2-2

Article added: Sunday 16 December 2018