The last 16 champions of the national women’s knockout competition have come from the top half of the North Island (14 of those from Auckland) so as champions of the Northern League, Glenfield have history on their side.
At the start of the season Glenfield could field an entire line-up of current, former or age-group internationals and while Football Fern Katie Hoyle has now transferred to the German Bundesliga and former international Priscilla Duncan is unavailable through work commitments, the advantage of experience also lies with the North Shore club.
“I think based on the players we’ve got with international experience, it’s probably fair to call us favourites but it’s a 90-minute game with two teams,” Glenfield coach Craig Alexander says.
“While there may be certain tags assigned, the game’s still got to be played. Their players invariably put themselves on the line and I wouldn’t expect anything less from any team out of Christchurch.
“I’ve spoken to players in teams they’ve played and I’ve got no shadow of a doubt that Coastal Spirit will be up for the game and we have to match them in terms of attitude and application.”
Despite a tougher league environment, Glenfield’s run to their second Knockout Cup final only included one fellow Northern League opponent – a semi-final against Eastern Suburbs was won 4-1 – but Alexander says a league defeat to Fencibles last weekend has given them a timely wake-up call heading into the cup final.
Meanwhile, Coastal Spirit took on three rivals from the Mainland League as well as Football South champions Roslyn Wakari and Central League winners Waterside Karori.
They finished behind FC Twenty 11 in their own league, although knocked them over in the first round of the cup meaning a win over Glenfield would complete a rare, if not unique, set of cup wins over New Zealand’s four regional champions.
“It wasn’t something I was aware of but it would be quite special,” Coastal Spirit coach Gareth Turnbull says.
“It’s a pity we couldn’t win our own league but it wasn’t our main focus. The cup is where we’ve pitched ourselves all season and it would be a fantastic achievement to knock off all regional champs along the way.
“Our number one objective for this season was this competition so to have quite a few of those tough games means it’s the same preparation, the same mental desire to get up for them from a group who knows that the number one objective for the year is gone if we lose. We’ve gone through that five or six times now, so in that respect it’s quite beneficial to have more games against quality opposition.
“Glenfield are absolutely favourites on paper. Not necessarily because they play in Auckland but just looking at the more senior players they have and the senior or age-group internationals they have.
“We respect our opponents but have no fear. We know that we are a good outfit that likes to play some good football and have some of our own youth internationals in our squad. We think we have the game understanding and desire to match anyone on our day especially in a one-off final.
“It may sound a bit cliché but anything can happen. We’re prepared and we’ve done a little bit of homework.”
The match kicks off at Memorial Park, Palmerston North at 11am followed by the final of the ASB Chatham Cup at 2pm.
18th ASB Women’s Knockout Cup Final
Memorial Park, Palmerston North
Sunday 28 August, 11am
Coastal Spirit v Glenfield Rovers
Coastal Spirit: (from) 1-Lily ALFELD (GK), 2-Chloe WEBSTER, 3-Melanie CAMERON, 4-Emma PROCTOR, 5-Maia VINK (captain), 6-Chloe JONES, 7-Monique BARKER, 8-Zara WALKER, 9-Kathryn VAN EMPEL, 10-Laura MERRIN, 11-Haley MCKNIGHT, 12-Serena PATEL, 13-Gili SHARROCK, 14-Bridget MILNE, 15-Ashleigh WARD.
Coach: Gareth TURNBULL
Glenfield Rovers: (from) 1-Lilly LI (GK), 3-Alice BRESNAHAN, 4-Celia FRAME, 5-Bridgette ARMSTRONG, 6-Briar MCNAMARA, 7-Katie BOWEN, 8-Jaime HACKETT, 9-Rebecca O’NEILL (captain), 10-Stephanie SKILTON, 11-Katie ROOD, 12-Michelle HOGG, 13-Caitlin SMALLFIELD, 14-Jess INNES, 15-Liz MILNE, 16-Sarah GIBBS, 17-Hannah WILKINSON, 18-Hannah GEORGE, 19-Katie MCDONALD, 20-Pam YATES (GK).
Coach: Craig ALEXANDER
Match Officials
Referee: Renee SILVESTER
Assistant Referee: Jacqui STEPHENSON
Assistant Referee: Sarah WALKER
Fourth official: Shannon SMITH
Road to the Final
Coastal Spirit
Qualification Round: Coastal Spirit 2 Woolston Technical 0
Round 1: FC Twenty 11 0 Coastal Spirit 4
Round2: Waterside Karori 5 Massey 2
Quarter-final: Roslyn Wakari 2 Coastal Spirit 5
Semi-final: Coastal Spirit 1 Waterside Karori 1 (a.e.t, 5-4 on penalties)
Glenfield Rovers
Round 1: Hibiscus Coast 0 Glenfield Rovers 8
Round2: Glenfield Rovers 10 Waitakere City 1
Quarter-final: Glenfield Rovers 11 Western Springs 0
Semi-final: Eastern Suburbs 1 Glenfield Rovers 4
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz