The Kiwi contingent in Australia are now back in action with Kosta Barbarouses leading the way as the Hyundai A-League kicked off. The pacey attacker played a key role as defending champions Sydney FC opened their account in thrilling fashion with a 3-2 win at Adelaide United.

The score was locked at 2-2 and Adelaide had just been reduced to 10 men when Barbarouses struck what could have been the match-winner, released by Joel King before firing an outstanding low finish across the goalkeeper. But his effort was unfortunately ruled out by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), who judged that Barbarouses was fractionally offside. It didn't cost Sydney though as Ryan McGowan headed in a late winner to finally settle an exciting encounter. 

Also able to celebrate a win was former All White Andrew Durante, who made a triumphant homecoming to his old stomping ground of Westpac Stadium with the newly-formed Western United. Durante captained the Wellington Phoenix for over a decade but received a frosty reception on his return, which resulted in a 1-0 win for Western.

The 37-year-old was booed every time he touched the ball after deciding to leave the Phoenix for the competition’s newest club but was shown the respect he deserved on the final whistle, the Phoenix supporters giving their former skipper a standing ovation as he left the pitch.

Having to settle for a point meanwhile were Max Crocombe and Jai Ingham, who both featured for Brisbane Roar in a 1-1 draw with Perth Glory. Goalkeeper Crocombe was one of nine A-League debutants who started the match for the Roar and acquitted himself well on his maiden appearance, beaten only by a Chris Ikonomidis strike just past the half hour. Ingham entered the fray with around 15 minutes to go and helped his side press for an equaliser, which was duly provided by Roy O’Donovan in stoppage time.

Ingham could well have come up against his younger brother and fellow All White Dane Ingham, who is on the books of Perth but did not feature in the match day squad.

Another All White was held to a draw elsewhere as Storm Roux lined up for Melbourne Victory in a local derby against Melbourne City. The right back played the full 90 minutes and nearly broke the deadlock just before half-time when he pounced on a loose ball from a corner but had his effort blocked.

Roux and co thought they had taken the lead in the second half when Elvis Kamsoba found the net but the strike was ruled out by the VAR as the spoils were shared in a scoreless stalemate, Roux playing his part in keeping a clean sheet.

The Kiwi pair at the Newcastle Jets, goalkeeper Glen Moss and young midfielder Matt Ridenton, have meanwhile had to wait a little longer to get their seasons underway as their team had a bye in the opening round. Both are likely to feature in some capacity when the Jets finally kick off their campaign against the Central Coast Mariners this Saturday night.

Moss started between the sticks in Newcastle’s final pre-season hit-out while Ridenton was introduced as a half-time substitute. The former was a spectator for the most part as the Jets romped to a 10-2 victory over the Young Socceroos but Ridenton made his mark, wrapping up the scoring late on with a free kick from the edge of the area.

Also hoping to make his first start of the season in Newcastle’s opener will be Michael McGlinchey, who came on for the last 20 minutes of a 2-1 loss to Western Sydney Wanderers.

Erceg’s Courage break another record

Captain Abby Erceg will lead the North Carolina Courage into the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) play-offs with her team full of confidence after a record-breaking end to the regular season. The Courage had already secured a third successive NWSL Shield after finishing top of the league but had more to celebrate in their final regular-season clash, defeating Sky Blue FC 3-2 to break the regular-season goal-scoring record with 54 strikes.

Erceg lined up in the heart of the Courage defence in front of nearly 10,000 fans but was forced off just after the hour after picking up an injury. She will hope to recover in time to take part in North Carolina’s semi-final against Reign FC this Sunday.

That match will be a clash of the Kiwis as Rosie White is a member of the Reign squad and will be hoping to be handed a starting berth after being an unused substitute in a 2-2 draw against the Orlando Pride.

The season is now over for the other Football Fern in the NWSL after Katie Bowen’s Utah Royals missed out on the play-offs. Utah were in the running right up until the final weeks of the regular season but were at least able to sign off on a high with a 2-1 win over Houston Dash. Bowen has started most of the games she has been available for at right back this season but has lost her place in recent weeks and was again on the bench against Houston, wrapping up her season by making a late cameo.

All Whites head into MLS play-offs

The regular Major League Soccer (MLS) season may have come to an end but a pair of All Whites will be playing on after Michael Boxall’s Minnesota United and Bill Tuiloma’s Portland Timbers both qualified for the play-offs.

Minnesota lost their final match of the regular season 1-0 to the Seattle Sounders but managed to secure a home play-off anyway as results went their way elsewhere. In the previous round, Boxall was named in the Team of the Week after putting in an outstanding defensive display and finding the net in a 1-1 draw with Los Angeles FC. The All Whites centre back headed in a free kick with 15 minutes remaining to equalise for the Loons and also made several key interceptions and clearances.

He will now be tasked with keeping one of the most famous figures in world football quiet as Minnesota are set to face Zlatan Ibrahimović’s LA Galaxy in the first play-off match in the club’s brief history.

Tuiloma will meanwhile come up against Real Salt Lake after Portland secured their play-off spot with a 3-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes, in which Tuiloma played the full 90 minutes at centre back. Despite injury recently disrupting his run in the starting line-up, the versatile All White has enjoyed an impressive campaign so far, blocking 21 shots in 24 appearances – the most by a Portland player since 2015.

There was a chance that a third Kiwi would be involved in the play-offs as Tommy Smith’s Colorado Rapids still had a sniff going into the final weeks of the regular season. But they needed to beat Los Angeles FC in their last match and came up short with a 3-1 loss, Smith playing the whole match at centre back as former Arsenal and Real Sociedad star Carlos Vela scored a hat-trick, breaking the MLS regular-season goal-scoring record in the process with 31 goals.

Smith finishes the season having made 27 appearances and scored three goals while fellow All White and Colorado team mate Deklan Wynne was restricted to less than a dozen games due to injury.
 

Thomas makes PSV debut with late cameo

After months of frustration on the sidelines, Ryan Thomas has finally completed his comeback from injury by making his long-awaited competitive debut for PSV Eidenhoven. The All Whites playmaker signed for the Dutch giants over a year ago but suffered a serious knee injury on arrival and has been through months of rehabilitation to return to fitness.

He has featured in the match day squad in the Eredivisie on several occasions but was called off the bench by coach Mark van Bommel for the first time with a few minutes remaining in a comfortable 4-1 win over VVV-Venlo.

“It’s been a long time coming but it was good to finally get the minutes in,” he said. “Obviously, the pressure was kind of off in the game so it was nice to be able to come on and just do my thing.”

The 24-year-old’s return to match fitness is timely with new All Whites coach Danny Hay set to soon announce his first squad before games against Ireland and Lithuania next month. Thomas will hope to build on his opening outing when PSV return to action this weekend after the international break with an away game at FC Utrecht.

Elsewhere in the men’s game in Europe before the international break, Max Mata has continued to go great guns for Nõmme Kalju in Estonia, scoring nine goals in ten matches. The latest of those was the match-winner in a 1-0 triumph at Paide that lifted Kalju to third on the table with four matches remaining.

In the Danish Superliga, Marco Rojas played for 85 minutes of a 2-1 win for SønderjyskE over Esbjerg. His side are in mid-table but have only been beaten twice and are just two points off third place.

Bayern Munich II are in a similar position in the German third tier after Sarpreet Singh took full part in a 2-0 win over Eintracht Braunschweig.
 

Bott keeps Champions League hopes alive

Football Ferns fullback CJ Bott played a massive part as Vittsjö GIK kept their hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Women’s Champions League alive with a vital win in the Swedish Damallsvenskan.

The deadlock had yet to be broken against Kristianstads DFF when the clocked ticked into the 80^th minute but Bott stepped up to fire in a crucial goal that set Vittsjö on their way to a 2-0 victory. Bott showed awareness, strength and technique to pounce on a loose ball, hold off the attention of a pair of defenders and rifle in one of the most important strikes of her career so far.

Vittsjö are now just two points off the Champions League places with only two games remaining. If they are to qualify for Europe, they will have to do it the hard way though as one of those remaining matches is away to first-placed Rosengard, who have lost just once all season.
 

A former Rosengard player, Football Ferns captain Ali Riley, meanwhile made her second appearance for new club Bayern Munich but it wasn’t a moment to savour as she scored an own goal in a 1-0 loss to Hoffenheim in the German Frauen-Bundesliga. Riley could hardly be blamed for the error though as it came from an innocuous back pass that the goalkeeper somehow allowed to go into her own net. Bayern are now third in the league, six points off leaders Wolfsburg.

Also suffering disappointment was Erin Nayler, who could not prevent Bordeaux falling to a 2-1 loss to Guingamp as they failed to win for only the second time this season in the French top flight. The Football Ferns goalkeeper could do little about either goal as fourth-placed Bordeaux threw away an early lead by conceding twice in quick succession just past the hour.

Fellow Fern Hannah Wilkinson enjoyed a far better day over in Portugal, having a hand in nearly every goal as Sporting CP overcame Ovarense 6-1. Wilkinson hit a hat-trick and also provided a pair of assists as Sporting continued their perfect start to the season with a third successive win.

Her hat-trick showed off the full range of her talents as she burst onto a long ball and prodded past an advancing goalkeeper for her first before tapping in from close range and then wrapping up the scoring with a fine header. Benfica are the only other side to have won all of their matches so far and Sporting are set to face them next up in an encounter that will have an early bearing on the title race.
 

Frustration for Ferns in England

It hasn’t been a great week for the Football Ferns based in England with Ria Percival and Olivia Chance both failing to pick up three points with their respective teams.

Chance came closest to pocketing a win, rising from the bench with over half an hour remaining as Bristol City came from behind to draw 1-1 with Liverpool. Bristol have now taken only two points from their opening four matches and sit tenth in the 12-team FA Women’s Super League.

Percival’s Tottenham Hotspur are faring a bit better in eighth but were denied their third win of the campaign by a dominant display from Manchester United, who ran out 3-0 winners. Percival played the whole match but couldn’t prevent Spurs falling to their first home defeat of the season.

It was also a disappointing afternoon in the second tier for Lewes, for whom Katie Rood was not in the match day squad due to injury as the Rooks were humbled 3-0 by Leicester City.

In the men’s game in England, Steven Old endured a tough afternoon for Morecambe in a 2-1 loss to Bradford City. Old assumed his usual role at centre back for the Shrimps but will feel partially responsible for one of the goals as his poor defensive header allowed promotion-chasing Bradford to break down the left and score their second. Morecambe are now in deep trouble in League Two, winning just one of their 13 matches so far to sit rock bottom.

Clayton Lewis’ Scunthorpe United are only three points better off but the young All Whites midfielder is yet to feature in the first team this term.

Also seemingly headed for a relegation battle is AFC Wimbledon, for whom goalkeeper Nik Tzanev was an unused substitute in a timely 4-1 thumping of fellow strugglers Southend United in third-tier League One. Despite the win, the Dons remain in the relegation zone and are in turmoil off the pitch after the club suspended manager Wally Downes, who has been charged by the Football Association over bets placed on games.

The Premier League has been on pause for the international break but Chris Wood was able to sign off with a win, playing the whole match as Burnley edged out Everton 1-0 courtesy of a stunning Jeff Hendrick volley that lifted the Clarets into seventh.

West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini has meanwhile given an update on the progress of All Whites defender Winston Reid, who has not featured for the first team since sustaining a knee injury in March of last year.

“The problem with Winston is that, two or three times before when he was ready to start, he had another muscle injury,” Pellegrini said.

“We need to be calm and patient with him. He will start playing with the U-23s and, as soon as he’s able to play with the first team, he’ll be involved also.”
 

Article added: Wednesday 16 October 2019