Friday, July 1, 2011

Live - England Women v NZ Women

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First of all apologies to England coach Hope Powell for questioning her substitutions, earlier. Substitute Jess Clarke sweeps her shot into the roof of the net after a period of England pressure in the New Zealand area. Calm and classy finish from the Lincoln ace.

1852: GOALFLASH England 2-1 New Zealand (Clarke)


1850: At the other end, Hayley Moorwood delivers a peach of a ball from the right but luckily for England Alex Scott is at the far post to put the ball out for a corner before Rosie White can convert for what surely would have been a goal.


1847: Fara Williams is put through by England team-mate Kelly Smith and forces a good save from Jenny Bindon. She was flagged offside anyway. Thirteen minutes remaining for either side to grab a winner.


1843: New Zealand's 18-year-old substitute Rosie White is on the pitch for less than a minute before being presented with a half-chance to put her side ahead. England's Ellen White makes a half-hearted attempt to clear allowing the ball to be delivered in from the right. Unfortunately for the Football Ferns, White fails to get a decent contact on her volley.


1837: England's Faye White takes out Ali Riley. Painful. New Zealand's free-kick comes to nothing - tiredness setting in into underdogs?



1837: The pressure is now building on the New Zealand goal. Kelly Smith fires in a cracking shot which whizzes half a yard wide of Jenny Bindon's left-hand post. The keeper looked confident it was going wide - I was less so.




Quite a simple equaliser really. Great ball from Alex Scott from the right and the tall defender Jill Scott, who missed a chance with her head earlier in the match, nods in unchallenged.

1834: GOALFLASH England 1-1 New Zealand (J Scott)



1830: I hope this does not sound controversial, but I think New Zealand have been lucky to get away with some of their tackling. There, I've said it. Having said that, England's Rachel Yankey goes in late and gets away with it.


1827: A New Zealand free-kick is floated into the area. England defender Faye White challenges Abby Erceg, who collapses to the ground. Referee Therese Neguel from Cameroon sees nothing illegal.



1823: I know I've mentioned it before but New Zealand's defence is very well organised. They've picked out England's best attacking threats and put two or three around them. Suffocating but effective.


1820: Now fair play to England coach Hope Powell for bringing on the experienced Carney, but why did she take off Aluko?


1818: Oh dear England. They go close to going 2-0 down when New Zealand's Amber Hearn directs her header a yard over the bar.


1816: ENGLAND SUBSTITUTION: Karen Carney on for Eniola Aluko


1816: They restarted in Dresden.


1812: They've just made a good point in the BBC studios. Striker Kelly Smith looks a yard sharper than most of her team-mates because she plays out in the United States. I met her a few years ago at a media day in east London. I also remember her striking the ball so hard I'm sure the wall vibrated.


Former England defender Martin Keown on BBC Sport: "We have to go for broke now - the emphasis is on England coach Hope Powell."



BBC Sport's Alistair Magowan in Dresden: "England are showing some promise but have not really threatened the New Zealand goal. Hope Powell's defence looks nervy at times and hesitant defending has cost them so far. Improvement needed."

1804: From where I'm sitting, Eniola Aluko, Kelly Smith and Rachel Yankey have turned up for England - the rest? Well....


1801: HT England 0-1 New Zealand



@helzbelz10 on Twitter: "I played against NZ for Wales last month, one of the fittest sides I've seen, Eng could find it hard to break them down."
NZ coach Herdman knows a lot about sport science.

1758: A good ball from Eniola Aluko finds Kelly Smith. The England striker's angled shot from the left takes a deflection which takes the sting out of it and allows Jenny Bindon to save comfortably.



1752: New Zealand have a free-kick from 30 yards. But Anna Green's effort is well held by Karen Bardsley. A few moments later New Zealand goalscorer Sarah Gregorius is through again but Rachel Unitt makes a superb tackle just as the striker is about to pull the trigger.


1749: England are knocking on the door again. Eniola Aluko swivels 20 yards from her own area and releases Kelly Smith who charges forward before striking a tame shot from 25 yards which goes wide of the New Zealand left-hand post.



1743: Arsenal's Rachel Yankey turns one way then another before launching a rocket from 20 yards which flies fractionally wide of New Zealand keeper Jenny Bindon's right-hand upright.



BBC Sport's Alistair Magowan in Dresden: "England have had the stuffing knocked out of them by that New Zealand goal, but there are signs that they can claw their way back into this. Ellen White looks threatening on the shoulder of the Kiwi defenders."

1743: As it stands England are third in the table with one point. Their final game is against Japan who have already qualified from the group - they also look very useful.


1731: England's Fara Williams smacks one from about 25 yards which Jenny Bindon does well to hold. Team-mate Kelly Smith then shows a flash of her brilliance on the edge of the area but her strike goes wide for a corner.




That wasn't in England's script. Amber Hearn beats Faye White on the far left and plays the ball into the six-yard area. Gregorius squeezes herself between two defenders and taps the ball past Karen Bardsley.

1733: GOALFLASH England 0-1 New Zealand (Gregorius)


1731: Ahhh, hang on, New Zealand have a corner. Nothing comes of it though.


1730: New Zealand's Geordie coach Johnny Herdman appears to have his team's defence in order. England are being made to scrap for the ball. They haven't shown much as an attacking threat though.


1725: Kelly Smith is back on the pitch and I can hear a sigh of relief from England fans. Seconds later, Ellen White dispossesses New Zealand defender Rebecca Smith but the Football Ferns block the striker's shot on the edge of the area.


1723: Striker Kelly Smith limps off after a collison with New Zealand keeper Jenny Bindon. The ball was hanging in the air and they both went for it. England are down to 10 men for the moment while Smith gets treatment.



1719:Great ball by Rachel Yankey from the left, leaving marker Ria Percival treading water. The cross is cut out though. A few monments later, Yankey delivers a corner from the left, but Jill Scott fails to direct her header on goal.



1715: It's kicked off in Dresden.


1711: New Zealand were defeated 2-1 by Japan in their opening group game. They sit bottom of the table while Japan have already qualified for the last eight having beaten Mexico 4-0 - impressive performance by the Japanese. Incidentally, New Zealand coach Johnny Herdman went to my university. He's a little guy who I remember being very skilful on the pitch.


New Zealand: Bindon, Bowen, Percival, Green, Erceg, Smith, Riley, Hoyle, Hassett, Gregorius, Hearne.
EnglandBardsley, Alex Scott, Unitt, Faye White, Stoney, Aluko, Williams, Jill Scott, Yankey, Smith, Ellen White.




BBC Sport's Alistair Magowan in Dresden: "Ellen White replaces Karen Carney in the England side, which means that Eniola Aluko will shift to the right and White will be the lone striker. New Zealand remain unchanged after their opening game defeat by Japan."

1704: Team news coming up.



1702: I want to hear from you lovely lot out there. Send in your thoughts about the match using Twitter (via hashtag #bbcfootball ) or you can fire over friendly tweets [I mean friendly!] to @sajchowdhury. And if you hate modern ways then you can text your views to 81111 (UK) with FOOTBALL before your message. I love the 21st century.

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