One Tauranga schoolgirl will be hoping to help out another as the ASB women's youth league hits its climax tomorrow at Auckland's Parrs Park.
A new champion will be crowned when Northern Football host Waikato Bay of Plenty Football in the national final, with Tauranga Girls' College's Olivia Chance involved in an intriguing sub-plot against Football Ferns striker Hannah Wilkinson.
Chance's double in last weekend's 6-1 semifinal win over Mainland Pride in Christchurch took her season tally to 12, just one shy of Northern's Wilkinson in the golden boot race.
The pair will go head-to-head in tomorrow's final to determine the winner - and Chance's Tauranga Girls' College teammate, defender Kate Carlton, has again been tasked with keeping Wilkinson quiet.
Waikato Bay of Plenty thrashed Northern 6-2 at Mount Maunganui three weeks ago in round-robin, with Chance netting four times and 18-year-old Carlton doing a tidy job on Wilkinson until the international slipped through late in the game to score a consolation goal.
It was the only blemish in an otherwise impressive game, and Carlton is primed for another 90-minute battle with the slippery striker.
"Simon [Waikato-Bay of Plenty coach Simon Mead] will probably give me the job again of guarding Wilkie ... I thought I did an okay job last time of sticking as close to her as possible.
"She's a good player: clever, athletic and really fast, and she's quite a bit bigger than me so physically it's a bit of a mismatch, especially anything in the air.
"I might have got a bit complacent when she pushed past me to score that late goal but I kept her to one and just tried to stick a foot between her legs whenever she got the ball.
"Olivia's playing really well and is only one behind on golden boot, so I'll be doing all I can to stop Wilkie from scoring, while hopefully Olivia can bang in a couple."
Waikato Bay of Plenty were last season's beaten finalists and put on a consummate display last weekend in the 6-1 demolition of Southern Conference top seed Mainland Pride. Despite 14 goals scored in the previous two encounters against Northern, Mead isn't expecting a high-scoring match, highlighting the forecast wet weather, coupled with the tension of a final, as putting a possible dampener on the teams' high-scoring hi-jinks.
"The top two teams are in the final, with both teams deserving to have a shot at the title and I'm expecting a hard fought game," he said. "We're aware of some of Northern's strengths and the players are aware of those strengths, but essentially we're going out to play our game."
Carlton isn't so sure there won't be a goal-fest although maybe not eight. "We played well and they'd already qualified for the semifinal, but I'm expecting this weekend to be free-flowing. It'll carry more intensity being a final, but both teams like to attack and have good playmakers."
Carlton went to the under-17 World Cup last year in Trinidad and Tobago and is waiting to hear if she's been selected for the New Zealand under-20 squad for next year's tournament in Uzbekistan. She's been in an extended training squad, with the side narrowed down after tomorrow's final.
ASB women's youth league final:
Northern Football v Waikato-Bay of Plenty, Parrs Park, Auckland
Kickoff: 1pm
Referee: Anne-Marie Keighley
Northern Football: 1-Erin Nayler, 2-Liz Milne, 3-Jessica Innes, 4-Megan Lee, 5-Caitlin Smallfield, 6-Hannah Carlsen, 7-Hannah Wilkinson, 8-Rebecca Burrows, 9-Rebecca O'Neill, 10-Stephanie Skilton, 11-Katie Rood, 12-Claudia Crasborn, 14-Caitlin Campbell, 15-Briar McNamara, 6-Pam Yates, 18-Chloe Knott, 20-Tayla O'Brien, 24-Katie McDonald.
Waikato-Bay of Plenty Football: 1-Naomi-Beth Carter, 2-Emma Baker, 3-Opal Shaw, 4-Kylie Jens, 5-Kate Carlton, 6-Brianna Stewart, 7-Holly Patterson, 8-Sarah McLaughlin, 9-Rachel Porteous, 10-Laura Phillips, 12-Tessa Leong, 13-Kate Loye, 14-Libby Williams, 16-Olivia Chance, 17-Eileish Hayes, 18-Issy Coombs, 20-Georgia Boden, 21-Helen Collins.
Golden Boot:
13 Hannah Wilkinson (Northern)
12 Olivia Chance (Waikato-BOP)
8 Renee Leota (Capital)
6 Rebecca Tegg (Auckland), Mary Fraser (Football South), Aimee Phillips (Mainland)
5 Sarah McLaughlin (Waikato-BOP)