Soccer: Fisher king after late winner

NZFC Semifinal

Waitakere 2 Team Wellington 1 (4-4 on agg; Waitak win on away goals)

It wasn't the greatest header Brent Fisher has produced in his career but it must rate as one of his most significant.

In the second of three minutes of injury time, the former All Whites striker looped a header, somewhat hopefully, goalward.

If Wellington goalkeeper James Bannatyne had been on his line, he would have snaffled it easily.

As it was, the big All Whites No 3 had crept forward to cut down the angle only to be caught out. He flapped his long arms desperately, but couldn't get a finger to the ball.

It was a cruel blow for Bannatyne, who had otherwise had an excellent game, but an even more savage blow for Wellington whose chances of making the NZFC grand final ended in that moment of misfortune.

"It hit Fisher on the back of the head, didn't it?" Wellington coach Stu Jacobs quipped sarcastically afterwards. It didn't, but it was lucky nonetheless.

Although Waitakere won yesterday, the tie ended 4-4 after the second leg of the semifinal. But Waitakere advance to their fourth consecutive grand final in a fortnight's time courtesy of the away goals rule. They were beaten 3-2 in last weekend's first leg in Wellington.

"As a coach now, you feel sorry for the opposition at times," Waitakere player/coach Neil Emblen said. "It's got to be cruel for them."

It was. The Wellington players slumped to the ground at the final whistle, barely able to comprehend what had just happened as the Waitakere players danced in delight at the other end of the pitch.

The match had greater significance than just a place in the NZFC grand final. Auckland City have already grabbed one of the two spots for New Zealand teams in next season's O-League but the second goes to the grand final winner. If that is the same team, the place then goes to the league's second-placed team, which was Waitakere.

Manawatu still have a shot at upsetting the Auckland supremacy if they can beat Auckland City in their semifinal today - Auckland go into their home match holding a 2-1 advantage - but Waitakere must now fancy their chances of playing for the richest prize in Oceania football.

The winner of the O-League is guaranteed a minimum of US$500,000 in prizemoney. "It was a huge result for us," Emblen added. "I think over the two games we created the most chances.

"We weren't in top form. That's the worst we have played for a while but we still managed to get a 2-1 win out of it, which is lovely."

Few would have grumbled if Wellington had advanced to their second final in three years.

Waitakere looked the more likely yesterday and enjoyed significantly more territory and possession, but Wellington were extremely well organised and allowed Waitakere few genuine chances.

The visitors opened the scoring in the ninth minute through a sumptuous Andy Barron free-kick. It gave them a 4-2 lead on aggregate and they defended it well for the next hour.

Substitute Ryan de Vries gave Waitakere some hope in the 71st minute when he blasted home after some excellent work from the always dangerous Benjamin Totori and they pushed forward with more purpose after that.

They threw bodies forward, which also opened up space for Wellington to exploit, but couldn't find a way through. Until Fisher struck.

"I think we deserved to win," Jacobs said. "We fell short again because through nothing less than a lack of commonsense...

"It was just that last possession in that last minute. I think if we had stuck [the ball] in the corner for a throw-in or goal-kick we would have won the fixture. Through tiredness we tried something we shouldn't have."

It ended Wellington's great run of recent weeks. Yesterday's defeat was their first in five matches after they had turned around a season that had looked anaemic when they sat second-last on the table. Their side was too good not to challenge but now they can only think about what might have been.

Instead, Waitakere can contemplate the possibility of a triumphant season. Next Saturday they travel to Papua New Guinea to face Hekari Souths in the first leg of the O-League final before returning to play the NZFC grand final the following weekend.

"Talk about heart-attack stuff," Fisher said while completing the unusual task of signing autographs. "It's the old cliche, it's a 90-minute game or, in our case, a 93-minute game."