Football: Dream of a winning finish dashed

North Force player Fernanda Toscani makes a break up the midfield during her side's 2-0 loss to Ellerslie AFC. Photo: Michael Cunningham

The North Force Women have ended their season on a bittersweet note.

Finishing the year third on the AFF/NFF Women's Conference ladder, a 2-0 loss to Ellerslie AFC in Whangarei on Saturday didn't provide the send-off coach Carl Compaan had in mind for several of his departing players.

"It's okay. We're happy with our performance but it was just a sad way to finish the season," he said.

Down 1-nil in the 90th minute, North Force looked determined to level out the scoreboard.

However, giving away a penalty to Ellerslie ruled out any chance of that, and ended the season on a sour note as the visiting side jumped two points clear by the final whistle.

"We were looking to play our way forward as much as we could but, from a corner, they broke away and we gave away a penalty which was the end of the game really."

Scoring the first goal in the opening half, Ellerslie made their intentions for a win clear.

The remaining period of play was much closer, though, as both sides took several shots at goal. "We just couldn't score. We hit the crossbar and stuff like that, but it just wasn't meant to be was all. Both teams played well - 1-nil is all right but 1-all would have been better," Compaan added.

Although a win, loss, or draw would have retained a third-place finish on the ladder for North Force, a win to cap off the year was the goal.

With several younger players heading off to university next year, that would have provided a much needed spoonful of honey to soothe their departure and sweeten the final bout.

"We start training again toward the end of January now," Compaan said. "It was a bit of a sad occasion because some of the girls are leaving for uni. It was a goodbye game for a lot of those girls and they tried really hard. We're happy with third, and came close to finishing second but it gives us something to build on next year and to improve and better. We had a few of the under-15s play for us yesterday and we've got a few that we want to bring into the squad. We had our moments, we tried to play the type of game we've played all season and play as a team. We created opportunities but just couldn't finish it."