Football Ferns centurion Ria Percival appears to have won her race against time to be fit for the Women's FA Cup final, recovering from injury to be named in West Ham United’s starting line-up for a league visit to Bristol City, for whom Katie Rood is on the books but is currently on loan at Lewes.

Percival picked up an ankle injury on the Football Ferns’ two-match series against Norway last month but was able to take up a berth in holding midfield as the Hammers came from behind to claim a 2-1 win.

She is now firmly in the running to walk out on the hallowed turf of Wembley Stadium as West Ham take on Manchester City for the right to lift the FA Cup, the most prestigious knockout trophy on offer in the female English game.

Percival is looking to follow in the footsteps of Football Ferns legend Maureen Jacobson, who became the first New Zealander to win the Women’s FA Cup with the Millwall Lionesses in 1991.

The big match takes place at 4.30am on Sunday 5 May NZT.

Another England-based Football Fern, captain Ali Riley, did not feature in either leg as Chelsea bowed out of the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-finals to defending champions Olympique Lyon.

Ferns midfielder Olivia Chance was meanwhile an unused substitute as Everton came from behind to edge out Reading, the previous club of fellow Fern Anna Green, 3-2 in their final home game of the FA Women’s Super League season.

Tuiloma screamer sets up win

Versatile All Whites star Bill Tuiloma played a big part as the Portland Timbers earned just their second win of the Major League Soccer (MLS) season, finding the net in stunning fashion in a 2-1 triumph at Toronto.

The Timbers had fallen behind but responded immediately as Tuiloma showed outstanding technique and timing to athletically meet a corner and fire in a sweetly-struck volley.

Elsewhere in the MLS, the All Whites pair of Tommy Smith and Deklan Wynne will have a new coach to play for after their former national team manager, Anthony Hudson, was relieved of his duties at the Colorado Rapids. The final game of his reign was a 1-0 loss to Atlanta United, Smith and Wynne both starting for the first time this season as the Rapids’ winless streak was extended to nine games.

Fellow All White Michael Boxall has also had little to celebrate recently after losing his place in the Minnesota United defence. He now has a fight on his hands to get back into the starting line-up as the Loons have recorded back-to-back clean sheets in his absence.

Staying in America, there was a meeting of two Kiwis in the United Soccer League (USL) as James Musa came off the bench late on in a scoreless stalemate with Sacramento Republic, coached by All Whites legend Simon Elliott.

An All White was on the scoresheet elsewhere in the USL as Sam Brotherton – who has played every minute of North Carolina’s campaign so far – prodded home a corner at the second attempt in a 4-1 win over Hartford Athletic.

Ferns flying high in USA

The Kiwi representatives in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) are flying high with Abby Erceg’s North Carolina Courage topping the table and Katie Bowen’s Utah Royals just a point further back in second with a game in hand.

Erceg skippered the Courage to a 4-1 win over Houston Dash to increase their unbeaten run to three matches and the commanding centre back nearly got on the scoresheet early on, meeting a corner in trademark fashion but seeing her header cleared away.

Bowen, who usually plays in midfield for her country, meanwhile lined up at right back for the Royals and helped earn a 1-0 win at Orlando Pride, their second consecutive success by the same scoreline.

Bowen played her part in keeping an impressive clean sheet against a Pride side packed full of attacking talent – including six-time FIFA World Player of the Year Marta and Alex Morgan, co-captain of the USA national team – and also contributed at the other end by getting forward to deliver several crosses into the box.

Woud takes on Dutch giants

Young All Whites goalkeeper Michael Woud has just taken on one giant of the Dutch game and could be in line to face another before heading to Poland to star for his country at the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

The 20-year-old was called up for his third Eredivisie appearance as Willem II tried to put a spanner in the works of PSV’s title challenge but was unable to prevent a 3-0 loss. He would most likely have been facing a fellow Kiwi as Ryan Thomas is contracted to PSV but the All Whites midfielder is still recovering from injury and has been ruled out until next season.

With regular number one Timon Wellenreuther under an injury cloud, Woud is in the frame to start again in this weekend’s KNVB Cup final against league leaders Ajax, who have just underlined their quality by beating Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.

Wood in line for Player of the Month

The hot streak of Chris Wood’s Burnley may have come to an end against title-chasing Manchester City but the All Whites striker is in line for individual recognition after being short-listed for the Premier League Player of the Month award.

Wood is one of eight nominees for April and is in illustrious company with Chelsea superstar Eden Hazard, Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah and Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy also in the running.

The big Kiwi earned his nomination after being involved in five of his side’s seven goals last month as Burnley ensured a fourth successive season in the top flight.

He could not find the target against the defending champions though as Burnley made Manchester City work hard for the points but went down 1-0.

Wood did have a chance to get on the scoresheet in the first half but his touch let him down as goalkeeper Ederson was able to smother the ball at his feet.

Lewis breaks into starting line-up

The patience and hard work of Clayton Lewis has paid off with the young All Whites midfielder finally securing a starting berth as Scunthorpe United look to avoid relegation from League One, the third tier of the English professional game.

Lewis has endured a frustrating spell on the sidelines since signing for the Iron in 2017 but earned his second successive start against Bradford City, playing 90 minutes in a professional league game for the first time in his career.

Unfortunately for the 22-year-old though, he couldn’t help prevent a crushing 3-2 loss, which leaves Scunthorpe deep in relegation trouble with only one game remaining to haul themselves to safety.

They must now beat Plymouth Argyle, who are also battling to stay up, this weekend in the final match of the season and hope other results go their way to stay in the division.

Mixed emotions for European Ferns

The Football Ferns contingent in Europe has experienced contrasting emotions recently with CJ Bott starring in a strong start to her side’s campaign, Meikayla Moore picking up a slight injury and goalkeeper Erin Nayler on the receiving end of a hefty defeat.

Bott’s Vittsjo GIK were in a relegation battle last season but appear to have turned a corner and are currently third in the Swedish Damallsvenskan after winning two of their first three matches. Their latest success was a 2-0 triumph over Linkoping, in which Bott shone from her left-back position.

Defending well and also providing an attacking threat, Bott even got on the scoresheet herself – her first strike for the club – by tucking in a tidy finish at the near post from a corner.

Things didn’t go as much to plan for Nayler, who was between the sticks for Bordeaux in a 6-2 loss against Paris Saint Germain. The disappointing result was a blow to Bordeaux’s chances of finishing third in the French top flight and they must now defeat Paris FC this weekend in their final match to have any chance of doing so.

Meanwhile in Germany, Moore was withdrawn by MSV Duisburg just half an hour into a 2-2 draw with Hoffenheim. But the good news for Football Ferns coach Tom Sermanni is that the injury does not appear to be serious with the club stating Moore was replaced as a precaution.

She will hope to be fit enough to play a role in Duisburg’s remaining pair of matches as they are four points clear of relegation and may need to add to their points tally to be safe.

Rojas opens account in Denmark

The Danish Superliga career of the ‘Kiwi Messi’ is now off the mark after Marco Rojas came off the bench to turn a vital match in his side’s favour.

The prodigiously-skilled All Whites midfielder signed for SonderjyskE at the start of this year to reignite his time in Europe and appears to be doing just that, scoring a trademark goal and setting up another in a 4-1 win over ten-man Vejle Boldklub.

With SonderjyskE needing to win to avoid entering the relegation play-offs, Rojas joined the fray on the hour mark and soon whipped in a perfectly-placed corner that was headed home for a 3-1 lead before providing a fourth himself in stoppage time by jinking into the box and firing home.

Instead of battling relegation, SonderjyskE are now into a four-team knockout competition to advance to the Europa League play-offs and will meet Randers this weekend in the first leg of that quest.

Article added: Friday 03 May 2019