The set play was nobody’s friend yesterday afternoon thanks to the awful, blustery winds across Tahuna Park.
But this time the Dunedin City Royals midfield stalwart pulled off something spectacular in the 88th minute.
Smith curled her shot from the corner beautifully into the box and buried it into the right corner before her team-mates stampeded towards her in celebration.
It was all the difference for the home team and sealed a 1-0 victory against Cashmere Technical in the Kate Sheppard Cup quarterfinal.
The Royals now advance to the Cup semifinal, with the draw expected to be released tomorrow.
High winds caused havoc for both teams.
It made the ball spin in the air every which way — except forward at times — good crosses were nearly impossible and exiting the red zone was shaky at best for both.
But still it made for a relatively even first half between the two sides, who matched up well against each other.
Cashmere had a handful of corners early compared to the Royals, but again, the wind really hampered those chances.
The visitors were explosive on the counter attack and exploited their speed through the middle through former Football Fern Aimee Phillips.
But Toni Power and Hannah Mackay-Wright were as formidable as ever at the back, pressing Cashmere wide and stopping their chances.
Smith was busy in the middle the whole game for the Royals and Raegan Potter and Bee Park had their chances at goal.
The Royals lost Tabitha Seaton late in the first half to what appeared to be a shoulder injury and the score remained locked at 0-0 at halftime.
The home side came out of the break the better team.
They spent a good 10 minutes on attack, searching for the elusive opener, the wind making it hard for Cashmere to clear the ball and put the Royals under pressure.
Smith and Phillips were both yellow carded, as neither team gave an inch.
Cashmere replacement Emma Kench had their best chance in the second, but her attempt just swung wide and Royals goalkeeper Lauren Paterson had a couple of nice touches.
Park almost broke through for the Royals. Her shot from out wide on the right looked to be sailing in when Cashmere keeper Scarlett Gray leapt high and got a hand to it.
Cashmere attacked hard, but still the Royals fought back and stunted them any time they came close to goal.
And then Smith finally made the breakthrough to send the Royals through to the semifinals.
In the other quarterfinals, Western Springs beat Franklin United 3-1, Phoenix Reserves won 2-3 against Waterside Karori and Auckland United — who won the national league last year — thumped West Coast Rangers 5-1.
Kate Sheppard Cup
The scores
Dunedin City Royals 1
Shontelle Smith Smith 88’
Cashmere Technical 0
Halftime: 0-0
