Auckland scored just their third win in thirty years in Christchurch on October 29, as they cruised to a 3-0 win over Mainland Pride in their Lion Foundation National Women's League engagement at English Park. While ultimately made to work hard for their triumph, their first in the Garden City since 1990, the “A Team” did the bulk of their damage in the first forty-five minutes of the match, a spell in which they were particularly dominant. After Jenny Bindon had grabbed a Mel Angow header from a Clare Warner corner, the reigning champions unlocked the home team's rearguard with their first attack of note, in the sixth minute. Melanie Gooch's initial work in midfield was taken over by Marlies Oostdam, who combined with Kirsty Yallop to send Rebecca Tegg spearing through between defenders. Last year's Golden Boot winner powered on before crashing the ball home off the underside of the crossbar, striking a blow from which a team which has yet to find the net this season never really recovered. The “A Team” were immediately in command, and came close to doubling their advantage four minutes later. Bindon's raking clearance was headed on by Maia Jackman to Gooch, who supplied Tegg with another pass to pursue. Jane Simpson's covering run and clever shepherding of the ball allowed Megan Andrew the chance to come off her line and save at the feet of the goalscorer. Auckland's passing and possession play was a pleasure to watch, as was the fluidity and intelligence of their movement both on and off the ball. Gooch, Jackman, Oostdam, Tegg and Yallop were frequently interchanging positions within the team's structure, and their mobility and awareness of their positioning on the pitch in relation to each other, their team-mates and their opponents was a real treat for those who have an appreciation and understanding of some of the game's more intricate technical attributes. Mainland, meanwhile, were feeding on scraps throughout much of the first half, with youngster Alanah Ainsworth - she of the Shirley Temple hairstyle who showed an impressive degree of composure and maturity far beyond her fifteen years in this, her senior level debut - firing over the bar in the seventeenth minute. That feat was matched by Sally Chetwin nine minutes later, after Bindon wrongly opted to throw the ball out to Oostdam, who had Stef White on top of her before she'd even received the ball. Chetwin picked up the pieces, but neglected to put them away. By this time, the “A Team” had gone 2-0 up, the goal stemming from a raking clearance by Andrew. Not for the first nor the last time in the match, Terry McCahill won the ball in the air and guided it into Oostdam's path. The captain stroked the ball through Mainland's rearguard to reward the well-timed run of Tegg, who gave Angow the slip and charged in into the penalty area before executing an accomplished finish beyond the advancing figure of Andrew in the 24th minute. Nine minutes later, the visitors engineered a lovely move deserving of a goal. Gooch was roaming on the right flank when, on receipt of Petria Rennie's throw-in, she wriggled her way through three challenges and set sail towards the penalty area. Prior to reaching it, she whipped over a low cross which Tegg dummied, aware that Yallop was surging into the space behind her. The midfielder took the ball in her stride and let fly from twenty yards, only for Andrew to pull off a sound save to her left. After Bindon had smothered a low cross from Georgia Goulding, Auckland produced another enterprising raid from which they should have scored a third goal. Rennie and Yallop combined on half-way, the latter squaring the ball into Tegg's path. She surged forward before playing the ball wide to Oostdam, who scampered down the left before picking out Gooch, arriving at the near post. The striker spurned a great chance at point-blank range, Andrew having time to parry the effort before Angow completed the clearance as Jackman came racing in. Before half-time, Rennie and Yallop had teamed up again to present Gooch with a shooting chance which she sent flying across the face of goal. And in the 43rd minute, Dana Humby and Tegg combined to play Jackman in on the right. Her cross picked out Oostdam, whose drive was blocked by Kelly Jarden. The second spell saw Auckland initially continuing

Rebecca Tegg (Auckland) and Mel Angow (Mainland) Kelly Jarden (Mainland) watches Kirsty Yallop (Auckland) practice her "Puppet on a String" impersonation!! Kristy Hill (Auckland) and Sally Chetwin (Mainland) Alanah Ainsworth (Mainland) Maia Jackman (Auckland) in full flight Jenny Bindon (Auckland) tips Clare Warner's free-kick over the bar

on from where they had left off. McCahill headed over Oostdam's corner two minutes into the half, before Jackman sent a twenty-five yarder over the bar in the 56th minute after Jenny Carlisle and Tegg had linked on the left. Either side of Jackman's effort, referee Stu Cox had indulged in a handful of weird and wonderful decisions which left players and spectators alike bemused, particularly the visitors, against whom the infringements had been awarded. Warner lined up the free-kicks in question, and while her 53rd minute effort was easily dealt with by McCahill, her twenty-five yard set-piece four minutes later brought the best out of Bindon, who tipped the ball over the bar. Gooch's final contribution to the game, on the hour, saw her set up Jackman for a shot on the run which thundered past the post, after which the striker made way for Emma Kete, who wasted little time in involving herself in Auckland's attacks. Rennie, Jackman and Tegg teamed up with the substitute in the 63rd minute, who overstepped the ball in light of Kristy Hill moving in behind her. The combative midfielder's low cross for Jackman was pounced on by Andrew, who was rescued by the intervention of Simpson four minutes later. The defender, whose surges out of defence had been a feature of Mainland's play, despite nothing coming of them due to Auckland's sound defensive efforts, swooped on the scene to avert the danger in the 67th minute after Rennie and Kete had released Jackman down the right, the speedster scooting past Alex Hepburn before crossing to give Tegg a chance for her hat-trick. Two minutes on, a rare lapse in Auckland's rearguard came close to being capitalised upon. Humby's wayward pass out of defence was pounced on by Jarden, who slipped the ball into Warner's path. She got the better of Rennie before unleashing a curling cross-shot which arced just beyond the far post, much to Bindon's relief. Two minutes later, Rennie sparked another Auckland raid, playing the ball forward to Jackman. Her pass to Kete enabled the striker to slip Tegg through the defence, but Andrew, alert to the danger, raced off her line to safe at the goalscorer's feet. After “A Team” debutant Allysha Johnson had been introduced to the fray, the visitors stepped up their pursuit of another goal, with Yallop blazing over from twenty-five yards following an Oostdam free-kick in the 81st minute. Seconds later, they were celebrating their third goal of the day. Johnson won the ball on the left and played it forward to Jackman. Her cross picked out Tegg, but the striker stumbled. Kete was on hand, however, the ball falling kindly for her to poke home from twelve yards via the post - 3-0. Mainland kept plugging away, as they had all game long. Their battling qualities were well to the fore in this encounter, one in which they could quite easily have given the game away after finding themselves two goals down inside twenty-five minutes. Creatively, however, they were very effectively stifled by an “A Team” rearguard which has yet to yield a goal, and certainly didn't intend doing so against a team which hasn't yet scored one. Mainland's penultimate chance to do so came in the 83rd minute, a cross-shot from Warner which zoomed across the face of goal as substitute Rebecca West came racing in. But within minutes, Oostdam had picked up the ball outside her penalty and sent a raking pass downfield for Jackman, who held play up until Oostdam had arrived in support. Her twenty-five yard drive lacked the accuracy which her industry merited. In stoppage time, the home team's pursuit of the goal which will send their confidence soaring continued, after a mistake by “A Team” substitute Flora McLeod. Goulding pounced, and promptly let fly with a dipping twenty-five yarder which just cleared the crossbar. But a third successive reversal was the local's lot, the 3-0 scoreline due reward for an Auckland team which produced its best performance of the campaign thus far, despite the absence of four New Zealand internationals due to a combination of injury and study commitments. Mainland:     Andrew; Simpson, Bourke, Angow, Hepburn; Chetwin, Ainsworth (West, 76), Jarden, White, Warner (Gunn, 85); Goulding Auckland:     Bindon; Rennie, Humby, McCahill, Carlisle (Johnson, 75); Jackman (McLeod, 85), Hill, Oostdam, Yallop; Tegg, Gooch (Kete, 61) Referee:     Stu Cox