A strong first half showing by Auckland-Manukau (Soccer2) paved the way for a 7-0 victory over Waikato-Bay of Plenty (Force3) in the opening match of the 2003 National Women’s Soccer League competition at Ken Maunder Park on September 27.      The defending champions were quickly into their stride, with a flowing five-player move culminating in Amber Hearn - one of five "A Team" debutants in the match -  rattling the crossbar from twenty yards in the third minute.      A further three minutes had elapsed when a superb through ball from the game’s outstanding player, Dana Humby, sent Michele Keinzley scurrying through Waikato’s back-line, and the SWANZ international scythed into the penalty area before coolly picking her spot past the stranded Kirsty Moore.      One of the outstanding features of the "A Team"’s first half display was their set-piece work, particularly from corners. Humby’s deliveries were invariably of the highest order, and in the eighth minute, one such ball driven deep into the danger zone culminated in a Kirsty Yallop volley sizzling inches over the crossbar from twenty-five yards.      Maia Jackman was next to feature for the title-holders, grazing the post with a rasping fourteenth minute drive, to which Waikato’s Tarena O’Neill replied with a hopeful twenty-five yard curler seconds later, having dispossessed Vicki Rainbow to engineer the opportunity.      The shot didn’t trouble Yvonne Vale on her fiftieth appearance in the number one jersey for her province, but the resulting goal-kick prompted another Auckland-Manukau raid which saw the scoreline doubled. Jackman and Keinzley combined down the right to engineer an opening for Margot Bowker, which the striker deftly steered home in the sixteenth minute.      Bowker nearly nabbed a second goal for herself two minutes later, hitting the post with a close-range header after Terry McCahill had directed a header goalwards from another precise Humby corner.      Hayley Moorwood and Jackman both spurned good scoring opportunities before the half-hour, while the perky playmaker squandered a gilt-edged chance to make it 3-0 in the 24th minute, when released by Hearn.      Moore raced off her line to narrow the angle as Moorwood dashed through, and got her hand to the midfielder’s attempted chip. The ball continued goalwards however, Moorwood following its progress as a matter of course. It’s as well she did, for the ball hit the post and bounced back into play. But before the young SWANZ star could pull the trigger, Waikato defender Natalie Maurice hurtled back to produce a goal-saving clearance off the line.      After Jackman had seen her header blocked following a Humby corner, a similar set-piece, in the 33rd minute, provided the game’s third goal. Humby’s delivery found McCahill’s head, and the ball flew past the diving figure of Moore - 3-0.      Three minutes later, goal number four came to pass - the "A Team" were in rampant form during this period of the match. Humby was again the source of Waikato’s consternation, another corner picking out Keinzley this time. Her effort hit the crossbar, but Jackman, following in, gained due reward for doing so, the ball dropping kindly to allow her to bundle it home from close range.      Moore must have felt as if she was the target on a rifle-range in the minutes leading up to half-time, as she was called upon on a number of occasions to thwart the goal-hungry Aucklanders.      Moorwood, Jackman and Keinzley were each frustrated by the ‘keeper’s intervention, while on the stroke of half-time, Moore parried at the feet of Moorwood, then recovered quickly before Keinzley could turn home the loose ball.      Seconds beforehand, Bowker had drilled

the ball home from close range, following yet   another Humby corner, but the goal was ruled out for McCahill’s low cross having been delivered from just behind the goal-line, the home team’s captain having ventured that far forward due to the set-piece opportunity.      Whatever Waikato-BOP coach Grant Hastings said to his charges during the half-time break clearly had the desired effect, as they came out a much more committed unit, whose first half showing - the ever-consistent Andrea Rogers apart - had been such that a hiding of double-figure proportions looked to be well on the cards.      That one didn’t eventuate says much about the far more spirited performance produced by the visitors, with O’Neill always looking to create something to give their opponents reason not to rest on their laurels.      Such as just ninety seconds into the second half, when she worked an opening with Jo Chambers which was spoilt by the latter’s poor first touch, a technical flaw which allowed Vale to pounce at her feet and, as it turned out, produce her one save of any real consequence in her milestone match.      The other chances of note came at the other end of the ground, with Moore again having her work cut out for her by opponents who, while failing to perform to anything like the levels they had attained in the first half, still carved out scoring opportunities with great frequency.      Rainbow came desperately close to netting the game’s fifth goal in the 51st minute, her twenty-five yard lob drifting inches wide of the target. Two minutes later, Rainbow, Keinzley and Jackman combined to engineer an opening for Moorwood, but Moore, with the assistance of Cheryl Carter, thwarted that chance.      Keinzley only narrowly failed to exploit a true opportunist’s effort when two Waikato defenders misjudged a raking Vale clearance. The bounce of the ball was kind to Keinzley, and her angled shot, taken at full stretch past the advancing Moore, crept a foot wide of the far post.      The "A Team" could afford the luxury of removing three of their seasoned campaigners - Jackman, Bowker and McCahill - from the fray in the next ten minutes, and still found time to increase their lead in between times. The chief celebrant of their fifth goal was Moorwood, who, on receipt of a 62nd minute pass from Rainbow, clipped home a beauty for the goal of the game.      Keinzley and Yallop both squandered good opportunities to increase the Aucklanders’ advantage fifteen minutes from time, but the final four minutes of play saw the home side boost their tally on two more occasions, the first of which was engineered by Rainbow. Yallop still had plenty of work to do on the edge of the penalty, but the debutant accomplished it with aplomb, deftly turning her marker before drilling home unerringly for number six.      After Moore had turned a Rachel Doody effort to safety, the "A Team" wrapped up the scoring two minutes from time. Yallop turned provider this time, crossing for Hearn, whose neat control culminated in a shot which Moore blocked with her legs. The ball spun upwards, and Sara Clapham wasted little time in racing in to head home the day’s seventh goal.      There was still time for Moore to save at the feet of Moorwood, but the 7-0 triumph ensured the "A Team" of an emphatic start to their campaign, with the unusual occurrence of a seven-goal victory resulting from the efforts of as many goalscorers. "A Team":        Vale; Humby, McCahill (Ray, 69), Tito; Jackman (Doody, 60), Moorwood, Rainbow, Hearn, Yallop; Keinzley, Bowker (Clapham, 60) Waikato-BOP:        Moore; Smith (Cooper, 49), Maurice, Hemming; Aitken, Lewis, Carter, Rogers, Stewart (Gaskell, 58); Chambers (Black, 81), O’Neill Referee:        Jan-Hendrik Hintz