Capital Football stormed to the top of the ASB W-League table on October 20 after handing Waikato-Bay of Plenty a 7-2 walloping at the massive St. Peter's School complex in Cambridge. Remarkably, the first seven goals in the match were scored in a twenty-four minute spell prior to the half-hour mark being reached. And the very first of them was scored by the home team. Some frankly awful defending by Sally Kent in the fifth minute allowed Chelsea Elliott to steal the ball off her in the penalty area near the by-line. The striker rolled the ball back into the stride of Tessa Leong, who steered the ball home across the stunned figure of Cushla Lichtwark, whose first touch of the ball in the match was to fish it out of her net. Capital weren't exactly thrilled by this early setback, so newly crowned Lotto Northern Premier Women's League Player of the Year Hannah Wall set about redressing matters. Latching onto an eighth minute pass from Emma Rolston, she took on the Wai-BOP defence, beating a couple of challenges before slipping a pass into the stride of Michaela Robertson. Her accomplished finish beyond Emily Hanrahan leveled the scores, and set the tone for an afternoon of mayhem in the home team's defence. Collectively, Kate Carlton,  Libby Williams, Alex Shadbolt and the just-turned twenty-one-year-old Kylie Jens have never played as badly as this at the same time, but this was to be a day at the office of worst nightmare proportions as far as they were concerned. Mind, they weren't afforded much support from their central midfielders, both of whom were playing out of position. Both Tessa Leong and Jackie Pretswell are goalscorers first and foremost, but had to make a fist of things in their foreign roles - not the easiest of tasks when Wall, Emily Stotter and Briar Palmer, when not forcing errors through pressuring the player in possession, start pulling players out of position and exploiting the space created. Cue calamity, Wai-BOP style. But not before they had gone close to regaining the lead straight from the kick-off. Leong's teasing cross was merely watched by the Capital defence, none of whom anticipated Emma Baker racing in off the right flank to meet it. Only Lichtwark's fine reaction save at point-blank range denied her as she sought to restore the home team's lead. Back came Capital, Wall in charge once more, this time on the right. Her near post cross found Rolston zooming in to meet it, only for Carlton to step in and guide the ball back to Hanrahan. The goalkeeper produced a panicked clearance, directing the ball straight to the pint-sized figure of Robertson. With an untended goal yawning invitingly just ten yards away, the youngster calmly fired Capital in front - 2-1 after thirteen minutes. And so nearly 3-1 sixty seconds later. Palmer's corner to the far post found Wall in the thick of things, with the ball flying up against the bar, dropping down, striking a defender and bouncing into the grateful gloves of the startled figure of Hanrahan. The 'keeper wasn't so fortunate sixty seconds later. Rolston let one rip from twenty-five yards which bounced in front of the diving 'keeper, who could only look on in horror as the ball bounced over her and into the net beyond. 3-1 became 4-1 in the sixteenth minute, Wall's willingness to pursue a seemingly lost cause earning Capital a corner. Palmer's delivery found Tessa McPherson arriving on the far post, from where she headed the visitors further in front on the scoreboard. There was an understandable brief lull in the action as both players and spectators caught their collective breath after such a helter-skelter start to the match, but come the 27th minute, referee Debbie Stevens found reason to award Waikato-BOP a penalty, indicating shirt-pulling had taken place when Elliott delivered a free-kick. Up stepped the striker to stylishly fire home the spot-kick, but the 4-2 scoreline became 5-2 just two minutes later. Wall once more instigated the opportunity, her header forward being flicked on by Robertson into the stride of Rolston, whose chipped finish over the hapless Hanrahan was exquisite. How Capital failed to add further to their tally before half-time only they will know. Straight from the kick-off which resulted from their fifth goal,

Rolston caught Pretswell in possession and stormed off downfield, working a series of one-twos with Robertson as they bore down on goal. Hanrahan knew little about the shot Rolston unleashed, but it struck her and ricocheted to safety. Soon after, the 'keeper saved at the feet of the hat-trick-hunting striker, who was denied a goal in the 33rd minute when she used her hand to turn home Palmer's gorgeous teasing cross. Three minutes later, Palmer was again menacing Wai-BOP's right flank, leaving Williams in a heap before picking out Rolston with a cross which the striker headed narrowly past the far post. Seven minutes before half-time, the offside flag denied Robertson her hat-trick after Rolston had dribbled through three challenges before setting up her team-mate, while on the stroke of half-time the home team went close via Elliott's thirty yard free-kick - Lichtwark greedily grabbed the last kick of an extraordinary first forty-five minutes. That wild scoreline, allied to the raft of substitutions which punctuated the second spell, meant the later half lacked a great deal of the quality which had preceded it. Pretswell's dipping twenty yarder cleared the bar by no more than a foot straight after the resumption, while Elliott stung Lichtwark's gloves once more in the 52nd minute after Kent had tackled Kerri Gerrits. Caitlin Campbell was introduced to the fray by Capital in the 54th minute, and within sixty seconds, scored with her first touch - a twenty-five yarder which was intended as an angled ball through for Rolston, but which bounced over the striker and into the far corner of the net beyond a by now bewildered Hanrahan, who cut a desperately despondent figure as she looked at the ball nestling once more in her goal. Elliott continued to try to reduce the arrears for Wai-BOP - all credit to her for never giving up in this regard - but Lichtwark proved equal to anything she and her team-mates could muster in the time remaining. Capital, meanwhile, also eased off, their prime interest now being to see if Rolston or Robertson could complete their hat-tricks. It was the former who prevailed, firing home from the penalty spot following a hand-ball offence in the 76th minute, two minutes after squandering a great chance created for her by Emily Stotter. Five minutes from time, Capital substitute Jayme Lee Hunter picked out Rolston with a cross which the striker met with a looping header. Hanrahan grabbed this with gratitude, and was greatly relieved to see Hunter completely miss an open goal a mere two yards out in the final minute of play. Capital were well happy with their lot, however, although will feel they could have been more ruthless in the second spell. Waikato-BOP, it is hoped, will never play as badly as this again - to overhear coach Simon Mead saying he was proud of their performance after the game made this writer cringe. One should not applaud mediocrity at any time, a statement which applies as much to match officials as it does players. Referee Debbie Stevens and her team also had a day at the office best forgotten in this match, with numerous calls of a perplexing nature being made, or not as the case may have been. While the philosophy of appointing female match officials to W-League fixtures is both honourable and well intentioned, it's only fair to all parties involved in said games, the officials in particular, that the appointments are made on merit alone. If that means the aforementioned philosophy has to be forsaken for the game's greater good, so be it. Better for all concerned that the players are afforded the best officials available, gender regardless, in what is, after all, the competition which will eventually be used to decide New Zealand's (and, let's be blunt, Oceania's) representatives at the proposed FIFA Women's Club World Cup Finals in a few years' time. Only our best will be acceptable for that. Waikato-BOP:     Hanrahan; Williams, Carlton, Shadbolt, Jens (Robinson, 69); Baker (Cawte, 61), Leong (Peterson, 80), Pretswell, Golding; Elliott, Gerrits (Bennett, 55) Capital:     Lichtwark; Barrott, Kent (Sargent, 76), McPherson, Megan Robertson; Wall (Cooper, 65), L. Stotter (Campbell, 54), E. Stotter, Palmer (Hunter, 76); Rolston, Michaela Robertson Referee:     Debbie Stevens