They've done it! And it's something that will likely never be achieved again at this level of the game in New Zealand. Auckland United completed an incredible unbeaten year of football at North Harbour Stadium on 1 December, conquering Waterside Karori 3-1 in the Ford National Women's League Grand Final to retain their crown, and add it to the other trophies they claimed in 2024 - the OFC Women's Champions League, the Kate Sheppard Cup and the Lotto Northern Premier Women's League, an honour they also won in 2023. Not only did they secure an unprecedented haul of silverware for the year - this was the first campaign in which a New Zealand team has contested the recently introduced Oceania competition - Ben Bate's charges realised the feat without being beaten in the 41 matches they played, a tally of games in a calendar year never before recorded by a women's team in this country. 37 wins and four draws were the outcomes of those fixtures, which took their overall unbeaten run to 49 matches, having won seven and drawn one of their last eight National Women's League games in 2023, a run of form which culminated in their Grand Final victory over Southern United. Twelve months on, the reigning champions were looking to repeat the feat, this time against Waterside Karori. And they couldn't have wished for a better start had they tried! Just 75 seconds into the contest, Pia Vlok swooped on a stray Mei Burden pass and, after evading two challenges, promptly let fly twenty-five yards out from goal, the ball slipping through the fingers of Annie Foote en route to the top far corner of the net! "The Magpies" were stunned, and saw a long-range effort from Talisha Green fly past their right-hand post before starting to get a foothold in the contest, only for Auckland to double their lead in the twelfth minute. This one had an element of "Keystone Cops" about it, but the title-holders weren't complaining one iota. Charlotte Roche headed a Green throw-in forward, allowing Sarah Morton to pass the ball back towards Foote. But her pass wasn't the greatest the Football Fern has ever played, and Roche stormed after it in hot pursuit. Foote was always favourite to reach the ball first, but succeeded only in clearing it against the striker, who pounced on the rebound and hammered it into the empty net. 2-0 down against a team pursuing history, "Wharfies" needed to stem the tide, but the pace of Rene Wasi, in particular, was another weapon in Auckland's armoury which gave them regular cause for concern. Foote brought the speedster down twenty-five yards out from goal halfway through the first half, earning a booking from referee Beth Rattray for doing so. Chelsea Elliott lined up the free-kick, drilling it low past the wall and drawing a parried save from the goalkeeper, with Tessa McPherson scrambling the loose ball to safety. Seconds later, Elliott spread play wide to Saskia Vosper, who skipped inside past one opponent before whipping in a cross which Roche headed inches over the bar. Then in the 25th minute, Wasi roasted Burden down the left before cutting inside and slamming a ferocious angled twenty-five yarder goalwards. Foote, flying to her left, just got her fingertips to the effort, the ball cannoning off the far post and back across goal. Roche was unable to turn the rebound home from an acute angle - a real let-off for the Wellingtonians. "The Magpies" finally mustered an attacking threat just after the half-hour mark. Kendall Pollock threaded the ball through to Nikki Furukawa, whose low cross was smothered by Hannah Mitchell with Tui Dugan closing fast. Seconds later, Dugan volleyed an effort across the face of goal after Furukawa had chased down a seemingly lost cause. But United swiftly restored order, and on the stroke of half-time went close to netting a third goal, Foote saving at the feet of Roche after Yume Harashima and Alexis Cook had combined on the right. Auckland began the second spell in the ascendancy, Cook, Vlok and Green combining on the right to deliver a cross for Wasi, whose lay-off bounced just too far in front of Roche for her to capitalise. "Wharfies" countered with a 49th minute counter-attack, Renee Bacon unleashing Furukawa down

the right before linking with Emma Starr. Greer MacIntosh blocked her shot, with Wasi slicing the rebound over her own crossbar. Bacon's resulting corner was headed clear by Elliott to the edge of the area, from where Starr sent a volley flying past Mitchell's left-hand post. Auckland's response? A third goal from the resulting goal kick. Downfield they streamed, the outstanding Vlok - she's only sixteen, but she bossed this Grand Final like a veteran - leading the charge before sending Wasi storming through the inside left channel into the penalty area. Her low cross was spilled by Foote, and Roche, following in like all good strikers should, pounced on the rebound and pummelled it into the net via the underside of the crossbar - 3-0, and surely no way back for "The Magpies". They had other ideas, however, and after Mitchell had turned Nicola Ross' shot round the post, Pollock and Furukawa having combined to create the opening, Waterside dragged themselves back into the contest from Bacon's resulting corner, Furukawa volleying into the top corner in the 53rd minute after Vosper's headed clearance sat up perfectly for her. United looked to restore their three-goal advantage instantly, Vlok seeing her shot blocked to safety by Daphne Ranta. Ten minutes later, she combined with Danielle Canham and substitute Paige Satchell to present Green with the chance to cross first-time towards Kaley Ward. The ball was cleared to Vlok, who evaded two challenges before lashing a low twenty yard drive against the post. The ball ricocheted into the path of the incoming figure of Ward, off whom it rebounded past the upright - the freshly introduced substitute couldn't believe her luck! After a dipping eighteen-yarder from Canham clipped the top of the crossbar, Mitchell sent Vlok flying down the left in the 72nd minute. Her deep cross was headed past the far post by Satchell - a headed goal from the 49-times-capped Football Fern would have been a real collector's item! Back came "Wharfies", Furukawa - their best performer in the Grand Final - going to ground under the challenge of Vosper, who was wearing Waterside's colours last season. As her team-mates claimed a free-kick, United responded with a slick counter-attack which referee Rattray allowed to proceed, having seen no offence seconds earlier. Wasi motored down the left at her usual breakneck speed fifteen minutes from time, outpacing all-comers before letting fly. Foote foiled her first attempt, but Wasi swiftly swooped on the rebound, her shot this time drawing a fabulous reflex save from the goalkeeper, Foote then reacting swiftly to prevent Ward from turning home the rebound. United pressed again, Harashima's 82nd minute ball forward sending Ward through on goal against her former club with just Foote to beat, a feat she accomplished. Alas for the striker, her lobbed effort drifted past the upright - 3-1 it remained. Time was running out for Waterside, and as the game entered stoppage time, another Bacon corner picked out Pollock, whose header was superbly parried by Mitchell. Green cleared the spinning ball to safety, the last chance the Wellingtonians would have to alter the final score. Penny Brill presented Ward with a chance to wrap up the scoring in stoppage time, but she shot straight at Foote. It mattered not, however, for when the final whistle sounded, Auckland United's players and coaching staff raised their arms aloft in triumph, having accomplished a feat which will likely never be repeated. 41 games without defeat in a season which began, action-wise, in mid-March, but training-wise, at least six weeks earlier. And let's not forget, these are amateur footballers - the commitment they've made to achieve what they have is itself a remarkable feat. Their reward for their efforts is four trophies, and a descriptive title fully reflective of their efforts. Hail "The Unbeatables!" Auckland:     Mitchell; Green, MacIntosh, Elliott (Philpot, 89), Vosper; Vlok (Brill, 77), Harashima, Canham (Granger, 89); Cook (Satchell, 61), Roche (Ward, 61), Wasi Waterside:     Foote (booked, 21); Burden (Shilton, 53), Ranta, Morton, Ross (Kruszona, 90); Dugan, McPherson (Ingham, 68), Starr; Furukawa, Pollock, Bacon Referee:     Beth Rattray