The first National Women's League to feature club entries as well as regional representative teams kicked off on the third weekend in September, and amid a flurry of goals in the opening round of action, one thing stood out above all else - the intensity of the northern region teams compared to their southern rivals. Playing as they do in the strongest and most demanding league in women's club football in this country, the Lotto Northern Premier Women's League, gives Auckland United, Eastern Suburbs, Northern Rovers and Western Springs an edge in the NWL which the regional representative teams from south of Taupo will struggle to match. While clubs in both the Central Region Premier Women's League and South Island Women's Championship face challenging fixtures on five or six occasions per season, their northern rivals face that level of competition virtually every week, with clashes against the likes of Ellerslie, Hamilton Wanderers and West Coast Rangers every bit as testing as those against their fellow NWL qualifiers. It was evident in the two opening round fixtures which pitted north again south, with "The Hoops" and "The Lilywhites" convincing winners over Southern United and Capital Football respectively on a weekend which saw honours even in a repeat of last week's NZ Football Foundation Kate Sheppard Cup Final, and Canterbury United Pride ease to a comfortable win over Central Football. Technically, the Cantabrians are the reigning NWL champions, having won the competition when it was last fully contested in 2020. And in this campaign, they've taken the unusual step of bolstering their ranks with a couple of Northern Premier Women's League players in an effort to raise their game for the season ahead. Kendrah Smith and Junior Fern Chloe Bellamy have plied their trade throughout the winter with West Coast Rangers, but with that team's failure to finish among the top four teams in the Lotto NPWL this year, they were available for the southern teams to recruit. Canterbury said "Yes please", and the ever-smiling Bellamy has already begun to repay their vision in the desired manner. She doubled Pride's lead over Central at English Park on Saturday with a well-taken finish, evading two challenges before battering the ball beyond Annie Foote to crown a move which also featured Petra Buyck - another Auckland product - and Charlotte Mortlock in fine fashion. The home team had already opened their account for the campaign through Whitney Hepburn, who tucked home the rebound after Foote parried a drive from Rebecca Lake, one of numerous saves Central's 'keeper produced throughout proceedings in a bid to keep the scoreline respectable. She conceded one more, however, a sumptuous chipped effort from Kate Loye just after the hour mark which clinched a comfortable 3-0 win for Canterbury, a margin of victory matched by Eastern Suburbs in their 4-1 trouncing of Capital at Petone Memorial Park. "The Lilywhites" got off to a flying start, Tayla O'Brien in particular, with the striker netting all four goals for the victors, her first a fourth minute glancing header from a Lucy Carter corner across Molly Simons and into the far corner of the net. The home team responded with a fortuitous eighteenth minute equaliser, Kate Payne's clearance ricocheting off Pepi Olliver-Bell into the net beyond to give Capital hope. It was short-lived, however, for with ten minutes to go till half-time, O'Brien swooped to conquer from close range, restoring "The Lilywhites"' lead after another corner from Carter. 'Twas a third Suburbs corner in the 66th minute, this time taken by Deven Jackson, from which O'Brien completed her hat-trick, heading home on the far post minutes after Simons had been sent off by referee Conor Healy for handling the ball outside

her penalty area. There was no way back for the ten women after this body blow, and O'Brien delivered the coup de grace fifteen minutes from time via a fabulous solo effort, sweeping past two opponents before squeezing the ball past approaching goalkeeper Katia Brown from the tightest of angles. Not to be outdone, Western Springs hit Southern for six at Seddon Fields, their 6-1 triumph punctuated by a Sofia Garcia hat-trick, the first goal of which materialised in the fourth minute, and which set the tone for a dominant opening half-hour by "The Hoops", during which Garcia grabbed her second of the game via a delightful 24th minute header. The home team took their foot off the throttle after this, and paid the price for doing so, Margi Dias hauling United back into the contest ten minutes before half-time, before somehow being denied an equaliser by Angelique Tuisamoa after Sophia Dyer made a pig's ear of the chance to clear her lines deep inside her penalty area. Springs coach Ryan Faithfull turned to his bench at half-time, not the place where many expected to see Rina Hirano and Arisa Takeda starting this contest. Needless to say, their introduction saw control of this contest swiftly regained by "The Hoops", and two goals in as many minutes before the hour mark, from Hirano and Sammi Tawharu, ensured the points would be staying in Auckland. Maggie Pedersen's fulminating fifth goal, a dipping twenty-five yard thunderbolt, was worth the admission money and then some, such was its quality, while Garcia completed her hat-trick in stoppage time to round out a resounding win for Western Springs to mark their NWL debut. There were a few personnel changes in the clash between the Cup finalists, but this time there was no separating Auckland and Northern, who battled out a 1-1 draw at Keith Hay Park, where Ruby Nathan hit the post in the first half for the home team before Danielle Canham opened the scoring in the shadows of the half-time whistle for the visitors with a tame attempt United goalkeeper Jesse Barnard won't need telling she made a complete mess of! Rovers looked to double their advantage via a series of set-pieces - the deliveries of Michaela Foster and Estelle Harrison were invariably of a high calibre - but it was United who earned an equaliser through Milly Clegg, who had gone close on a few occasions in the first spell before finally finding the net twenty minutes from time. Round two sees three games taking place on Saturday, with Northern welcoming Capital to McFetridge Park on a day Springs and Canterbury lock horns at Seddon Fields. Auckland head to Dunedin to take on Southern at Logan Park, while on Sunday, Suburbs and Central square off prior to a mad dash to Eden Park to see the All Whites perform on home soil for the first time in some 1780 days! (And 1852 days in the city which is New Zealand's home of football!) As well as the National Women's League, a National Women's Youth League is running parallel to the senior competition, and in the opening round, Springs thrashed Southern 7-0, Canterbury crushed Central 4-0, Northern rolled Auckland 4-1 and Capital came from behind to down Suburbs 5-3, led by a four-goal haul from Alyssha Eglinton. Details: Auckland United 1 (M. Clegg (69)), Northern Rovers 1 (D. Canham (42))  HT 0-1 Canterbury United Pride 3 (W. Hepburn (12), C. Bellamy (37), K. Loye (62)), Central Football 0  HT 2-0 Capital Football 1 (P. Olliver-Bell (18)), Eastern Suburbs 4 (T. O'Brien (4, 35, 66, 75))  HT 1-2 Western Springs 6 (S. Garcia (4, 24, 90), R. Hirano (56), S. Tawharu (58), M. Pedersen (72)), Southern United 1 (M. Dias (34))  HT 2-1