The top two teams in the Ford National Women's League maintained their respective unbeaten records in contrasting fashion on the first weekend in November, strengthening their prospects of meeting in the Grand Final in a month's time in doing so. Reigning champions Auckland United remained on course for what, if achieved, will unquestionably rank as one of the greatest campaigns in NZ women's football history when convincingly seeing off Wellington United 2-0 at Keith Hay Park. The title-holders were far better than the scoreline suggests, dominating possession and territory to such an extent that "The Diamonds" were playing hit-and-hope football long before the half-time whistle, simply to relieve the pressure they found themselves under as the northern region champions put their central region counterparts to the sword. Yume Harashima's dipping twenty-five yarder broke the deadlock just before the interval, while it wasn't until fourteen minutes from time that Kaley Ward made the game safe, bundling home a Danielle Canham corner on the far post. In between times, Molly Simons denied Alexis Cook from eighteen yards, while Ward saw Hope Gilchrist clear her header off the line on an afternoon when the visitors threatened rarely, Hannah Mitchell proving equal to the threats posed by Nea Blackham and Natalie Olson, who, along with Hannah Pilley, was afforded very few opportunities to garnish the game with her particular brand of mayhem-inducing magic. Waterside Karori, meanwhile, found themselves two goals down inside ten minutes at Dave Farrington Park, where twenty-yard strikes from Anna McPhie and Nicola Dominikovich had Canterbury United Pride in cruise mode early doors. But "The Magpies" fought back well, midfield dynamo Tui Dugan affording them a lifeline before the half-hour mark which Emma Starr built on to bring about parity on the stroke of half-time. Kendall Pollock, the league's leading markswoman, chimed in with twelve minutes to play, in decisive fashion, her seventh goal of the season clinching a 3-2 victory for the home team which looked decidedly unlikely at the twenty-minute mark. Karori are the lone team from outside Auckland in the top four after these results, with West Coast Rangers and Eastern Suburbs now leading the pursuit of the leading pair after both teams recorded 3-1 wins in their respective matches. "The Lilywhites" are putting together a decent run of form at the minute, with cross-town rivals Western Springs the latest team to fall victim to Suburbs' winning streak, Young Ferns starlet Hannah Saxon affording the home team the lead inside the first twenty minutes of this wind-blown affair at Madills Farm. "The Hoops", with Aimee Phillips toiling hard for little reward in attack, never gave up their pursuit of an equaliser, Jaedici Uluvili going closest when hitting the bar in the shadows of the half-time whistle. Springs' hopes of success were dashed when their former midfield general, Jess Innes, struck twice in three minutes just before the hour mark, and while Anya Stephan pulled one back for the visitors virtually straight after Innes' second strike, this loss effectively ending their Grand Final hopes. Last season's runners-up Southern United also look like their race has run after being overturned 3-1 by Rangers at Logan Park, where the deadlock was broken in the shadows of the half-time whistle by Marissa Porteous, who headed home from a corner. Danica Urlich-Beech restored parity ten minutes into the second spell by weaving through traffic before drilling home a fine equaliser, but United hadn't reckoned on Shannon Henson, who came into this match with a point to prove after being surprisingly substituted early in the second half a week ago. This time around, she stayed on, and repaid coach Andy Dunn's faith in her with two goals in the last fifteen minutes to fire Rangers into third place, five

points behind Auckland and three behind Waterside Karori, both of whom they have yet to play. The battle for the wooden spoon was settled in emphatic fashion at Fraser Park, where Wellington Phoenix thumped Central Football 5-0 to score their maiden win in a campaign in which the bottom two teams' performances have given strong credence to the train of thought that four central region teams in the National Women's League is at least one too many - the depth simply isn't there to sustain such numbers. The game would be better served by affording the Young Ferns squad competitive matches in this league each season, particularly now that the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals take place annually. With our international competitors investing more and more in the women's game, we don't want to fall any further behind them. So we have to maximise our comparatively limited resources, and this initiative is one way of helping make New Zealand more competitive on the world stage than has been the case in recent years. In the cellar-dwellers' duel, Ella McMillan struck twice inside the first ten minutes to put Wellington on course for victory, a win which Georgie Furnell was denied from contributing to goalscoring-wise via the crossbar as she came up against her home federation. Second half goals from Isla Cleall-Harding - a penalty, Lily Brazendale and Ela Jerez - a superb solo effort, having hit the bar ten minutes after half-time - gave the home team rare joy in a campaign in which both Wellington and Central have been on the wrong end of some heavy defeats more often than not. Next weekend's action kicks off on Friday night, with West Coast entertaining Auckland at Fred Taylor Park. The other matches take place on Saturday, with a derby in the capital as Wellington United and Waterside Karori lock horns at Martin Luckie Park. Canterbury and "The Lilywhites" lock horns at English Park on a day the bottom two face road trips. Wellington Phoenix head to Southern's Logan Park lair, while Central make the trek north to Seddon Fields to take on "The Hoops". In the National Women's Youth League, there's all to play for with two rounds remaining. Wellington Phoenix assumed the competition lead, Maisy McDonald's tenth minute goal clinching a 1-0 win over Central Football to allow the victors to ease past bye-bound leaders Fencibles United. Eastern Suburbs drew level with their East Auckland rivals after Amelia Hitchcock's hat-trick inspired a 6-1 thumping of Western Springs. Esme Reid scored twice for "The Lilywhites", her first struck inside the opening sixty seconds of the match. Dorothy Yek struck twice in ten first half minutes as Canterbury United Pride overpowered Capital Football 4-1, while Young Ferns starlet Laura Bennett was in hat-trick-scoring form as she inspired Melville United to a 4-3 victory at Southern United, who take on league leaders Wellington Phoenix this Saturday. Elsewhere, Melville entertain Fencibles on a day Canterbury and Suburbs lock horns, while on the Sabbath, the wooden spoon is up for grabs as Springs and Central strive for the win they need to avoid this most unwanted of prizes. Details: Auckland United 2 (Y. Harashima (42), K. Ward (76)), Wellington United 0  HT 1-0 Eastern Suburbs 3 (H. Saxon (17), J. Innes (57, 60)), Western Springs 1 (A. Stephan (61))  HT 1-0 Southern United 1 (D. Urlich-Beech (56)), West Coast Rangers 3 (M. Porteous (42), S. Henson (74, 87))  HT 0-1 Waterside Karori 3 (T. Dugan (27), E. Starr (44), K. Pollock (78)), Canterbury United Pride 2 (A. McPhie (5), N. Dominikovich (10))  HT 2-2 Wellington Phoenix 5 (E. McMillan (7, 10), I. Cleall-Harding (53 pen), L. Brazendale (86), E. Jerez (90)), Central Football 0  HT 2-0