Reigning Ford National Women's League champions Auckland United will take on Waterside Karori in the competition's Grand Final at North Harbour Stadium on December 1, after both scored wins in eighth round action which took them out of reach of the chasing pack. United had to work mighty hard for their 2-1 win over Southern United at Keith Hay Park, where a Lauren Paterson blunder was mercilessly punished by Charlotte Roche in the twentieth minute. The Auckland striker doubled her team's advantage fourteen minutes later, surging through onto a ball over the top before rolling the ball past the advancing goalkeeper and in by the far post. Any team boasting Shontelle Smith's mercurial talents isn't going to lie down and die, however, and it was fitting that the visitors' best player produced a "worldie" inside the first sixty seconds of the second spell to halve the deficit and set up an engrossing half in which Southern had their chances. They didn't take them, however, allowing Auckland to confirm a first-placed finish in the premiership phase of the competition and take their remarkable unbeaten run to 47 games, 39 of which have been played in 2024, with another two fixtures scheduled. Waterside Karori needed to do their job and hope another result went their way in this mid-November round to book their flight to Auckland in a fortnight, and they certainly fulfilled their part of the bargain, storming into a three-goal lead after just eleven minutes before eventually ending West Coast Rangers' Grand Final hopes via a 3-1 scoreline. Nikki Furukawa and dynamic midfield duo Emma Starr and Tui Dugan tore Rangers' game plan apart in a barnstorming beginning to the contest, and all the visitors could muster in response was a Shannon Henson strike halfway through the second spell. "The Magpies"' attention turned to events at Madills Farm on Sunday, where an Eastern Suburbs win would take things to the final round of action. But Karori's cross-town rivals, Wellington United, did their neighbours a favour by holding "The Lilywhites" to a 2-2 draw, ensuring Karori of their Grand Final spot as premiership runners-up. "The Diamonds" stormed into a two-goal lead inside the first eight minutes at Madills courtesy Sarah Alder and former Suburbs starlet Carolyn O'Reilly. But the home team fought back well, Emily Pilbrow turning home a Zoe Benson corner - Molly Simons should have kept it out, but only succeeded in helping it in - before she was beaten all ends up six minutes before half-time by Shion Hwang's thirty yard missile. Both teams strove in vain to break the deadlock in the second spell, last season's Golden Boot winner Sofia Garcia particularly unlucky to see a lot of her hard work going unrewarded - had she been on the receiving end of her own crosses, the outcome may well have been different. This season's Golden Boot winner isn't set in stone just yet. Karori's Kendall Pollock leads the way with seven goals, one ahead of both Roche and Suburbs' Britney Cunningham-Lee, while Henson, Hwang

and Canterbury United Pride's Nicola Dominikovich have each scored five goals so far. The last-mentioned wasn't on target at Massey University on Saturday, but Canterbury came from behind to down Central Football 2-1, goals in each half from Charlotte Mortlock and emerging NWYL goalscoring talent Dorothy Yek turning things round for the visitors after Caitlyn Turner had given Central a seventeenth minute lead. Western Springs also scored a come-from-behind victory, theirs a 4-1 rout of Wellington Phoenix after Mackenzie Bryant fired the home team in front on the stroke of half-time at Fraser Park. A brace of Liz Savage goals before the second half had reached its halfway point put "The Hoops" back in the driving seat, with late goals from Rina Hirano and Cleo Carmichael clinching back-to-back wins for Maia Vink's charges, and leaves them targeting a top-four finish with one game remaining. With Wellington Phoenix having wrapped up the National Women's Youth League title with a round to spare, attention turned to who would take out the Golden Boot in the final round of action, with the champions' 4-1 rout of Western Springs inspired by hat-trick heroine Isabella Temple. That took her to eight goals in the competition, but her efforts weren't enough to claim the individual honour, as Laura Bennett's four-goal haul for Melville United in their 4-2 win at Capital Football saw the Young Ferns' starlet clinch the Golden Boot with nine for the campaign, while firing Melville into fourth place, a situation which looked extremely unlikely given they went into Labour weekend without a point to their name. Amber Mahoney's treble earned Central Football a 3-1 win over outgoing champions Canterbury United Pride, while Kate Berry's goal was suffice to earn Fencibles United second place on the table, ahead of Eastern Suburbs on goal difference, courtesy a 1-0 win over Southern United. Final round action in the National Women's League sees Auckland welcoming Wellington Phoenix to Keith Hay Park on Saturday, while across town on Sunday, Rangers and Suburbs conclude their respective campaigns with an East-West derby at Fred Taylor Park. In South Island action, Canterbury welcome "The Hoops" to English Park on Saturday, while Southern will want to give retiring coach Graeme Smaill a fitting send-off when hosting "The Magpies" on Sunday, a day on which "The Diamonds" take on Central at Martin Luckie Park. Details: Auckland United 2 (C. Roche (20, 34)), Southern United 1 (S. Smith (47))  HT 2-0 Central Football 1 (C. Turner (17)), Canterbury United Pride 2 (C. Mortlock (34), D. Yek (67))  HT 1-1 Eastern Suburbs 2 (E. Pilbrow (23), S. Hwang (39)), Wellington United 2 (S. Alder (3), C. O'Reilly (8))  HT 2-2 Waterside Karori 3 (N. Furukawa (2), E. Starr (9), T. Dugan (11)), West Coast Rangers 1 (S. Henson (65))  HT 3-0 Wellington Phoenix 1 (M. Bryant (45)), Western Springs 4 (L. Savage (51, 66), R. Hirano (85), C. Carmichael (90))  HT 1-0