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Reigning Champs Among Opening Round Winners
by Jeremy Ruane
Reigning National Women’s League champions Eastern Suburbs were one of three travelling teams to record victories in the opening round of action in the 2023 competition on the penultimate weekend in September, with ten teams under starter’s orders in this compact campaign.
Unlike last season, when home and away encounters were the way of things, this time it’s a nine-round sprint to the Grand Final between the top two place-getters in a ten-team competition which features four new contenders in 2023, namely Ellerslie and three teams from the capital – Waterside Karori, Wellington Phoenix and Wellington United.
As luck would have it, the draw pitted the newcomers against each other in the opening round of action, with the Liberty A-League club’s reserve side making the most impressive start after thrashing an under-strength Ellerslie combination 4-0 at Michaels Avenue, Ella McCann helping herself to a hat-trick.
The victors enjoyed the services of first team squad members Mackenzie Barry, Zoe McMeeken, Manaia Elliott and Emma Main in their starting line-up, and it was the last-mentioned who struck the goal of the game nine minutes before half-time, a thirty yard free-kick which Ellerslie goalkeeper Petra Wedlake won’t look back on with any great fondness.
Main, winner of the Maia Jackman Trophy in the 2021 Kate Sheppard Cup Final, set up two of McCann’s goals, with the hat-trick heroine crowning her day with a twenty-five yarder on a day both Elliott and Ella McMillan hit the woodwork for the visitors against opponents who clearly suffered from the absence of experienced trio Leigh Aitken, Cat Pretty and Anita Trudgen.
“The Magpies” and “The Diamonds” locked horns at Martin Luckie Park in the latest chapter of their rivalry in the capital, one which has seen Karori enjoying the upper hand in the silverware-collecting department in recent seasons.
There was no separating them on this occasion, however, Pepi Olliver-Bell’s eighteen-yarder giving United a seventh minute lead which was cancelled out in similar fashion by Kaley Ward nine seconds into the second half.
United should have won it at the death, Jemma Robertson somehow firing over an open goal after Karori ‘keeper Alisha Perry cleared the ball straight to her. But her effort skimmed the crossbar, and 1-1 the score remained.
A barnstorming first half unfolded at Keith Hay Park, where Auckland United lowered Canterbury United Pride’s colours to the tune of 4-2, with all the scoring taking place inside the first 33 minutes.
The visitors couldn’t handle the express pace of Bree Johnson, who played a significant part in the home team’s first three goals, Alexis Cook, Rene Wasi and Manami Nishio – a superb curling effort – the beneficiaries of “BJ”’s relentless raids.
Britney-Lee Nicholson pulled a goal back for Canterbury immediately before Nishio’s strike, with Amberley Hollis gifting Nicola Dominikovich a 26th minute goal which got the visitors back to within one of their rivals for the second time in the match.
It wasn’t to happen again, however, for after Wasi had tucked home United’s fourth in the 33rd minute, Hollis made amends for her earlier blunder by superbly saving Nicholson’s penalty in the
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shadows of the half-time whistle.
After the break, Auckland kept the six-time champions at arm’s length, while Canterbury should have finished the game with ten players on the park, referee Sam Clement’s clemency allowing Alison Noniewicz to stay on the pitch after yet another reckless challenge, the substitute having already been booked for committing one just six minutes after entering the fray.
“The Lilywhites” made the long trip to Logan Park and emerged triumphant at Southern United’s expense, Charlotte Wilford-Carroll’s 57th minute strike clinching the points in a 1-0 win for the visitors, soon after she had struck the post from similar range.
Suburbs would have enjoyed a greater margin of victory but for some great saves by Amelia Simmers and a goal-line clearance by Tahlia Roome, while the home team rarely threatened Brooke Bennett’s goal as the title-holders started their campaign with a clean sheet.
Central Football found themselves on the wrong end of an 8-0 hiding from Western Springs as last season’s runners-up kicked off their campaign to go one better in some style at Massey University, Sofia Garcia leading the charge with a four-goal haul, the first of them coming just 35 seconds into the contest.
Liz Savage set that one up, and repeated the dose for Sammi Tawharu in the seventeenth minute, before Garcia bundled home her second following a Jess Innes corner. Savage then savoured the plaudits after tucking home the fourth goal, before setting up Garcia again six minutes before half-time.
Lara Colpi, who set up Savage’s goal, thundered home a thirty yard free-kick on the hour, one where Central goalkeeper Leonie Heck should have done a heck of a lot better with regard to keeping the ball out of her net – a very poor goal to concede.
Rhee Morrison’s deflected strike – her first touch after coming on as a substitute – and another well-taken Garcia goal wrapped up the Kate Sheppard Cup winners’ comprehensive victory, with Central’s first exposure this season to the intensity with which their northern region cousins play the game a chastening one.
Second round action sees the clash of Suburbs and Lotto Northern Women’s Premiership winners Auckland at Madills Farm capturing the headlines, their Sunday clash following a Friday night affair in the Queen City between “The Hoops” and “The Ponies” at Seddon Fields.
“The Diamonds” take on Central at Newtown Park in the lone Saturday fixture, while Sunday’s other matches see Canterbury welcoming “The Magpies” to English Park on a day Southern make their first trip across Cook Strait, Fraser Park their destination, Wellington Phoenix their opponents.
Details:
Auckland United 4 (A. Cook (4), R. Wasi (13, 33), M. Nishio (22)), Canterbury United Pride 2 (B. Nicholson (21), N. Dominikovich (26)) HT 4-2
Central Football 0, Western Springs 8 (S. Garcia (1, 24, 39, 89), S. Tawharu (17), L. Savage (36), L. Colpi (60), R. Morrison (63)) HT 0-5
Ellerslie 0, Wellington Phoenix 4 (E. McCann (14, 24, 77), E. Main (36)) HT 0-3
Southern United 0, Eastern Suburbs 1 (C. Wilford-Carroll (57)) HT 0-0
Waterside Karori 1 (K. Ward (46), Wellington United 1 (P. Olliver-Bell (7)) HT 0-1
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