It's not often a team qualifying for the National Women's League Grand Final will find their achievement upstaged, but when the team propping up the table without a point to their name after eleven rounds finally records their first on-field win since 2018, their share of the spotlight shouldn't be begrudged. Central Football came from behind to down Southern United 2-1 at Massey University, ending last season's South-Central Series champions' seven-match unbeaten run in stunning fashion. All was going to plan for the visitors when Chelsea Whittaker fired them in front just before the half-hour mark, but the self-belief that Central have been fostering in recent weeks exploded in the second half, as they turned things around in dramatic fashion. Isla Cleall-Harding took advantage of a defensive blunder by Jemma Wilson to smash home a twenty-yard equaliser just shy of the hour mark, but it was the match-winning goal six minutes from time which will live even longer in the memory - a forty yard free-kick from Tessa Hyland which fair sailed into the top near corner of Lauren Paterson's net to clinch a famous victory for Matt Calvert's "Green Machine". To show how much this result will mean to Central, it's their first on-field victory since winning 1-0 at Waikato-Bay of Plenty in 2018, and their first win in Palmerston North since downing Southern 3-1 in 2017. They've won just eight games on the park in the last decade, with another win coming via a technicality. Be in no doubt, they'll be celebrating this triumph for a few days to come! At the other end of the table, Eastern Suburbs confirmed their place in said Grand Final in three weeks' time in stunning fashion at Riverhills Park on the last Sunday in November, seeing off Northern Rovers 4-2 in a tremendous advertisement for women's football which was laden with superb goals. Rebekah Van Dort headed home the first of them just four minutes into the contest to give "The Lilywhites" the lead, which was doubled in murderous fashion just shy of the half-hour mark by Deven Jackson - a twenty-five yard missile which sizzled past Ellie Blount, who had produced a number of saves to this point in the contest which kept Rovers in it. How they thanked their goalkeeper for her brilliance over the course of the next ten minutes, as by the 38th minute mark, Northern had drawn level. Suya Haering curled home a fabulous twenty-five yarder into Brooke Bennett's top left-hand corner five minutes after Jackson's strike, and six minutes later Leanna Ryan repeated the dose, but from inside the penalty area - 2-2. Suburbs responded immediately, Jackson letting rip from thirty yards with a shot which Blount tipped onto the bar. Seven minutes after the interval, Van Dort spurned a glorious chance to regain the lead from the penalty spot, sending her effort sailing over the bar and endangering the passing traffic on Ti Rakau Drive! Northern's response saw them denied a penalty in the 65th minute, Ryan going down under the tackle of Annie Byrne. Coach Ben Bate's reaction earned him a booking from referee Anna-Marie Keighley, who denied Rovers another penalty claim later on when the ball struck Zoe Benson's arm following a Chelsea Elliott free-kick. A long-range free-kick from the same player flew inches over Bennett's crossbar fifteen minutes from time, to which Suburbs responded by regaining the lead, Tayla O'Brien scoring from the most acute of angles in the 79th minute. Four minutes later, Byrne delivered the coup de grace, a thirty yard thunderbolt which crashed down off the underside of the crossbar and bounced up into the roof of the net - a magnificent finish to a tremendous game of football, which ranks in this writer's top three of the best games seen this year. That result was good news for second-placed Western Springs, who were stunned 3-2 at Petone Memorial Park by Capital Football, the victors coming from behind to leave "The Hoops" looking anxiously over their shoulders with the finish line in sight in the race for a place in the National Women's

League Grand Final. Renee Bacon afforded the home team the ideal start when scoring after two minutes, but had the misfortune to divert a Lily Taitimu shot into her own net sixteen minutes later, a goal which should really be credited to the Springs player. As a basic rule of thumb with regard to potential own goal incidents, would the ball have crossed the line from the original attempt on goal without a defender making contact with it? If yes, credit the goal to the player whose shot it was. Otherwise, it's an "oggie"! In the case of Springs' equaliser, Taitimu's shot was goalbound - Bacon's intervention merely redirected it into another part of the net! Soon afterwards, Wellington captain Zoe Barrott headed a corner against her own crossbar as "The Hoops" piled on the pressure, for which they were rewarded shortly after half-time when Lara Colpi's tenacity was rewarded via a bundled close-range finish. Capital responded well to that setback, Lena de Ronde slamming home a super equaliser from twenty yards in the 56th minute before Bacon buried a penalty halfway through the second spell to restore the home team's lead, an advantage they retained until the final whistle, despite Springs' efforts to restore parity. There was action aplenty at English Park, where Canterbury United Pride swept aside Auckland United 7-2, but only after the visitors had been forced to withdraw goalkeeper Aimee Feinberg-Danieli from the fray soon after half-time as a precaution following her recent concussion issue. The Young Ferns goalkeeper has been out of action since suffering a blow to the head in a collision with Eastern Suburbs' Jade Parris in the Labour Day round, and this was her first game back since that unfortunate episode. With no reserve goalkeeper to call upon, Maya Vince was once again tasked with donning the gloves in these unforeseen circumstances, this time at a point in the game where Canterbury were 2-1 ahead. Charlotte Roche had fired the home team in front on the quarter hour, but Bree Johnson responded in like manner seven minutes later, and was denied another goal soon after by the offside flag, to which Roche responded with her second goal of the game before the half-hour mark. That's how things remained until United's enforced change in goal. Needless to say, Canterbury smelt blood with a rookie twixt the sticks, and duly feasted on the wounded animal in front of them. Rebecca Lake's free-kick after the hour mark was unfortunately turned into her own net by Georgia Martin, while a quickfire double by Charlotte Mortlock blew the scoreline out to 5-1. Roche completed her hat-trick before Frankie Morrow applied the coup de grace in stoppage time, only for Ruby Nathan to reply with the last goal of the game for an Auckland team which, despite their injury-related issues, didn't die quietly. The penultimate round of round-robin action next weekend sees two matches taking place in Auckland on Saturday, with "The Hoops" hosting Central at Seddon Fields - a home win will secure Springs a Grand Final berth - while Canterbury head to McFetridge Park to take on Northern. Sunday's fare sees Auckland and Capital clashing at Keith Hay Park, while Southern and "The Lilywhites" lock horns at Logan Park. Details: Canterbury United Pride 7 (C. Roche (15, 28, 82), "oggie" (63), C. Mortlock (70, 76), F. Morrow (90)), Auckland United 2 (B. Johnson (22), R. Nathan (90))  HT 2-1 Capital Football 3 (R. Bacon (2, 68), L. de Ronde (56)), Western Springs 2 ("oggie" (18), L. Colpi (49))  HT 1-1 Central Football 2 (I. Cleall-Harding (58), T. Hyland (84)), Southern United 1 (C. Whittaker (27))  HT 0-1 Eastern Suburbs 4 (R. Van Dort (4), D. Jackson (27), T. O'Brien (79), A. Byrne (83)), Northern Rovers 2 (S. Haering (32), L. Ryan (38))  HT 2-2