The first round of National Women's League fixtures to feature clashes between each of the northern region teams and their southern counterparts took place on the last weekend in September, and ended with the four club-based contenders all recording victories, three of them in emphatic fashion. Leading the charge was Eastern Suburbs, who thrashed Central Football 8-0 at Madills Farm, six of their goals coming in a thirty minute spell in the first half in which Annie Byrne and Tayla O'Brien were in murderous form. The latter netted the first two goals, and hit the crossbar in between times, before setting up Nicole Cooper for a third before half the first half had been played. Juliette Lucas chimed in soon after before Byrne battered home an acute-angled goal on the half-hour which her all-round performance richly deserved. Lucas made it six five minutes before half-time, prior to which Holly Kleinsman hit the post for the visitors, the striker seeing another effort tipped onto the upright by Kate Payne in the second spell, long after "The Lilywhites" had lost the impetus which the substituted figure of Byrne provided with relish aplenty for an hour. Deven Jackson and O'Brien - completing her hat-trick - had netted Suburbs' second half goals by this time, but they should have scored more, with both Lucas and Jackson guilty of squandering great chances on a day "The Lilywhites" farewelled to of their tried and trusted toilers of recent seasons in Kate Carlton and Lucy Carter, both of whom hung up their boots after this match. Suburbs top the table on goal difference from Western Springs, who were fortunate to emerge 3-2 victors over reigning champions Canterbury United Pride at Seddon Fields after the visitors had dominated the opening half-hour of play. Britney-Lee Nicholson hit the post in the eighth minute, while Chloe Bellamy squandered an open goal four minutes later as Kate Loye conducted the orchestra, contributing to numerous openings from which the Cantabrians should have done better. Very much against the run of play, "The Hoops" took the lead on the half-hour, Sofia Garcia rounding Una Foyle to tuck home the opener after Rina Hirano rewarded her team-mate's angled run with a made-to-measure pass. Lara Colpi had a goal ruled out by the offside trap soon after - Sammi Tawharu suffered the same fate for "The Hoops" in the second spell - but it was the heroics of their goalkeeper, Angelique Tuisamoa, to which Springs were indebted in this match, particularly two minutes before half-time when she pulled off a world class save to thwart Ella McCann, a denial which saw the 'keeper change direction, plunge to fingertip the ball away, then recover to smother it on the line. Colpi doubled Springs' lead in the 52nd minute, and the game looked safe for "The Hoops" six minutes later when a Hirano shot hit the bar and ricocheted onto the back of goalkeeper Una Foyle before rebounding into the net for an unfortunate "oggie". Canterbury came back strongly, however, substitute Petra Buyck battering home a twenty-five yarder ten minutes from time before beating Tuisamoa all ends

up with a superb stoppage time free-kick. Time was the visitors' enemy, however - their first loss in Auckland in four years. Last season's South-Central Series champions Southern United were given a right royal roasting on home turf by NZ Football Foundation Kate Sheppard Cup winners Auckland United, who thrashed their hosts 7-0 at Logan Park. Three goals in five first half minutes set up the win for Mauro Donoso's charges, Aimee Barnard, Ruby Nathan and Jess Philpot all chiming in before Manaia Elliott put the visitors in an unassailable position on the stroke of half-time. Bree Johnson helped herself to a brace of goals in the second spell before Jemma Wilson put through her own net five minutes from time to end an afternoon best forgotten by Southern, for whom this was their heaviest home defeat since 2016. Capital Football also found themselves on the wrong end of a hiding from Auckland-based opponents, their trip north culminating in a 5-0 thrashing at McFetridge Park from a Northern Rovers team which, like Auckland, was recording its first win of the campaign. That scoreline didn't look likely for much of the first half, but once Michaela Foster struck four minutes before the break, Rovers swiftly found second and third gear, and motored away from their guests, who were subjected to quickfire doubles from Foster and Talisha Green around the hour mark, then from Foster and Leanna Ryan with around ten minutes to play. The clash of Auckland and Springs at Keith Hay Park on Saturday sees two of the unbeaten teams locking horns, while Sunday's fare sees Canterbury and "The Lilywhites" - who will have captain Rebekah Van Dort back in harness after a well-earned break - meeting at English Park in the match of the day. Also on the Sabbath, Central welcome Northern to Massey University, while Capital and Southern will both be looking to score their first win of the campaign when they meet at Petone Memorial Park. The second round of National Women's Youth League action saw Canterbury come from behind to thrash Springs 5-2, Darsha Keogan leading the charge with two goals for the only team to boast maximum points after two rounds. Northern bottled a two-goal lead in being held to a 2-2 draw by Capital, for whom Sofia George struck a stoppage time equaliser. Penny Brill was among the markswomen as Auckland eased to a 2-0 win at Southern, while Lexie Sheed's second half goal earned Suburbs a 1-0 win over Central. Details: Eastern Suburbs 8 (T. O'Brien (11, 19, 59), N. Cooper (21), J. Lucas (23, 40), A. Byrne (29), D. Jackson (48)), Central Football 0  HT 6-0 Northern Rovers 5 (M. Foster (41, 55, 80), T. Green (61), L. Ryan (82)), Capital Football 0  HT 1-0 Southern United 0, Auckland United 7 (A. Barnard (23), R. Nathan (25), J. Philpot (28), M. Elliott (44), B. Johnson (52, 68), "oggie" (85))  HT 0-4 Western Springs 3 (S. Garcia (31), L. Colpi (52), "oggie" (58)), Canterbury United Pride 2 (P. Buyck (80, 90))  HT 1-0