Three Kings United were confirmed as Northern Premier Women's League champions for the first time since 1999 on Wednesday evening, without kicking a ball in anger. That's a result of outgoing title-holders Lynn-Avon United being held to a 1-1 draw by Western Springs at Murdoch Park, three days after downing the same opponents in the SWANZ Knockout Cup Final. United needed to repeat their Cup Final victory to maintain their mathematical hopes of winning the league for a record seventh successive season, but they were unable to build on the advantage they gained in the thirteenth minute of a well-contested encounter. That was afforded them by Sarah Gregorius, who latched onto a defence-splitting pass from Kirsty Yallop and rounded the over-committed Bianca Mori before tucking home from an acute angle. They came close to doubling their advantage in the twentieth minute, after Ria Percival had earned a corner following Rebecca Parkinson's good run. Dana Humby's delivery went to the near post, where Parkinson touched the ball into the path of Melissa Ray. Her drive careered past the upright. That served to stir the hitherto nervous Western Springs combination into action. Led by Helen Collins, they raided down the left only for the NZ U-20 striker's cross to be cleared. Annabelle Bramwell picked up the pieces and picked out Leah Tagaloa with her driven cross, the striker swivelling to thrash a volley past Stephanie Puckrin but against the inside of the post. Lynn-Avon scrambled the danger to safety on this occasion, but within sixty seconds, Bramwell was in the thick of things once more, letting fly from twenty yards only for Puckrin to save, diving to her right. The younger team were certainly showing a greater appetite for the occasion by this stage, and by the time Mori raced out of goal to grab a well-flighted Humby cross intended for substitute Kath Doubleday, they were well up for the fight, and in the 41st minute, gained due reward for their enterprise. Poppy Binning was relishing this contest, a little too much so at times as a second half booking suggests, but when the chance came to race Percival for a Yallop pass, she held nothing back. The defender prevailed, clearing the sphere to Tagaloa on the half-way line. Turning on the ball, the talented striker set off at pace towards Lynn-Avon's retreating defence, before slipping a sumptuous through ball into the path of Collins, whose darting diagonal run was well rewarded by this measured pass, the quality of which was such that  the winner of last season's Top Goalscorer award hardly had to break stride before sweeping the ball beyond Puckrin to level the scores in clinical fashion. Lynn-Avon came out all guns blazing in the second spell, and in the 49th minute carved open Springs' rearguard with a scintillating move. Doubleday, Sam Selwyn and Gregorius combined on half-way to send Percival careering down the right. Past three players she swept en route to the by-line, from where she fired over a pinpoint cross to a point just beyond the edge of the goal area. Arriving on the gallop was Yallop, who met the ball perfectly on the volley only to look on in disbelief as Mori pulled off a stunning save to block the shot, then grab the ball before it hit the ground. Springs' response saw Jesse Verdon deliver a free-kick into the danger zone which United failed to clear. Collins pounced, only to see Puckrin grab her deflected shot and launch a Lynn-Avon counter-attack. It earned a corner, which Humby fired across, picking out Yallop. Chelsey Wood blocked her effort, then looked on as Mori got right behind a thirty-yard free-kick from Humby two minutes later. United's urgency was becoming increasingly apparent, and was reflected in the appeals being made to referee Michael Brock. His was an interesting Premier Women's League debut, the improved standard of play he encountered a refreshing change from the mediocrity of the just

completed Northern League campaign, the lingering effects of which were clearly evident in some of his at times eyebrow-raising decisions. On the hour, Springs pressed once more, Holly Jones gathering possession on the right and firing in a cross which Ray misjudged as it came out of the lights. Collins stole in behind her, stealing a march on the solidly performed Terry McCahill to create the space from which she clipped a shot beyond the advancing figure of Puckrin. Cheers of anticipation from the Springs fans turned to groans of dismay as the ball careered across the face of goal, but the Manson Property Developments-sponsored side regrouped and came again, twenty minutes from time. Bramwell's throw-in found Tagaloa in amongst hesitant Lynn-Avon defenders with all the subtlety of a fox in a hen-house. The striker evaded Alisse Robertson's challenge then cheekily skipped past Puckrin, only to find McCahill in `Thou Shalt Not Pass' mode. The evergreen defender's clearance ignited a United raid in which Yallop and Gregorius were prominent, and Percival the chief beneficiary of their promptings. But under pressure from Hannah Valentine, she fired wide of the mark from ten yards. Five minutes later, Mori calmly palmed away a Jenny Carlisle piledriver before launching a Springs raid with an accurate throw to Binning. She played the ball inside to Jones, who sent Collins scampering down the right. The striker fired over a deep cross beyond all bar Katherine Robinson, who got through a tower of work in the second half, and only just failed to get her due reward when her flying header flashed narrowly wide of Puckrin's right-hand upright. Back came Lynn-Avon, Carlisle seemingly mounting a personal crusade in an effort to score the goal which would secure victory. Her downward header of a Doubleday corner was grabbed by Mori, who then spilled a twenty-five yarder from the versatile midfielder, the goalkeeper recovering to foil Percival as she looked to pounce on the rebound. Another superb move from United cut Springs to shreds in the 83rd minute. Gregorius hared down the right at pace before cutting the ball back for Yallop. She curled over a delicious cross into the path of the incoming figure of Percival, who executed a stunning volleyed lob at full pace, and despite being matched stride for stride by Sarah Nelson. The ball arced over Mori and just over the bar - a brilliant piece of skill deserving of better fate. Still Percival pressed, this time a solo raid down the left in the 86th minute. Scything inside the covering defence, the SWANZ Cup Final's MVP let fly with a stinging drive which Mori turned around her near post. It was only at this point that you could sense it just wasn't going to happen for the outgoing champions in this match, and after Yallop thrashed a drive over the bar in stoppage time, and Puckrin had raced out of goal to thwart substitute Penny Chapman - introduced after Tagaloa came off the worse for wear when clashing heads with Robertson, the final whistle sounded. It was greeted with delight by the Springs team, this being their best result yet in two seasons of Premier Women's League football - holding the outgoing champions to a draw is a result from which they, and the other teams in the league who harbour such aspirations, will take great heart. The reaction was the complete opposite, of course, in the Lynn-Avon camp, their understandable disappointment clearly evident. And as for the night's big winners, “absolutely rapt!!” was the reaction of coach Barrie Barmes to the news that his Three Kings United squad are the 2006 Northern Premier Women's League champions. Lynn-Avon:     Puckrin; Humby, Ray, McCahill, Robertson; Percival, Carlisle, Selwyn, Yallop; Gregorius, Parkinson (Doubleday, 28) Springs:     Mori; Binning (booked, 59), Valentine, Nelson, Verdon; Jones, Wood, Bramwell, Robinson; Collins, Tagaloa (Chapman, 90) Referee:     Michael Brock