The most emphatic result of the day, in the final full round of Northern Premier Women's League action on August 7, was recorded at Keith Hay Park, where Eastern Suburbs romped to a 5-1 win over Three Kings United to clinch second place on the table. As was the case at all three Auckland venues, a challenging easterly wind prevailed, and it certainly made a significant contribution to the disappointing quality of football on show in this spectacle. That said, Three Kings were well below par even taking the elements into account, and some emphatic finishes from hat-trick heroine Melanie Gooch and first-time scorer Sandee Hui, plus a touch of class from Grace Vincent, ensured the debutant Uncle Toby’s Women’s Knockout Cup semi-finalists would head into that match with their confidence restored. Suburbs enjoyed the wind at their backs in the first spell, and after early efforts from Flora McLeod and Vincent had given Ashleigh Cox cause for concern, and a timely tackle from Abby Erceg had stopped Gooch in her tracks, the visitors opened the scoring in the seventeenth minute. Vincent, who relished her roving commission alongside Vicki Butterworth as Suburbs successfully tried out a new pattern of play ahead of their clash with Seatoun, engineered the opening with a through ball which prised open United’s rearguard, and left Gooch in acres of space with just Cox to beat. An artful finish followed - 1-0. United responded swiftly to going behind, with Erceg firing a free-kick into the danger zone. The head of Annalie Longo was its objective, and the youngster duly rose to nod the ball goalwards. It arced over Ginny Tan, who reached back and pawed it out, but straight to Longo, who fired it back past her. The ‘keeper was beaten, but Bobbie Moore was perfectly placed to clear off the line. After Erceg had thwarted Vincent in the penalty area, Janet Groves scooped a Flora McLeod corner over the crossbar as Suburbs looked to press home their advantage. But United threatened again in the 25th minute, another Erceg free-kick this time targeting Mel Drumm. Her shot was blocked by the solidly-performed Vicki Chong, and ultimately scrambled to safety by Groves, as United players failed to react. Chong was in action again soon afterwards, stopping Roseanne Cox in her tracks after the youngster, who had been released by the combination of Kristy Hill and Drumm, had hesitated in taking on her more seasoned opponent, and suffered the consequences. Back came Suburbs, with Gooch rattling the sidenetting before picking out McLeod with a cross which saw Ashleigh Cox saving at her opponents’ feet. But United’s goalkeeper didn’t stand a prayer minutes later, as a McLeod corner picked out Sandee Hui, who picked out a beauty - top left-hand corner from fifteen yards, with the last kick of the half marking her first goal in senior football. It was a blow from which United never recovered, and while they huffed and puffed after the break in an effort to do so, it was Suburbs who blew their opponents’ house down with a quite superb third goal,

on the hour. Butterworth gathered possession in midfield and slipped a pass to Gooch, who steered it inside for Vincent. The Auckland rep still had plenty to do, with Drumm marking her closely and both Erceg and Betsy Hassett in behind their United team-mate. But Vincent produced a sharp turn to engineer some space on the edge of the penalty area, from where she curled home a beauty, the ball arcing between the two covering defenders and beyond the despairing dive of Cox into the top right-hand corner of the net - a goal of Dalglish-like finesse! At 3-0, there was no way back for United, and Gooch made certain of the fact four minutes later, with Suburbs’ fourth goal of the game. After Hui had thwarted Hill - United’s best - in the penalty area after the midfielder had linked neatly with Marisa Smith, Suburbs cleared the ball downfield, only for Gooch to concede a free-kick just outside United’s penalty area. It was poorly taken, and Gooch gleefully pounced on the gift, powering through before coolly slotting the ball home under Cox’s dive. After Tan had grabbed a long-range effort from Hannah Leaper, United pulled a goal back in the 67th minute following a well-executed raid, sparked by Hassett and continued on by Longo. She played the ball wide to Kheila Guthrie, whose cross, intended for Maree Blair, was headed away by Groves. But Longo was following up, and let fly from twenty-five yards, the ball bouncing in front of and over the diving Tan to alter the scoreline - 4-1. Thirteen minutes from time, what turned out to be Butterworth’s final contribution to the match saw her thread a pass through for substitute Amy McLeod. She let fly from twenty yards, but Cox produced a fine save to tip the ball onto the crossbar. But she was beaten all ends up three minutes later, as Gooch completed her hat-trick with a devastating finish, after powering through Three Kings’ defence once more on receipt of Vincent’s pass. Before the finish, referee Graham Whitford entered into the spirit of what was the final league match of the season for both teams with an unusual intervention which required a drop ball to resolve. Don’t ask what he was up to - even he can’t explain it!! Meanwhile, both Longo and Blair went close for the home team, while Suburbs’ player-coach, seven-times-capped New Zealand international Sue Taylor (nee Gregory), rolled back the years with a brief appearance off the bench to remind the youngsters how - and, with one pass, how not - to spray the ball around the park, as the visitors wrapped up second placing with a well-earned 5-1 victory. United: A. Cox; Jones (Guthrie, 63), Erceg, Wong (Leaper, 26); Smith, Hassett, Hill, Drumm (O’Hara, 63), R. Cox; Longo, Blair Suburbs: Tan; Moore, Chong, Groves, Hui (Taylor, 89); Fraser (A. McLeod, 70), Butterworth (Parker, 78), Gerrard, Vincent, F. McLeod; Gooch Referee: Graham Whitford