A trio of teams from the Queen City occupy the top three placings in the Dettol & Ford National Women's League after third round action on the second weekend in October, with Western Springs enjoying a one-point lead over cross-town rivals Auckland United and West Coast Rangers. Maddi Ollington's hat-trick inspired "The Hoops" to the outright lead of the competition as they overcame Petone 3-1 at Seddon Fields, where Anna McPhie drew a fine save from Aoife Gallagher-Forbes inside the first two minutes of a half which was dominated by the locals. After Ollington set up Britney Cunningham-Lee for a goal which was ruled out by the offside flag, the duo reversed roles to great effect in the 23rd minute, "BCL"'s driving run to the by-line culminating in a near post cross which Ollington tucked home with aplomb. Thirteen minutes later, and seconds after Cunningham-Lee had rattled the crossbar with a rocket, Ollington doubled her own and her team's tally by steering home a Katie Rood corner, but right on half-time, and completely against the run of play, Angelique Tuisamoa literally handed Petone a lifeline by palming a Kate Marra corner into her own net. Unperturbed, Springs got on with the job in the second spell, Nanami Omasa drawing a fine save from Gallagher-Forbes soon after play resumed. She was beaten for a third time in the 62nd minute, Ollington wrapping up her hat-trick following unselfish play by Cunningham-Lee. Tuisamoa redeemed herself with a fine save to foil Pepi Olliver-Bell late on in the contest, but "The Hoops" were assured of victory long before this rare threat, a defeat which leaves Petone in eighth place on the table. Reigning champions Auckland hit the ground running upon returning home from their impressive efforts in China, thumping Central Football 10-0 at Keith Hay Park, a fitting way for the club to mark their 1000th  fixture in senior level women's football - the first club in New Zealand to achieve this milestone, which has been realised some 53 seasons since parent club Eden first kicked a ball in anger in 1973. The Oceania champions were all over their struggling opponents like a rash, Zoe Benson scoring after just 37 seconds to show that, while tired from their travels, there would be no letting up on the task at hand on this occasion. Siobhan Edwards scored five minutes later, then had two goals disallowed, denials which sandwiched a goal by Alexis Cook, who cooked up so many opportunities in the first half that United could easily have amassed double figures before the half-time whistle. Kiara Bercelli plundered a quickfire double before the interval - her second was a snorter! - while both Danielle Canham and Benson hit the woodwork either side of the break. Edwards struck her second in emphatic fashion soon after half-time, after which it seemed that you were only allowed to score if your name was Ava! Ava Collins came off the bench and helped herself to a hat-trick - her second goal was a volleyed gem, while Ava Pritchard netted one from close range, but missed two absolute sitters either side of it on a day which was a chastening experience for the bottom-placed side, for whom this result equalled their heaviest defeat in National Women's League history, the 10-0 drubbing inflicted upon them by Eastern Suburbs last season. As well as those matches, double figures have been recorded on five other occasions since the league replaced the National Tournament in 2002. Mainland Soccer thrashed Soccer South 10-0 in 2003, while the NZ U-19 Development Squad crushed Capital Soccer 10-1 two years later, the same year in which the league's record scoreline was recorded, as Auckland annihilated Soccer South 12-0. Waikato-Bay of Plenty mauled Central Football 10-1 in the 2010 semi-final, while Northern humbled Capital 11-2 in 2015, a match which saw the most goals scored in a single game in the NWL. On a dreich day in Dunedin, West Coast Rangers overcame Southern United 1-0 at Logan Park to join United on six points, one behind the pace-setting Springs, although Auckland has a game in hand on both their top-three rivals. Emily Lyon, fresh from winning the Golden Boot at the OFC U-19 Women's Championship, scored her first goal of this campaign in instinctive fashion three minutes before half-time, capitalising on the creativity of Sienna Higinbotham and Anjelina Ujdur to tuck the ball home first time beyond Lauren Paterson for what proved to be the game's

only goal. At a windswept Petone Memorial Park, Wellington United scored a come-from-behind 3-2 win over the previously unbeaten Eastern Suburbs, who were afforded the ideal start by Ruby Nathan's fourth minute goal, heading home a Putri Ardana cross into the roof of the net. The visitors had the wind at their backs in the first half, and enjoyed the bulk of possession, but went to the dressing rooms 2-1 down thanks to a double-strike from Maggie Jenkins. The first, in the nineteenth minute, was gifted to "The Diamonds" by Corina Brown, who passed the ball straight to Natalie Olson. She instantly set up the some-time Football Fern for a tap-in. Ten minutes before half-time, Jenkins netted again, this time tucking home on receipt of an angled cross from Hannah Pilley, who was playing against her former club, who found themselves 3-1 down three minutes into the second spell as Sarah Alder thundered home a volley from the edge of the penalty area following a corner. "The Lilywhites" gave themselves late hope when Nicole Mettam smashed home a twenty-five yarder into the top far corner six minutes from time, but they had left themselves with too much to do to secure a share of the points, and find themselves in unfamiliar territory - the lower half of the table, albeit with a game in hand on those around them. Canterbury United Pride twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Wellington Phoenix at English Park, where all the goals materialised before half-time for the second week in succession. Isla Cleall-Harding hammered home a top corner special on receipt of Maisy McDonald's fourth minute pass, to which Margi Dias replied in fine style from the edge of the penalty area four minutes later. Wellington 'keeper Liana Baldock pulled off a fine save to deny Anya Stephan just shy of the half-hour mark, and repeated the dose to thwart Ruby Luxton, by which time both teams had scored again. Three minutes before half-time, Grace Bartlett restored Wellington's lead with a stooping header to convert an Amber De Wit cross, but Canterbury were back on level terms within minutes thanks to Petra Buyck's splendid solo goal. Dorothy Yek squandered two great chances to win the game for the visitors in the second spell, firing past both Annie Foote and the far post in the 54th minute, before Claudia Wilson cleared her goal-bound effort to safety soon after. As in the senior competition, teams from the northern region are bossing things in the National Women's Youth League, with Fencibles United, Eastern Suburbs and Melville United all having won their first three matches in the competition. "Fencies" enjoyed the bye in this round, allowing "The Lilywhites" and "The Unicorns" to join them in a share of the competition lead, a feat both achieved via victories on the road. Suburbs achieved the feat via a 3-0 win at Capital Football, where Esme Reid and Millie Boyle scored inside the first six minutes to set up the victory over the bottom-placed side. Twenty-four hours later, Melville followed suit, with Tyla Webster and Mia Humphrey both scoring twice in their come-from-behind 4-2 win at Southern United. Meanwhile, Bridie Christie bagged a brace as reigning champions Wellington Phoenix held the previous title-holders, Canterbury United Pride, to a 2-2 draw. Tauranga Moana edged out Central Football 4-3 in a goal-fest at Links Avenue, where the home team's Miah Smith struck twice, as did Caylee Fergus for the visitors, who, like Capital, have yet to record a point from their four matches. Fencibles and Melville face the bottom two in next weekend's action, so will be heavily favoured to win, while Suburbs host fourth-placed Canterbury in the game of a round which sees Tauranga travelling to the capital to take on the title-holders. Details: Auckland United 10 (Z. Benson (1), S. Edwards (6, 49), A. Cook (22), K. Bercelli (33, 37), A. Collins (65, 73, 90), A. Pritchard (88)), Central Football 0  HT 5-0 Canterbury United Pride 2 (M. Dias (8), P. Buyck (45)), Wellington Phoenix 2 (I. Cleall-Harding (5), G. Bartlett (41))  HT 2-2 Southern United 0, West Coast Rangers 1 (E. Lyon (42))  HT 0-1 Wellington United 3 (M. Jenkins (19, 35), S. Alder (48)), Eastern Suburbs 2 (R. Nathan (4), N. Mettam (84))  HT 2-1 Western Springs 3 (M. Ollington (23, 36, 62)), Petone 1 ("oggie" (45))  HT 2-1