Reigning Ford National Women's League champions Auckland United made a significant step towards securing a place in this season's Grand Final on Labour Weekend, overpowering fellow unbeaten co-leaders Canterbury United Pride 4-1 at English Park to open up a two-point lead with four rounds remaining. Former Canterbury striker Charlotte Roche came back to haunt her old team in this encounter, opening the scoring inside the first minute and concluding it fifteen minutes from time after goals from Chloe Knott and Rene Wasi took the title-holders clear of danger following Charlotte Mortlock's long-range equaliser on the half-hour. Ensuring Auckland would top the table at the end of October was the 1-1 draw recorded by the team which went into this round leading the league on goal difference, Waterside Karori. Their stalemate unfolded at Seddon Fields in a torrid affair with Western Springs, who opened the scoring through Kitty Jacob in the sixth minute, only for Emma Starr to level matters two minutes later. Chances were few and far between thereafter, with Kendall Pollock going closest to netting for "The Magpies" on the stroke of half-time, while Rina Hirano and Aimee Phillips both narrowly failed in their respective bids to secure victory for "The Hoops" during the second spell. West Coast Rangers moved into fourth place on goal difference after scoring a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Wellington Phoenix at Fred Taylor Park, where the home team made hard work of winning after three successive matches in which they've been denied victory by late goals from their opponents. Very much against the run of play, Isla Cleall-Harding took full advantage of Emily Couchman's generosity on the half-hour - Rangers' goalkeeper gifted the striker both the ball and an empty net into which to fire it! But the visitors were every bit as kind in the shadows of the half-time whistle, Rebekah Trewhitt's blunder in the goal area punished mercilessly by Bree Johnson, who doubled her tally for the match just shy of the hour mark, and was later denied her hat-trick by the crossbar. The shock of the round came in the capital, as Wellington United's unbeaten record went south at Martin Luckie Park, where Southern United stunned "The Diamonds" 2-1 in the first of two games they would play at the venue on Labour Weekend. All the goals came in a ten-minute spell during the last twenty minutes of Saturday's encounter, Hannah Mackay-Wright opening the scoring for the visitors in the 73rd minute, only for Hope Gilchrist to produce a splendid diving header which levelled the scores four minutes later. Shontelle Smith was the architect of Wellington's downfall, however, her goal seven minutes from time securing the points for Southern, who dipped their bread in their game on Monday, putting Central Football to the sword 8-1. Danica Urlich-Beech broke the deadlock seven minutes before half-time, but it was an Ella Johns-Stewart own goal deep in first half stoppage time which ultimately broke Central's resistance. Hannah Mackay-Wright led United's charge after

the interval with a brace of goals, her efforts sandwiching a Georgia Keen strike. Bianca Park made it six ten minutes from time, while stoppage time goals from captain Rose Morton and Raegan Potter ended a sorry weekend for Central, with Maddison Hughes' stoppage time goal of consolation value only. That's because Central went into Monday's game having been obliterated 10-0 by Eastern Suburbs at Massey University on Saturday - the biggest result of the round and the first double-figure victory recorded by any team in the National Women's League since Capital Football capitulated 11-2 at the hands of Northern Football in 2015. Shion Hwang led the way with a hat-trick for the visitors, while Zoe Benson bagged a brace on a day Yukino Nishizono, Britney Cunningham-Lee, Jess Innes, Isabella Atkinson and Saki Yoshida all chimed in, with four of "The Lilywhites"' goals coming in the last fifteen minutes as the Aucklanders' intensity proved far too great for their struggling opponents to handle. This weekend's action sees Auckland welcoming "The Diamonds" to Keith Hay Park on Saturday, a day on which "The Magpies" and Canterbury meet at Dave Farrington Park in a match which could well influence the Grand Final fate of at least one of these teams. Sunday's fare sees an Auckland derby at Madills Farm, where "The Lilywhites" and "The Hoops" renew their cross-town rivalry. Southern welcome Rangers to Logan Park, while the bottom two draw swords at Fraser Park, where Wellington Phoenix and Central lock horns in a match which offers the visitors a rare chance of victory, given the hosts' struggles to string passes together, particularly when trying to play out of their defensive third. Elsewhere on Labour Weekend, the good news continued for Auckland United as they won the Napier U-19 Women's Championship for the first time, scoring 33 goals in their eight games with none against - the first team in the seven-year history of this event to go through the tournament without conceding. In the National Women's Youth League, bottom-placed Melville United stunned previously unbeaten Wellington Phoenix 2-1 at Gower Park, where Madison Kay's goal ten minutes from time proved decisive on a day the visitors were looking to win to go two points clear of incumbent leaders Fencibles United with a game in hand. Details: Canterbury United Pride 1 (C. Mortlock (29)), Auckland United 4 (C. Roche (1, 76), C. Knott (61), R. Wasi (69))  HT 1-1 Central Football 0, Eastern Suburbs 10 (Y. Nishizono (3), S. Hwang (26, 53, 82), B. Cunningham-Lee (38), J. Innes (43), Z. Benson (67, 75), I. Atkinson (77), S. Yoshida (81)  HT 0-4 Wellington United 1 (H. Gilchrist (77)), Southern United 2 (H. Mackay-Wright (73), S. Smith (83))  HT 0-0 West Coast Rangers 2 (B. Johnson (42, 58)), Wellington Phoenix 1 (I. Cleall-Harding (29))  HT 1-1 Western Springs 1 (K. Jacob (6)), Waterside Karori 1 (E. Starr (8))  HT 1-1 Southern United 8 (D. Urlich-Beech (38), "oggie" (45), H. Mackay-Wright (53, 68), G. Keen (61), B. Park (80), R. Morton (90), R. Potter (90)), Central Football 1 (M. Hughes (90))  HT 2-0