Reigning Lotto Northern Premier Women's League champions Auckland United took a significant stride towards retaining their crown on Thursday evening, the league leaders comfortably accounting for second-placed West Coast Rangers 3-0 at Fred Taylor Park. Things could have been different had former United striker Shannon Henson not strayed offside before finding the net just two minutes into the encounter, but the visitors soon settled into their stride and opened the scoring just after the half-hour through Greer MacIntosh, who rammed the ball home from close range after Rangers failed to clear a corner. Alexis Cook thumped home their second ten minutes into the second spell, after which recent Football Ferns recruits Ava Collins and Ruby Nathan joined their international team-mate Michaela Foster on the park as United's greater experience and game nous shone through. They wrapped up the scoring in stoppage time through Charlotte Roche, confirming a win which propels the title-holders four points clear of their nearest challengers, whom they face again this Saturday evening, this time in the Kate Sheppard Cup quarter-final at Keith Hay Park. Eastern Suburbs bounced back from the hiding Auckland inflicted upon them last weekend by eclipsing Ellerslie 4-0 in their East Auckland derby at Michaels Avenue, where all the scoring took place before half-time. "The Ponies" were behind the eight ball inside the first ten minutes, by which time they'd been "Zoe'd" - Mademoiselles Benson and Brazier had found the net, the latter scoring her first goal for "The Lilywhites" since her recent move from Fencibles United. Things could have been different for the home team had chances been taken - Kat Gow shot straight at Nikki Whyte when it was 1-0, while Leigh Aitken headed wide just before Suburbs hit the post. But when Shion Hwang made it three halfway through the first half with a long-range screamer, the result was pretty much beyond doubt. Benson bagged her second of the game on the half-hour to leave Ellerslie facing a damage limitation exercise - not what captain Aitken had in mind when she commenced her 100th game for "The Ponies" thirty minutes earlier. That was the end of the scoring, however, much to the relief of the home team, while the visitors will be a tad disappointed they didn't bolster their goal difference, which may yet be a factor in the race for the last two places in the National Women's League. Kate Sheppard Cup holders Western Springs, who

visit Franklin United's Drury Sports Complex home in that competition this Saturday afternoon, gave themselves a welcome boost on the league table by beating incumbent fourth-placed side Fencibles 2-0 at Seddon Fields on Matariki. In a hard-fought affair, the visitors looked the more likely team to break the deadlock before the interval, while they did so after it as the unlucky Mischa Morais saw a cross ricochet off her into the corner of the net on the hour. Springs seized the initiative after being afforded the advantage, and doubled it eight minutes from time when Rina Hirano's mesmerising left wing raid culminated in a cross which was stabbed home by Maia Lythe. "The Hoops" leapfrogged "Fencies" on the table with this win, one witnessed by two former Springs starlets. Emma Pijnenburg is enjoying catching up with everyone during Feyenoord's close season, while Sienna Vercauteren, who has been a regular starter for "The Hoops" in 2024, was a surprise midweek transfer to Fencibles, who were without the services of Millee Loxton in this match. Danica Urlich-Beech is carrying Hibiscus Coast's top four hopes on her young shoulders, and she's proving to be well up for the challenge as her first half double-strike led "The Coasters" to a 3-0 win over bottom-placed Hamilton Wanderers at Stanmore Bay Reserve. "DUB"'s double has also propelled her to the outright lead in the Golden Boot race - she's averaging a goal a game after the conclusion of this thirteenth round encounter, in which Gabriella Hislop also found the mark in another match which saw all the scoring confined to the first half-hour of play. Needless to say, this was a defeat "The Blue Army" could ill afford. While Coast are just two points off the top four thanks to this win, Hamilton are now six points adrift of safety, and with eight games remaining, are running out of chances to ensure Waikato's presence in the best league in the country continues beyond thirty seasons - Claudelands Rovers and Waikato Unicol were invited to join the Lotto Northern Premier Women's League in 1995. Details: Ellerslie 0, Eastern Suburbs 4 (Z. Benson (3, 30), Z. Brazier (9), S. Hwang (21))  HT 0-4 Hibiscus Coast 3 (D. Urlich-Beech (4, 31), G. Hislop (20)), Hamilton Wanderers 0  HT 3-0 West Coast Rangers 0, Auckland United 3 (G. MacIntosh (33), A. Cook (55), C. Roche (90))  HT 0-1 Western Springs 2 ("oggie" (61), M. Lythe (82)), Fencibles United 0  HT 0-0