Capital versus WaiBOP kick us off this week, a couple pretty evenly matched teams by the looks of past performances. WaiBOP have already dropped points to Central however they’ve been scoring goals throughout and gave Canterbury a real fright last week. Capital meanwhile just got dealt their first loss of the campaign by Auckland but they made it hard for them and they’ve already got a battling point against Northern as well as a hefty win over Southern. Good Game potential for sure. GG.

Two changes for Capital. Sarah Alder and Libby Boobyer back in after both missing last week. All pretty much as expected, while WaiBOP were a lot more fluctuating. They brought in Emma Cawte, Kate Loye, Maddi Ollington, and Grace Wisnewski, all four of whom had started in week one but not in week two (and only Ollington came off the bench last week). Strangely those were both away games. Travellers only, apparently.

You’ll not be shocked to hear that the wind was a major factor in Lower Hutt. WaiBOP started confidently, set up in a way that allowed players to keep things fluid and hit hard on the break when the opportunity arose. And arise it did, several times over. Kelli Brown couldn’t get any power on her shots with a blustering gust in her face but Georgia Candy did have to be sharp to dive out at the feet of Lisa Evans to smother another chance. Likewise Alder made a super sliding challenge in the box to deny Wisnewski. Left back Michaela Foster, who scored last week, made a nice run in from the wing but her shot was saved by Candy. Couldn’t pick out a corner with her finish there. She also curled a free kick onto the roof of the net late in the half. Heaps of action for the team from the Waikato/Bay of Plenty but nothing to show for it yet.

Odd thing about all that is that WaiBOP were playing into the wind. You’d have figured that’d keep the game down their defensive end but they were working the ball along the ground and up the flanks and into the likes of Wisnewski and Brown as they dropped into pockets. Capital did have Kaley Ward put one over the top, as well as the obligatory swirling set piece deliveries with the wind (several times people had trouble with dead ball situations as the ball wouldn’t sit still in the breeze), and later in the half they began to hold a bit more ball with Charlotte Wilford-Carroll and Mickey Robertson usually involved. But WaiBOP clearly had the better of the first half, they just couldn’t find a way through the Capital back three of Hope Gilchrist, Ellen Fibbes, and Olivia Ingham.

Capital coach Maia Vink spoke afterwards about making a point at half time to close the distances and get better connections going. The difference in that second half wasn’t so much that they suddenly got on top of things with smarter ball retention. Because they didn’t. It was more that while WaiBOP kept creating chances, Capital started doing so as well. Kelli Brown had the first shot in anger of the 2H (it went wide) and Manaia Elliott was threatening to get in behind the defence with the wind at her back now but Mickey Robertson also got into the penalty area a couple times up the other end. Vink then made a triple sub in the 59th minute with Nea Blackham, Helena Errington, and Sam Whyte all entering the contest in a pretty clear sign that things hadn’t quite been clicking for Capital.

It’s fair to say neither team figured out how to cope with the wind. A couple times the WaiBOPers got the ball over the top in what looked like fantastic situations only for nothing to come of it. Around 65 mins it happened twice in a row. Wisnewski wasn’t able to get a shot away under some pressure with the ball not quite sitting up on the turf, then Evans was seemingly one on one only the ball skipped and took off into the arms of Georgia Candy (Evans was offside so it wouldn’t have counted but still representative of what was going on).

Then suddenly Capital scored. They’d won the ball high up thanks to the industrious Wilford-Carroll which led to some scrappy stuff outside the area with the ball floating around and Mickey Robertson competing for headers amidst a crowd of players twice her size and then it fell to Wilford-Carroll again who had a crack from range. Her shot was partially blocked by Ingham... but it deflected into a pocket of space which Kaley Ward was already running into. Ward got there before the keeper Rylee Godbold could to score. Great awareness there for Ward’s league-leading sixth of the season. She’s scored in every game!

Hey look who got a run out there for the last quarter of an hour...

Anna Green’s been out for a while after doing her ACL earlier in the year. It’s a long recovery with those busted knees, not sure if it’s made better or worse by coinciding with a pandemic, but wonderful to have her back on the paddock. One of the most pedigreed players in this competition for sure. She nearly set up a goal with one of her first involvements, curling in a looper of a cross that held up in the wind.

By the way, if you didn’t already realise that Georgia Candy has been the best goalkeeper in the comp so far then this oughta help you come to the right understanding...

Sweet jeezus that’s a save. Foster must’ve thought she’d pinged it into the top corner as she looked up. 88th minute of the game with a swirling gale and a 1-0 lead. That’s match-winning stuff.

Candy did give the ball away in an awful area in stoppage time, a pass out wide into the wind that Evans stole and Wisnewski was just about to strike when Fibbes came diving in to block it. One last frustration on a frustrating afternoon. WaiBOP for whatever reason lacked the quality of finishing that they usually have. They played well enough to win this 3-0 but never scored the goals and then in the second half found that their pace in behind, which had been so threatening against Canterbury, was nullified by the wind sending all those passes far too long. Like dangling a treat in front of the dog and then throwing it away over the fence where they can’t get it. Perhaps needed to get a few more shots off rather than trying to work the ball into those areas but then when they did Georgia Candy wasn’t exactly looking like missing anything.

Pretty much. Capital will be stoked with the win though. It wasn’t often easy to watch in those conditions but the back three were brilliant – Hope Gilchrist returning from uni in the States has been a massive boost for them – and clearly they keeper Candy was on top form. But Wilford-Carroll had another strong game in the midfield and in Kaley Ward they have the frontrunner for golden boot and no currency is more precious than goals in this sport. With the top three sides all having dropped points at one stage or another maybe Capital can still sneak into the top two after all? They’re only two points off as it stands.

Canterbury Pride haven’t been at their dominant best yet this season but they did manage to battle through to a 4-2 win against WaiBOP last week to bounce back from defeat to Auckland. Not always vintage but they still scored four goals, a glimpse of what they’re capable of. This week they hosted Central with just the one change from the previous game as Lily Bray got her first start of the season and Alyssa Whinham dropped to the bench (still no Annalie Longo... running out of time to get much more out of here as she’s already spilled the beans that she’s going back to Melbourne Victory for the W-League). To be honest, this was always a game the Pride expected to win but there were definitely some aspects of their performances that needed to show improvements. Defence being a major one. Gotta tighten up the ship having already conceded seven goals in three games.

Central had the bye last week coming off of a solid 2-2 draw with WaiBOP the week before. Main target for them was to avoid a third straight game with a red card... they welcomed Jana Niedermayr back into the starting team after serving her suspension but lost Kaitlyn Watts to suspension in her place. Natalie Olson got a first start of the campaign in the other alteration from the last game. Central knew exactly what they were doing here. Flat and compact back four with numbers back in midfield, the low block set up to frustrate the Cantabs and then hopefully snatch something on the counter attack.

Gotta say that’s a useful way of doing things. Auckland had great success against Canterbury by attacking quickly in transition against them. Central don’t have that kind of quality in their team but it’s worth a crack all the same. The way the Pride backline sets up it’s sometimes hard to tell if it’s a back three or four or only two because they spread so wide in possession in order to get maximum pitch coverage, thus allowing the wide players more freedom to push right forward. With Meikayla Hunt, Katie Taylor, and Lara Wall they easily have the ability to keep the ball moving swiftly over those greater distances. But you can imagine that if the midfield isn’t able to hold possession then set-ups like this are absolutely ripe for the picking on the counter...

Lake’s stepped up. Taylor is high and wide on the right. Hunt is basically holding down the fort alone. Quite a few times they’ve been hit in this way and even in this game there were a couple heart-in-mouth moments when a bad pass or a well-timed pressure nearly caused some carnage. For the most part though, it was all Cantabs and it was more a matter of how they were going to pick the lock against such a stacked defensive line. For most of the first half they completely dominated the ball but didn’t actually do a whole lot with it in the final third. Some nice runs from Tahlia Herman-Watt and Gabi Rennie the closest they got to breaking through.

But as the half got deeper, the Pride began to figure things out. Britney-Lee Nicholson had a shot that Brooke Bennett had to be at full stretch to punch away for a corner. Then 40 minutes in they finally got there. Fresh from having a real go at Central in transition after they’d sent numbers forward for a free kick in the Canterbury half (which Central never really recovered from, even after the ball was cleared out of play). Looked like Tahlia Herman-Watt (though it might’ve been Lara Wall) who put the cross in low to the near post and it was definitely Gabi Rennie who snuck it in with a cool touch. Then two minutes later, in a clean example of the old cricket saying that one brings two, Gabi Rennie was pure pace to get onto a loose ball behind the defence and then she rounded the keeper to score into an empty net. Lara Wall would hit the crossbar soon after too... consider that lock well and truly picked by now.

With the double-goal lead, Alanna Gunn made a pair of half-time changes as Alyssa Whinham came on for Lily Bray and Emma Clarke for Meikayla Hunt. There’d also be season debuts later on for Samantha Senior and Freya Lodge as the Cantabs used up all five available substitutions just as they have done in every single game so far. Nicola Dominikovich was the other sub, on for Nicholson in the 53rd minute. Clearing that bench.

The second half was an onslaught. It took until the 58th minute for another goal to go in, as Gabi Rennie pounced on a defensive mistake and smoothly slid the ball past Bennett for her hatty, but shots were coming pretty regularly now and although Central continued to stick to their structure they didn’t have a lot of joy when they got the ball. Barely strung three passes together and hardly ever got out of their own half and when Mikayla Boxall did slide through a magnificent ball down the middle Katie Taylor still managed to clean it up before the Central forwards could pounce. Boxall was probably the best of the Centralites, there was also an outrageous block she pulled off to deny Nicholson in her own penalty area.

Despite that, it wasn’t actually until the last ten minutes when the scoreline blew out. Rennie flicked a ball round the corner to Whitney Hepburn who was chopped down and for the third week in a row Rebecca Lake placed the ball on the penalty spot and scored. Lara Wall then bundled one in at the back post about a minute later. Twice Lara Wall made sliding challenges in the box in the closing minutes, the Pride not satisfied with a comfortable win and still desperate for a clean sheet to go with it, and then into stoppage time Emma Clark thumped in a sixth after some goal-mouth scrambling after a corner. Six would do it. 6-0 to Canterbury Pride.

Just take a look at these numbers, wowza...

Harsh on Central who have a very young squad and the difference in class certainly didn’t reflect any difference in effort or application. Just the way it goes, the second heavy defeat for Central having gone down 9-1 to Auckland in week one. No red card though. That’s helpful. Canterbury basically got everything they wanted from this game as six more goals, including that hat-trick for Gabi Rennie who probably should have scored a few more in the first few weeks but who found her shooting boots this week and is now second on the golden boot chart, and Una Foyle’s first clean sheet of the campaign set them up tidily as they enter their bye week.

No doubt that the big game this week was when Northern Lights hosted Auckland at North Harbour Stadium (well, the outside of North Harbour Stadium). Northern found a bit of form last week with a strong performance to beat a dogged Southern side 3-0 but Auckland have been in hot form from day one. A 9-1 win over Central was followed by a stunning 4-1 win away to Canterbury and then came the 3-1 win over Capital as chaser. 16 goals in three games, a whole heap of them coming in the early stages of games.

Couple notable changes for Auckland here. There was no Arisa Takeda at fullback, with Laney Strachan replacing her, while Emma Fletcher was also missing. Her presence is probably overshadowed by Daisy Cleverly a bit but she’s been an equally crucial part of that midfield. With Fletcher not there, Tayla O’Brien dropped into the middle and Britney Cunningham-Lee started on the wing. Northern on the other hand had made five changes from week one to week three (with the bye in between) but there was no reason for Ben Bate to alter anything after last week so he didn’t. Same starting eleven.

Despite Auckland’s early blitz reputation, it was Northern who got on the front foot first and in the middle of a couple corners Arabella Maynard managed to catch as snapshot off the post. At least it looked like she got the touch, it was pretty crowded. But Auckland got rolling soon enough. A couple corners of their own and on one of them Daisy Cleverly lived up to her last name and hit it low to the near post where Tayla O’Brien stabbed home and there was the obligatory early strike from Auckland. It was also the first time this season that Northern had been behind in a game. Seven minutes gone and some familiar ground and some unfamiliar ground all at once.

Even in the first quarter of an hour though, it was notable how often Auckland were forced into a long ball over the top for Ava Collins to chase in vain. That’s not how they’ve been winning games. Not having Takeda and Fletcher was obviously a blow to their passing game but also the dynamic nature of the Steinmetz/Savage/Knott combo they were up against was making things tough by closing down the lanes. They were winning but this game wasn’t going how Auckland would have planned. Then suddenly they weren’t even winning. 16 minutes and Sammi Tawharu worked a one-two with Ava Pritchard to put the winger into a bit of space on the right and then Maynard swung in a beauty of a low ball to the far post where Arabella Maynard was lurking to lash in the equaliser.

The 22nd minute has been the point at which Auckland have usually done the damage but it was 1-1 after 22 minutes in North Auckland and three minutes later a lovely ball over the top from Tawharu into the path of the irrepressible Chloe Knott led to Knott getting a swinging leg from Jess Philpot. No huge appeal or anything but it did look pretty dodgy and the ref instantly pointed to the spot. Knott took the kick herself and now it was Auckland’s turn to be losing for the first time all season.

It was crazy because Auckland have controlled the tempo in all their games so far but in this one Northern were pressing high, with Chloe Knott the key to that, and it was causing the kinds of errors in Auckland’s game that we simply hadn’t seen this season. There weren’t any more goals in the first half but Maynard and Pritchard both threatened to get in behind with their pace and AK had Liz Anton to thank for a very good tackle close to the break. Still, it was only 2-1 and Auckland were very much in it even if things were proving tough for them. Daisy Cleverly was playing well in the middle. Alosi Bloomfield is never one to quit. And Ava Collins might not have been getting as much support as she’s used to but she kept scrapping away trying to be an outlet.

Nine minutes into the second half that paid off when Collins turned sharply on the edge of the box and tried to skip between Pritchard and Nicole Stratford. Down she went and the ref whistled to the same spot he had in the previous half. Not entirely sure about the decision... Saskia Vosper nearly jumped into the clouds at the call. But it was a way back into the game for Auckland. Or... it would have been except Erin Hughes only went and saved it, denying Ava Collins from the penalty and then gathering up Jess Philpot’s follow up.

Auckland had already subbed off Daisy Cleverly by that point. Didn’t seem to be injured but Maisy Dewell swapped in for her four minutes into the second stanza. Maisy for Daisy. Regardless Northern were gonna need a third goal to close this one out as Auckland kept battling away, albeit with limited substance. Ava Pritchard was looking most likely to provide that third goal with some sizzling pace and skill on the right wing and ultimately what happened was, get this: they won another penalty. Again it was a soft one. Pritchard (of course) was lining up a header and she bumped shoulders with Alosi Bloomfield and went down. Minimal intent but so it goes. Liz Savage took this one to mix it up and for the second time Lily Alfeld dove the right way but the spottie was too well placed to reach. Twenty minutes to go and Northern had a 3-1 lead.

Northern started running the subs in the last half hour, starting with Malia Steinmetz who took her rest on 64 mins (Jess Inness replacing her) after another really excellent game at the base of midfield. Imposing but also very good on the ball. She’s been great all season. Also the esteemed Emma Kete got an extended run for the last twenty mins and Rene Wasi, Mackenzie Barry & Rose Luxton would all get to stretch the legs later on. Emma Pijneburg was the only other sub who got on for Auckland.

Ava Collins probably should’ve done better when she got into the area but a heavy touch meant she couldn’t get a shot off. The same thing then happened to Ava Pritchard (must be the name Ava?) for the Lights after Nicole Statford had picked her out with a smart cut-back to the penalty spot. All those subs then came back to bite Northern with five minutes left when Rene Wasi took a concerning blow and had to leave the field, looked like it was probably a head knock so fingers crossed she’s okay, but it also meant they had to finish with ten women. Some teams would shut up shop at that point... but Aneka Mittendorff was having none of that. She saved the best for last when she thumped in a free kick from about 25 metres out, a brilliant goal to cap a brilliant 4-1 win for Northern.

And there you go. 4-1 to Northern was not what the foreign bookies would have predicted but you’d hardly argue with it from watching the match. Northern were tactically superior. Chloe Knott was an easy player of the day selection but Ava Pritchard, Malia Steinmetz, and Liz Savage were also excellent. Sammi Tawharu too. She hasn’t scored a goal yet this season but it’s so obvious how much her overall game has improved in her time at college in the States and she’s been a sneaky key factor in so much of what they’ve done well the last two week.

This result does wonders to the table too. Northern are now the only undefeated team left and even they’ve had a sloppy draw in there, keeping the race for the top two very much wide open. Next week we’ve got three Sunday games with Central hosting Capital, Auckland hosting Southern, and WaiBOP hosting Northern. Canterbury on the bye. Should be three predictable winners in those games but the way things are going you never know. Central might batten down the hatches and shut Capital out. Auckland could have some worries if they’re without a few of those important players who either missed the Northern game or went off during it. And WaiBOP clearly have goals in them that they didn’t access this week... possibly saving them all for when Northern come to town just to throw another spanner in the works.

Whack an ad if you appreciate the Premmy Files yarns and get amongst out Patreon whanau to support what we do with some currency... even just a buck a month goes a long way

Oh yeah and sign up for our most excellent twice-weekly email newsletter for the bonus yarns

Keep cool but care