Here we are again, returning not entirely unspoiled from across that great ocean. The National League has arrived but it’s not the National League – it’s the South Central Series because a National League requires an entire nation and none of the four clubs that qualified from the Northern region in either the Men’s or the Women’s are able to partake in footballing activities right now. Hopefully soon... but soon is too late to run a competition.

Handily for the Women’s side of things the four teams that are playing are all federation teams so they can make up the difference selecting the best available players in the region. So with all sympathies to Eastern Suburbs, Western Springs, Northern Rovers, and Hamilton Wanderers who were supposed to be here too... we’ve just gotta go on without ‘em. Four teams, playing each other home and away over the next six weeks. Should be good. Lesshgo.

CENTRAL VS CAPITAL

There’s a little bit of a preview of the women’s SCS in Friday’s Substack mailer (gotta spread out the goods so people will subscribe and all that), which looked specifically at the four squads that have been named. For Capital it’s a worry that they’ve lost a few important players from 2020, albeit an expected worry since most teams last year were stocked up with USA uni students who were back home because of covid and otherwise wouldn’t have been available. Well, they’re not available again. Couple other notables not there for Capital either: Mickey Robertson, Katie Barrott, Georgia Candy, Hope Gilchrist, Tui Dugan.

But Capital were finalists last time around and they’ve still got a pretty strong group. Anna Green, anyone? Central, on the other hand, came last without a win and they’ve lost basically everyone who was a key player for them a year ago. The team that gaffer Matthew Clavert rolled out here did have Brooke Bennett in goal, Eve Barry on the wing, and Jessie Falloon up front but that’s about it for regulars from last time – although girls like Abby Rankin, Holly Kleinsmann, and Rebekah Trewhitt did play quite a bit of the bench back then and they’re all here. Very young squad for Central. They were very young in 2020 and somehow they’re even younger now. 20 year old Kate Mori was the oldest player in this starting XI.

It was Capital who dictated the flow of things early on, setting up in a tidy 3-5-2 shape (or something close to that) and moving the ball around nicely from the back. That defensive trio of Anna Green, Ellen Fibbes, and Zoe Barrott will be pretty sturdy over the next couple months. However, for all their purpose with the ball, Central were able to make it tough for them for a lot of that first half. With numbers in midfield, led by captain Rankin and elder stateswoman Mori, they filtered Capital out wide or forced them into impatient long balls forward where Central’s centre-backs Lara Smith and Devyn Crawford were winning most of the battles.

Then, turning the ball over a few times, Central were able to offer a bit of a threat coming back the other way. They were the team with the first proper chance of this game/season as the impressive Holly Kleinsmann slipped a ball through for Falloon who initially looked offside but a rewind suggested she may have timed that run perfectly. Either way, there was no flag... though Falloon panicked and shot too early and Molly Simons made a comfortable save.

‘Twas a bit sloppy overall. These teams obviously had their preparations hampered by covid restrictions and there was some visible rustiness out there (as was the case in all games this weekend). It also seems like the unofficial nature of the South Central series is gonna lead to teams being more willing to roll out the youngsters in a competition where that’s never been a hurdle to most of them to begin with so keep that in mind, especially with Capital keeping last year’s top scorer Kaley Ward on the bench to begin with – rolling with Olivia Ingham and Pepi Olliver-Bell up front and Jemma Robertson pushing forward in support.

But about midway through that half things started opening up. Ingham was surely about to put Capital in front after Emma Main played her in but a genuinely superb recovering tackle from Smith put a stop to that. Olliver-Ball back-heeled Main into space for a shot soon after but that one was saved. Then Brooke Bennett made a lovely diving stop to deny Helena Errington from outside the box. Smith and Crawford were still holding firm but by now they were a lot more exposed.

Main flicked a header over from an Anna Green corner. Then Bennett made an even better save than her last one with a mid-air fingertips stop off a Jemma Robertson shot from so far out at Massey Uni that she may as well have been in a lecture hall. But from the resulting corner, Errington and Green worked a short routine and Green whipped in a cross that was diverted into her own net by the head of Crawford. 39th minute of the match and it was finally 1-0 to Capital and nobody in their right mind could say it wasn’t coming.

The three at the back was working well for Capital but arguably what they needed even more was an extra body further forward. So Maia Vink swapped things up during the break with Barrott moving to left back in a four. Jayden Watts came on at centre-back to allow for that with Jemma Catherton replaced. Fibbes also sliding to right back with Main moving into the midfield (where she was a constant menace collecting the ball deep and pushing into space).

Didn’t quite work at first. Central had a little more room in attack now and Capital one one fewer option in that area to deal with it. Rankin picked out Falloon on 51’ but the shot went wide. Then Atkins had a shot from a free kick on target. Not to mention a few nervy ones that didn’t lead to attempts, many of which came from Capital putting themselves under pressure trying to play from the back and getting hustled. But everything changed when Kaley Ward came on after an hour, replacing Robertson.

Ward’s first touch nearly set up a goal, laying off to Olliver-Bell only for Bennett to get two good hands to it. Ward’s next involvement almost led to a cut-back shot. Then on 64 mins it was 2-0 and although Ward wasn’t involved in the goal it still came about as a product of the momentum shift that she inspired. Emma Main advancing the ball through the midfield and picking out Olliver-Bell, who worked her way into a pocket of space to fire past Bennett and score. That Wellington United combination. Pepi Olliver-Bell, tell ya what, she’s got some tekkers.

After that it was kinda routine as both teams ran a few subs and Capital spurned several chances to make the score look more convincing. Bennett made impressive saves off Main and then POB in a short space of time, can’t deny her shot-stopping ability. Green also fired one over the bar while Olliver-Bell couldn’t get a touch on Ward’s cross with the last action of the match. All goods. 2-0 to Capital who were way too good, especially in the latter stages of both halves. Olliver-Bell was a lot of fun to watch. Main was superb in the second half. Green’s long passing and set pieces are a class above.

But the best on the pitch here was Helena Errington. Controlling the midfield from the CDM role at first but increasingly pushing forward and creating things after the formation change. She looks like a complete midfielder and you can always tell a quality player by how much more time they seem to have than anyone else. Errington actually scored the winner for Capital against Central last season. Looks like the Ole Academy rep – who was playing in a boys team with Western Suburbs over winter – may be in for a bit of a breakthrough over the next few weeks.

However Central won’t be too bummed. They do have worries as to where their goals are gonna come from, only really threatening in that 5-10 minute spell early second half, but defensively they certainly put their best foot forward. Lara Smith deserves a heap of credit for her performance while Brooke Bennett saved everything it was possible for her to save. Falloon looked promising holding the ball up too... hoping to see this very young Central team grow into this competition as they get more game time together.

CANTERBURY PRIDE VS SOUTHERN UNITED

You never quite know how teams are gonna line up come week one of a new season, especially the federation teams in the women’s South Central Series. However you can generally trust that no matter how many players Canterbury United Pride lose, they’re bound to have enough gun youngsters coming through. Between uni in America, the Wellington Phoenix, and other pro opportunities the Pride have lost five locked-on starters from last year’s champions. All the more reason to get excited then.

Alanna Gunn named a similar shaped team as last season with the back three and a number ten in behind a couple strikers. Freya Lodge was elevated to a starting spot in defence while Ellena Firth got a go in midfield while there was a curious one in goal too with Annie Foote playing ahead of Una Foyle, for this game at least. Two new signings up top: Kate Loye who’s come in from WaiBOP and Kate Guildford who signed from this day’s opponents Southern. Speaking of, there wasn’t much different about Southern from a year ago (apart from new coach Graeme Smaill). Eight starters were all regulars back then, with Amy Simmers and Margi Dias both having joined after moving to the area for uni and Kirsty Hayr also in there though she’s played for Southern before in previous years. Lotsa continuity there.

Canterbury immediately set about knocking it around and trying to create things with their off-ball movement. Rebecca Lake’s long passing was a feature, as was basically anything that Annalie Longo did, particularly when she’d ghost into the area. Longo sparked a few sighters in the early stages before a clever reverse pass from Kate Loye led to a corner kick which Kate Guildford punted into the wind with some leg spin on it and Rebecca Lake probably put a hip on the ball before it crossed the line though it’s hard to say. Whoever got it, the Pride were up 1-0.

Other than a cheeky corner early on, Southern didn’t really have a chance of their own until about 20 mins in when Annie Foote was caught off her line and Amy Hislop’s shot into the wind was doomed from the start. But then, in the 25th min, Hislop held the ball up after a feed from Toni Power and the ball snuck under the foot of Freya Lodge to allow Emily Morison to run through and score. Next thing you know, Southern were swinging crosses into the area and getting runners overlapping and all that good stuff.

The goal may have come against the run of play but that’s a tidy defence that Southern have there and they came in knowing that if they held firm then the inexperience in the Cantabs team would lead to the odd chance arising along the way. That’s what happened and they took full advantage.

Hislop had another long ranger after picking off a pass from the back, might have been a handball in there as she fired over. Then Longo struck one on the spin after the Guildford feed but she put it wide. A rare bit of room to strike for the Pride as that back four of Bacon/Mackay-Wright/Kennard/Power kept things extremely tight. Plus Southern were able to double up out wide with their formation. After the first quarter of an hour of calibration, Southern were now rushing up into challenges and reading the play so well. Only Whitney Hepburn was really dealing with the Southern physicality.

Morison fed Hislop for a great chance on 37’ which Hislop sent over the top after a drop of the shoulder. Then Morison pushed on a long Bacon free kick towards Margi Dias on the wraparound and she touched it through to Amy Hislop. There were immediate calls for offside (very decent calls based on the video) but no flag and Hislop allowed the ball to a few settling extra bounces before firing past Foote to give Southern the lead. 40 minutes gone. Who saw this coming? In fact if Dias’ legs were a little longer then she’d probably have made it 3-1 (against her old team) off Hislop’s through ball... although it could just as easily have been 2-2 at the half as Annalie Longo hit the post before Lara Wall miss-hit a couple shots.

The Pride threw on Lottie Mortlock for Kate Loye after 50 mins, switching things in attack as they sought an equaliser. Longo remained heavily involved but was struggling to link up with teammates as Southern still wouldn’t give them an inch. Not only that but they continued to force errors from the Cantabs at the back by pressuring their build up play.

One of those turnovers led to a Margi Dias shot which caught Lake on the arm. Penalty. Amy Hislop with the attempt... but Annie Foote guessed the right way and moved early to palm it to safety. Canterbury with a huge escape courtesy of their young goalie, Foote then saved a 1v1 from Emily Morison soon after. Best two chances of the second half falling to Southern. Then Chelsea Whittaker ran through from the left but took a touch she didn’t need to and Lodge closed her down.

There was some extended randomness in the 70th min as Amy Simmers picked up what was ruled to be a backpass from Kennard. Seemed a harsh call but it gave Canterbury a free kick in the area... which by definition means an indirect free kick (otherwise it’d be a penalty) but Kate Guildford missed the memo and although she thumped her shot convincingly into the roof of the net it didn’t count as no teammate had touched it first. Bit of a funny one as she and Nicola Dominikovich, who’d dummied a shot before Guildford hit it, both celebrated like it was a goal while every other player in the box stared on.

Frankie Morrow and Kiara Bercelli also popped up off the bench, the Cantabs desperate for options up front... and nothing really changed. Annalie Longo worked into a couple good crossing areas but nobody did anything on the end of those crosses. Another player who needs a huge shout out is Rose Morton who played at the base of midfield for Southern and had a blinder, while it was no surprise to see Amy Hislop need to be replaced with cramp a couple mins before the end given her workrate up top. Southern with the first proper upset of the South Central Series as they held on for a 2-1 win that they absolutely deserved every little bit of. You know it’s a proper win when the subs sprint onto the pitch to celebrate at the final whistle.

If anything they shoulda won by more. So let’s flip this to the defending champs and ask: what happened? The inexperience in their team was a big part. Players like Annie Foote, Freya Lodge, and Ellena Firth are all great prospects but it’s early days in their careers and this level of footy is no joke. They also perhaps lack a Gabi Rennie-esque goal scorer to build their attack around this season - Kate Loye and Kate Guildford are new recruits to this team and both played predominantly as midfielders last season.

Then also the Pride just couldn’t match the physicality or intensity of Southern, particularly at the back where they were under a lot of pressure trying to pass out once the initial midfield options were closed down. A lack of precision in those areas led to trouble. Too many turnovers in their own half. Gotta move that ball quicker, had they been able to from side to side more swiftly and get that narrow Southern defence sliding then that could have led to a few things. Plus maybe they were a little too eager to get their wingbacks forward – that’s usually a strength of this team’s but Southern doubled them up out wide and often had a spare runner wide on the break.

Mostly though this is what it looks like when there’s a long uncertain delay before a season begins and one team has a lot more continuity with last year’s squad than the other. It’s only week one. Cannot wait to see how these two teams react for the rematch in Dunedin in a few weeks.

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