The stage was set at North Harbour Stadium, with Auckland United one game away from an absolutely unprecedented achievement. Not only were they on the brink of a quadruple (something that Auckland City men did in 2022) but they were also ninety minutes (maybe more) away from going through the entire calendar year undefeated (something that 2022 ACFC did not manage to do). All they had to do was beat the only team that they’d played and failed to beat already in 2024.

Waterside Karori held United to a 1-1 draw back in week one of the National League when Kendall Pollock’s sharp finish (62’) cancelled out Rene Wasi’s earlier effort (53’). That was one of three draws that AUFC had experienced across 40 previous matches. The other two were against Eastern Suburbs in April (rallying from 2-0 down thanks to a couple of Wasi goals in the last twenty mins) and against Fencibles in August. They’d won everything else. NRFL Premiership, OFC Champions League, Kate Sheppard Cup... and there was only this National League grand final to go.

But they didn’t have Chloe Knott. One of AUFC’s star players was unavailable for the big game which opened the door for 16-year-old Pia Vlok to make an unexpected start. Already established as one of the country’s most exciting attacking prospects, Vlok hasn’t actually featured much for United this year. An U17 World Cup and also the U16 Oceania Championships (aka qualifying for next year’s U17 WC... which she’s still eligible for) have kept her otherwise busy. But she did play last week and set up two goals.

Otherwise, the line-up was pretty much as per for the defending champs. American keeper Hannah Mitchell was in goal having kept more clean sheets (5) than goals conceded (4) during the Nats. Talisha Green and Saskia Vosper gave them two experienced and rugged fullbacks, while the Chelsea Elliott/Greer Macintosh centre-back combo has been as good as any in the country these past couple years. Yume Harashima, the outstanding Japanese import, was in her usual defensive midfield role. Vlok was joined by 19yo club fave Danielle Canham as the more advanced midfielders. Golden Boot winner Charlotte Roche was the striker. Then Rene Wasi and Alexis Cook were slightly brave selections out wide... leaving AUFC with such riches as Paige Satchell and Kaley Ward on the bench.

Travelling up from Wellington were opponents Waterside Karori. Whereas United had won eight on the trot since these two teams drew in week one, the Wharfies lost their unbeaten run with a 2-0 defeat away to Southern United – a game in which they rested a couple of key midfielders (Emma Starr and Tui Dugan)... and then got utterly swamped in the midfield. Karori have a very settled side and they were basically at full capacity for the main event. That started with Annie Foote in goal. Sarah Morton has played all over the place for them this year but her immense influence was decided to be of best use in central defence alongside 18yo Daphne Ranta – who is the one major youth player within an otherwise experienced team (although you wouldn’t know it to see her play). Nicola Ross and Mei Burden were the fullbacks. Tess McPherson in defensive mid. Emma Starr and Tui Dugan returned ahead of her - Starr had scored in her previous four matches. And up top was the speedy and powerful trio of Nikki Furukawa, Renee Bacon, and Kendal Pollock. Pollock, one of two Americans in the starting eleven alongside Starr, was on course to win the Golden Boot for most of the year until Roche pipped her with doubles in each of the last two rounds. Another connection: Ward and Vosper both played for WKAFC last year.

It had been drizzling in Auckland throughout the morning and this game did not escape the slipperiness, particularly in the first half (it began to clear up afterwards). Keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that when Waterside Karori faced West Coast Rangers two weeks ago, in what felt like an unofficial quarter-final, they blew them out of the water with three goals inside of 11 minutes, inspired of course by Emma Starr. This is a fast-starting team who had scored 11/18 goals in the opening half hour of games. That’s what they do. That’s how they play. But 75 seconds into this match they were already losing...

Yes, it’s a goalkeeping mistake. Foote’s been very good this season but that one snuck through her grasp. It was also a confident effort from the youngest player on the park, fighting through a challenge to win the ball and then unleashing a well-placed shot. Visions of what she’s already capable of... visions that we’d continue to see as she skipped around challenges all game.

You just can’t be giving a team like Auckland United, with that supreme defensive record, an early lead. Karori did manage to find an equaliser last time they faced this lot but it wasn’t looking good for them as United fed off the energy of their lead, dominating this game in its early stages, leading to a second goal not so very long after the first. This was also self-inflicted: Morton with the shallow back-pass, Ranta and Foote each unsure who should go for it, Foote stepping up to try and challenge, and Charlotte Roche charging through to block the clearance and convert into the empty net for 2-0 after 12 minutes.

Fantastic work from Roche who continues to bring that tenacious spirit. She’s never had a problem scoring goals but since moving to Auckland United this year you can really see how she earns them with fearless direct runs and complete determination. But, mate, this was a disaster start for Waterside Karori.

The frustrating thing is that the Wharfies settled into the game afterwards and were actually pretty good, especially at the back. Daphne Ranta was winning clearances and reading the play nicely. Emma Starr was beginning to get some touches – her battle with Harashima was always going to be a blockbuster... although it was Saskia Vosper vs Nikki Furukawa that was getting the crowd on edge. There was another frisky moment for Annie Foote when she rushed out of her area and clipped Rene Wasi but she only gad to cop a yellow card. Foote then made a good low save from the Chelsea Elliott free kick before an even better save tipping a deflected Wasi shot onto the post. Roche also flicked a header wide from a Vosper cross.

As the sand filtered through the hourglass with the score still at 2-0, we did begin to see some Wharfies goodness. In particular were a couple of crosses from Furukawa, one of which was grasped by Mitchell and the other was touched wide by Dugan. However, it remained 2-0 into the break and Auckland United carried on without a worry. There was one good block by Macintosh against a Furukawa shot on the counter but United weren’t fazed. Nope, no worries at all. So it was that they scored their third of the afternoon. Charlotte Roche again. Alexis Cook had intercepted a loose ball on the right, then centred for Canham who kept it going to Vlok who fed Wasi out wide. Wasi put on a burst of pace and then stabbed a ball across. Foote spilled it. Roche slammed it in off the crossbar. That’s the third game in a row in which Roche has gotten a double. Auckland United were cruising towards the championship.

Although maybe not so fast because the cruise ship had to stop for maintenance when Mitchell made a good one-handed save to deny Ross and then, from the corner, Nikki Furukawa pinged an effort top corner to make it 3-1 and give the Wharfies some hope...

Just prior to that, they’d also made a substitution with Jess Shilton brought on at centre-back, leading to Ranta sliding wide on the right. Karori were spurred on by the goal, raising the temperature at North Harbour as they rallied in search of another one. Yet that meant leaving space on the counter attack... and this was right about the time that AU subbed on Paige Satchell to run into said space (and also Kaley Ward to orchestrate those breaks).

Vlok skipped past a tackle and slammed a shot off the post. Karori adjusted again with Liz Ingham on at right-back and Sarah Morton moving into midfield. A Ward flick-on found Canham who whipped it off the top of the crossbar. With twenty minutes to go, it seemed United had withstood the Karori retaliation. There’d be another in the closing stages but by time was running out.

Foote made a great double-save off Wasi and then dove on the loose ball to make it a triple stop with Ward lurking. Ward ran onto a bouncer in behind the defensive line and lobbed a shot wide, perhaps getting carried away when she did have room to bring the ball down. To be honest, AU should have scored at least a fourth, if not a fifth, goal from the chances they had. Meanwhile, Penny Brill subbed on in the United midfield, while Alaina Granger and Jess Philpot would join the action near the end. WK threw on striker Emma Kruszona in place of Ross as the last throw of the dice. There was a wonderful header from Kendall Pollock in stoppage time, getting up onto a Bacon corner, but Hannah Mitchell made a great stop and yeah, nah, there ya go. Auckland United are National League champions... again.

This was a high-calibre final with some great technical footy on display. But Auckland United were pretty comfortable victors, blazing out to an early lead and then managing things from there. They should have scored more except the subs kept messing up good counter-attacking moments. Also, Ben Bate did sub off Charlotte Roche (on a hat-trick) with half an hour still to go which was a contributing factor. They already had the goals they needed though. Roche with another brace – her fourth in nine matches this WNL campaign. Her overall game has developed so much with United, that precision emerging in her touch and her movements, but the goals have always been there. Roche has scored 20 goals in her past 21 WNL games. There might not be an active player in the league who can claim a better streak than that. She scored the winner in the Kate Sheppard Cup final and she got a double in the National League grand final.

But she wasn’t the game MVP... that honour went to the youngest player on the field. Pia Vlok scored the opener and was involved in plenty more. Standing in for the absent Chloe Knott, she took it upon herself to spark United’s attack and she did exactly that by constantly slipping and sliding past tacklers and making things happen. This felt a lot like Ela Jerez in the 2023 KSC final or Stipe Ukich in the 2024 CC final where an elite up-and-comer chooses a massive occasion to let everyone know how good they are. There are shades of ex-teammate Ruby Nathan about how Vlok plays, given her height and close control, though Vlok plays deeper as a midfielder. Would say learn the name... but if you watched this final then you already have.

No clean sheet for AUFC, which is a rarity, but they defended great regardless. Yume Harshima largely took Starr out of the action, or forced her deep, while Vosper and Green set a tone out wide with hard-tackling and constant running. And Hannah Mitchell was very good when called upon, particularly dealing with crosses. What else can you say? They’ve been the best team all year by a distance and this was a fitting way to cap it off.

The unbeaten streak is now 49 games, stretching back to round two of the 2023 National League when Auckland United lost 3-2 to Eastern Suburbs, a Nicole Cooper hatty doing the business there for the Lilywhites. Would be nice if those two draw each other in week one of the next NRFL Premiership with the half-century on the line. That milestone is still to be determined. The achievements of 2024 are set in stone. 41 games played. 37 victories with 4 draws and 0 defeats. 118 goals scored and 18 goals allowed... meaning that they also reached the +100 goal difference mark with this game. They won all four trophies that they competed for. They’ve conquered all that they see before them. Now it’s up to Auckland United to do it all again in 2025... and it’s up to the rest of the country to figure out a way to rise to this level. A new standard has been set.

Also, extra points for Talisha Green, Greer Macintosh, Chelsea Elliott, Yume Harashima, Danielle Canham, Rene Wasi, and Alexis Cook who started (and won) both the 2023 and 2024 WNL finals. Brill and Vlok also came off the bench a year ago. And of course for head coach Ben Bate who has orchestrated this whole thing.

Speaking of last year’s final, the beaten captain on that occasion was Rose Morton of Southern United. The beaten captain on this occasion was Sarah Morton of Waterside Karori. Every year they beat a Morton sister in the final, damn. Despite that pesky trend, Morton was excellent in this game (apart from her role in the second goal conceded), leading by example as always with her attitude and effort. Daphne Ranta copped some damage along the way but produced another composed and impressive defensive outing for someone so young. Nikki Furukawa never stopped trying to break through and scored a well-placed goal.

The issue for the Wharfies is that they’ve only had five goal-scorers in the WNL and with Emma Starr getting marshalled in the middle they really struggled to find other ways to threaten. They’re not really a set piece team, although they did score from a corner here. The counters weren’t happening. The wide players struggled for room. The pipeline to Kendall Pollock was cut off. And, worst of all, they were playing with a deficit the whole way. That’s not going to get it done. Given that all three goals were preventable it makes you wonder what might have been. But that’s big-game experience for you. Auckland United had it and Waterside Karori did not. The champs are the champs for a reason.

Auckland United 3-1 Waterside Karori

Goals

2’ | AU | 1-0 | Vlok

12’ | AU | 2-0 | Roche

51’ | AU | 3-0 | Roche

53’ | WK | 3-1 | Furukawa

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