Canterbury United Pride vs Wellington Phoenix Reserves

A brand new season of glorious National League football in Aotearoa got underway with a couple of concurrent kickoffs in the Women’s competition. More on Central vs West Coast Rangers soon but first a very tasty contest at English Park between Canterbury United Pride – whose 2023 season was one of their worst in a long time as they only won two matches – and the Wellington Phoenix Reserves – whose 2023 season was their best ever as they won two matches.

The Pride wandered on out with Fat Boy Slim on the loudspeakers to take a 4-4-2 formation with a diamond midfield. Goalkeeper Amber Bennett would have recognised a few buddies on the other team from the recent U20 World Cup squad. Annie Gilchrist partnered Lily Fisher in central defence with Meg Simpson and Grace Johns out wide. Kate Loye sat at the base of midfield - like Gilchrist she’s an old CU fave returning after not playing last season. Lisa Evans and Bo Burton were the wider midfielders. Charlotte Mortlock took the ten role after spending the winter playing for Northern Tigers in Australia along with striker Nicola Dominikovic who was joined by Margi Dias up top. Dias spent the last couple years with Southern United but has moved back to her hometown team.

As for the WeeNix, their fluid movement made it tricky to pinpoint a formation though the dust seemed to settle on a 3-4-1-2 shape with five players amongst the starters boasting A-League contracts. Brooke Neary in goal. Mackenzie Greene joined usual CBs Ella McMillan and Marie Green in the trio. Manaia Elliott and Rebekah Trewhitt were the wing-backs. Elliott, of course, has a senior ALW contract... and so does Daisy Brazendale who partnered Alyssha Eglinton in midfield with Ela Jerez ahead of them. Olivia Ingham, also now with a senior contract, and Katie Pugh were the strikers. The ALW doesn’t kick off until November so expect to see a few first-teamers in Callum Holmes’ side to begin the National League. Also, Green, McMillan, Ingham, Trewhitt, and Brazendale made it five players fresh from the U20 World Cup. Neary, Jerez, and Eglinton are likely to be at the U17 World Cup in a few weeks.

The funky thing about the WeeNix is that most of their winter games came against boy’s U15s teams. They only played against other female sides when they met their own U18s and during the Kate Sheppard Cup... although a run to the semis of the cup did prove their readiness. Being an academy team, they’ve been training together all year whereas the Pride have that typical federation team problem of trying to build a representative squad with only a few weeks of preparation, if that.

Hence it stacked up that there wasn’t much freshness from either side in the early stages, in fact it could have been 2-2 after 15 minutes with defensive mistakes to blame for all of those chances. Nicola Dominikovic picked off a poor pass but was denied by a great save by Neary rushing out, with young Nix glovewoman also foiling Dominikovic from a similar situation ten mins later. Meanwhile Jerez hit the post after the Pride coughed up possession playing short from a goal kick and then Gilchrist saved some blushes with a goalline block to deny Ingham, who’d had the ball passed straight to her ten yards out.

Thankfully, the silliness eased up from there and when the WeeNix did eventually take the lead on 25’ it was from a thumping Rebekah Trewhitt strike on the overlap, in off the post after Manaia Elliot had drifted infield to send her fellow wing-back into space. A goal worthy of this auspicious occasion, that being the return of the National League.

The Nix wanted to get wide quickly with those wing-backs as high as possible for their attacks. The Pride countered that with a narrow formation that allowed players to drift out from central positions though mostly prioritising overloads in the middle of the park. So when the teams finally settled into their work, the Pride made sure this was a scrappy battle... which then suited their transitional attack and although the WeeNix were good value for their lead, that would prove as good as it got for them.

Lottie Mortlock equalised on 38’ when she lifted a bouncing ball over Neary from the edge of the area, punishing the Nix for being unable to build-up safely. They’d have trouble with that the whole rest of the way thanks to that Cantab overload. The stream then caked it for a few minutes but 1-1 was how it remained into the half. However, Canterbury United returned with a vengeance to bolster a 3-1 lead within five minutes of the second stanza getting going. The first of those goals was so rapid that it wasn’t picked up on the livestream (somebody tell FIFA+ to put some more money into this), but it was scored by Nicola Dominikovic. The second was a lovely low volley buried by debutant Bo Burton after Margi Dias’ cross had been insufficiently cleared by a Phoenix head. At which point it may be worth mentioning that the Phoenix supplied several of the defenders for the 2024 U20 World Cup squad that conceded 13 goals in three group games.

Those goals blew it open. The Nix rarely looked like a threat the rest of the way with the Pride winning far too many midfield battles. Substitutions rolled from both benches. One of those subs for Canty was Cashmere Technical’s Anna McPhie who has been scoring goals for fun from the midfield in the South Island League. Bit of a surprise she didn’t start this game having made 8/9 starts last year, but no dramas when she can step off the bench and do this...

Yeah go on then. 4-1 was the final score. Both teams had emptyied their benches by the end of it. If anything the WeeNix shaded this match until the Pride’s first goal but it sure flipped around from then onwards. Canterbury’s midfield overload was too much. They hunted down loose balls with more force and they moved the ball faster. Plus, keeping it a hundy, the WeeNix are going to have to become a lot more effective with their clearances if they don’t want to get picked apart like this on the regular. Still, Bex Trewhitt did give them some dynamism up the right flank, while Ela Jerez’s silky close control continues to amaze.

It took until week four for Canterbury United to win a game last season so for Shane Verma’s side to get a dub first up will be a confidence booster. Annie Gilchrist was excellent in defence, giving them the veteran presence that they perhaps missed these past couple years. Amber Bennett was good in goal, especially when it came to getting off her line. Obviously Mortlock and Dominikovich were influential – ND had a goal and an assist. They got energy from their subs as well... and this was without any sign of Lara Wall or Tahlia Herman-Watt who you’d assume will be their top choice fullbacks. To early to say the Pride are back but they’re at least ahead of where they were 12 months ago.

Canterbury United 4-1 Wellington Phoenix

Goals (Assists)

25’ | WP | 0-1 | Trewhitt (Elliott)

38’ | CU | 1-1 | Mortlock (Dominikovich)

46’ | CU | 2-1 | Dominikovic

49’ | CU | 3-1 | Burton

74’ | CU | 4-1 | McPhie

Central Football vs West Coast Rangers

In a concurrent kickoff at Massey University, Central Football’s Class of 2024 welcomed WNL debutants West Coast Rangers to the competition. A year ago, Central avoided the wooden spoon for the first time since 2016 thanks to a win against Ellerslie... but Ellerslie didn’t qualify this time. West Coast Rangers took their spot and then some, as the only team in the NRFL Premiership who were able to stay close to Auckland United on the standings. There’s not going to be a weaker Northern team this year and the Wellington Phoenix Reserves should be stronger in their second WNL swing... leaving Central in an unenviable position as the team that everyone else will consider the easy-beats.

But you never know how these things will go. For one thing, Central did make a very clever signing with Rosie Missen taking the temporary trip down the state highway after starring for Fencibles this year. Missen was at West Ham while Winston Reid was playing for the men’s team and was at Newcastle while Chris Wood was there as well. She and Woodsy even did a joint interview one time...

Missen went straight into the team for week one, no dramas there. Central have lost quite a few players since last season with a few moving on to the Welly Nix Academy and a few simply not playing WNL this time around which is why only five of their eleven vs WCR got minutes during the 2023 campaign: Maddy Hughes, Leonie Heck, Megan Thomas, Lilly Dowsing, and Charlotte Noakes. Central did have a very strong National Youth League side last year and there’s obviously been a push to get a few of them to make the step up. Standard Central Footy things, to be honest, they’re always amongst the youngest and least experienced teams. The other six players to start against WCR were: Zara Erol-Watt, Isabelle Dunning, Ella Third, Caitlyn Turner, Rosie Missen, and Sasha Rasmussen. Erol-Watt was the captain of that 2023 YNL squad (who finished second behind Wellington Phoenix) while Dunning, Third, Turner, and Rasmussen were also all involved. In other words, it’s Missen plus last year’s U17s to the rescue.

West Coast Rangers have been building towards this moment ever since so narrowly missing out on qualification last time. They did get the vicarious pleasure of seeing Marissa Porteous and Kendrah Smith bossing it for Southern United as guest players in 2023 (Shania McIntosh too, though she didn’t feature as much) but this time the whole squad has made it. Including Porteous who captained against Central for her 100th club appearance, and Smith who’d been playing for Essendon Royals in Australia. Rangers did a superb job of picking up fringe players from rival Auckland clubs earlier in the year and giving them more prominent roles. Andy Dunn’s starting eleven went: Joanne Peel in goal; Kailey Short, Nicole Stratford, Mackenzie Longmuir, and Ella Dorward across the back; midfield trio of Marissa Porteous, Erin Freeman, and Maisy Dewell; front three of Bree Johnson, Emily Lyon, and Shannon Henson. Lots of goals. Lots of ball-winners. Lots to prove as the club made its National League debut.

Aaaand that’s about where this insights end because FIFA+ had an absolute ‘mare with the streaming in week one. The picture quality was awful across the board with constant lag and interruptions. Sloppy camerawork, much of it from those automated VEO War-of-the-Worlds robots. The Pride vs Phoenix game didn’t even have a commentator. It was a mess... and perhaps for that reason only one of the four women’s games from Saturday has had its replay uploaded. Considering that like 80% of the promotion that NZF does for these games is just saying: watch them on FIFA+... for the games to then be unwatchable is pretty embarrassing. Curiously, the last kickoff on Saturday was a men’s game between Coastal Spirit and Wellington Olympic and that one was great. The match graphics were the same as last year’s, whereas the other games all had different looks, so perhaps they went back to the old software or something. Either way, this seems like something that could have been trialled long before the start of the Nats, especially with select games being broadcast through the year. What a shambles.

West Coast Rangers were way too good. They scored early through Emily Lyon (8’) and then further goals for Bree Johnson (17’) and Shannon Henson (36’) ensured their entire front three got on the scoreboard in the first half. Three-cap Football Fern defender Nicole Stratford then scored an unlikely double as Rangers made it a 5-0 victory, though they did seem to coast a little in the second half after being 4-0 up at the break. Porteous referred to it afterwards as “a little bit scrappy” but overall was stoked to put three points on the board at the first attempt. Games will get tougher from here but Rangers are prepared for that having done battle with Auckland United all year. Similarly, Central can reasonably expect this to have been one of their more difficult matches out of the way with... although with them it’s going to have to be development > results throughout this campaign. With nearly half their starters aged 18 or younger there’s no other way to view it.

Central Football 0-5 West Coast Rangers

8’ | WCR | 0-1 | Lyon

17’ | WCR | 0-2 | Johnson

36’ | WCR | 0-3 | Henson

45’ | WCR | 0-4 | Stratford

65’ | WCR | 0-5 | Stratford

Western Springs vs Wellington United

There’s an estimation that up to 90% of all films made during the silent era no longer exist. Well, this game has gone the way of Hitchcock’s The Mountain Eagle, Browning’s London After Midnight, and Von Stroheim’s original nine-hour cut of Greed (some films may have gotten lost for a reason, to be fair). The livestream bottled it and there haven’t been any highlights to emerge. As a result we miss out on what must have been a spectacular game of football.

Western Springs were inconsistent throughout the NRFL Prem campaign but their run to the Kate Sheppard Cup final (and a very commendable performance therein) showed the quality that they’ve got... quality that’s been multiplied with the sneaky addition of Aimee Phillips for the National League run. The Cashmere Tech striker played for Canterbury United last year but has joined a decent crop of ex-pros in this wider Springs set-up, including Liz Savage who started this match in attack.

Savage was one of seven players to retain their spot from the KS Cup final. No Rebecca Burrows here, nor the injured Megan Lee. Tiana Hill was also out having captained the side at North Harbour Stadium while Maia Lythe dropped to the bench. Going by the Springs socials, their line-up went: Amberley Hollis in goal; Arisa Takeda, Charli Dunn, Jaedeci Uluvili, and Ava Lewis across the back; Kitty Jacob partnering Alosi Bloomfield in midfield (Jacob had been starting striker in the cup final); Indigo Kirk and Rina Hirano on the wings; and Liz Savage playing off Aimee Phillips in attack. Pre-match line-up graphics aren’t always accurate but they’re all we’ve got in this case.

Wellington United were always likely to chuck in a few funky guest player additions of their own. Sure enough, there were five of them in the wider squad that they named: Pepi Olliver-Bell, Libby Boobyer, Danielle Ohlsson, and Caelin Patterson are all in from Petone, while Seatoun’s Samantha Miller is also on board. Miller didn’t play game one while Olliver-Bell only came off the bench. The other three all started. No Anna Green for this match, she was out injured. Also, Michaela Robertson is listed as a “Player Mentor” but dunno if Guillmermo Schiltenwolf will be able to convince her to lace them up alongside sister Jemma (who was also injured for the WNL opener).

Most of those guest players were also guest players last year and they’ve pretty much all played together for Capital rep teams over the years anyway. Not a lot of integration required – especially not with that Zoe Barrott/Caelin Patterson central defensive partnership. Good to see a return of the Natalie Olson/Dani Ohlsson wing combo as well. Also starting were Molly Simons (gk), Hannah Cooper, Nea Blackham, Jemma Catherwood, Carolyn O’Reilly, and Libby Boobyer. Zero foreign players in that line-up, by the way.

The fixtures were presumably made at random so there’s surely nothing malicious involved... but somehow Western Springs have been handed away games against all the other Auckland sides which means home games against most of the non-Auckland sides hence they won’t need to leave the City of Sails until weeks eight and nine (away to the WeeNix and Canterbury Utd). Seven matches in a row within their own city, how about that? Wellington United are also away to all the Auckland sides but, not being one themselves, that has the opposite effect. Tough yakka for the Diamonds so it was imperative that they began well. And that they did.

Nea Blackham gave Welly Utd a 20th minute lead which lasted into half-time. Maia Vink got a reaction from her crew as the second half got underway. It took less than three minutes for Rina Hirano to level things up, then on 55’ they were leading courtesy of Charli Dunn. However, that only lasted until the 61st minute when Libby Boobyer tied things back up again and then, would ya believe it, Natalie Olson turned up with an 88th minute winner for Wellington United. 3-2 final score. Sounds like a cracking game. If only we’d been able to see it.

Welly Utd’s four wins last year were all against the teams below them on the ladder while they lost to the four above them (and drew with Waterside Karori, whom they finished dead even with). Western Springs might not be on the same level as they have been these past couple years but they’re a dangerous side with some superb veterans and a proven production line of exciting young players – with Dunn, Jacob, Kirk, and Lewis representing the latter crew in this match. Ava Lewis was even awarded WSAFC’s Player of the Match – not bad for someone who was playing NYL a year ago. So for the Diamonds to roll up to the 09 and bring back three points to start their season is a huge achievement and it goes to show you can’t be sleeping on those capital clubs. Other than Central (apologies to Central but we all know the score), this is shaping to be an extremely competitive Women’s National League.

Western Springs 2-3 Wellington United

20’ | WU | 0-1 | Blackham

48’ | WS | 1-1 | Hirano

55’ | WS | 2-1 | Dunn

61’ | WU | 2-2 | Boobyer

88’ | WU | 2-3 | Olson

Waterside Karori vs Auckland United

While the technical gremlins also claimed this broadcast, the folks involved did manage to salvage some highlights. Praises to the folks. Those highlights were scratchy and blurry enough to explain why we only got highlights but it was sure better than nothing.

Curiously, while Wellington United have summoned the help of a handful of players from rival clubs (mostly Petone), Waterside Karori don’t seem to have done anything at all. The only differences to the eleven from the 1-1 draw with Wellington United that ended their winter season (and gave the championship back to Welly Utd) were Tessa McPherson and player/assistant coach Jennifer Larrick replacing Nicola Ross and Lizzie Ingham (who were both on the bench instead). The Wharfies do already have import quality in American striker Kendall Pollock and Canadian winger Nikki Furukawa (Larrick is also American, as is head coach Tory Schiltgen who is leaving for a job at the Phoenix after this season). Not to mention Sarah Morton’s Football Ferns caps. But it is a little surprising they haven’t tried to bulk up like other clubs are doing. Full line-up: Annie Foote (gk); Mei Burden, Daphne Ranta, Jess Shilton, Sarah Morton; Jennifer Larrick, Kennedy Bryant, Tessa McPherson; Renee Bacon, Nikki Furukawa, Kendall Pollock.

Even Auckland United have bulked up. They’ve won everything there is to win this year going undefeated in the process and still they felt the need to add Kaley Ward to their group. One of the most reliable WNL goal-scorers of the past decade... and a former Waterside Karori player. It’s almost rude of AUFC to have done this – at least they left her on the bench to begin with. Otherwise they were almost identical to the walk-on side that won the Kate Sheppard Cup final two weeks ago with Pia Vlok for Alexis Cook on the right wing being the only alteration. Vlok is fresh from NZ U16s duty and should make the U17 World Cup squad. AU’s team went: Hannah Mitchell (gk); Talisha Green, Greer Macintosh, Chelsea Elliott, Saskia Vosper; Yume Harashima, Chloe Knott, Danielle Canham; Pia Vlok, Rene Wasi, and Charlotte Roche.

By all available accounts, it was Auckland United dominance throughout the first half... granted, those available accounts are AUFC’s own media so take it with a grain of salt. They did go close a couple times, like when Elliott headed over from a corner or when Vlok shimmied a shot past the post, yet the scoreboard was empty at half-time and the Wharfies were good value for it. They’re a well-coached outfit with an impressive set of defensive soldiers who always give more than they get (looked to be a back four in this game, whereas they usually had a trio last year – the difference being Sarah Morton sliding to left-back instead centre mid). Also, AUFC did lose their captain Talisha Green after only ten minutes, subbed off with Kate O’Connell on in her place. Had to have been an injury so fingers-crossed it’s nothing bad.

The breakthrough arrived after 53 mins when Charlotte Roche strayed out onto the wing and lifted a lovely cross over for Rene Wasi to nod home. Auckland United up 1-0. Roche was subbed off for Ward straight afterwards, while the Wharfies had already chucked on Nicola Ross to shuffle their backline. Ross is a fullback but she replaced CB Shilton who’d copped a head knock – Morton moving infield instead. Auckland United do score plenty of goals but their defensive record is what wins them everything. Usually a 1-0 lead is enough... but here it wasn’t. 62nd minute and one of the midfielders stepped up onto a loose ball. Coulda been Bryant, Larrick, or maybe even Morton... impossible to tell from the vision but it does look a lot like something Bryant would do. Whoever it was, they lobbed the ball forward on the stretch and Kendall Pollock did the rest with some primo goal-poaching.

From there it was actually the Wharfies who threatened to go on and win the thing, putting AUFC’s undefeated calendar year into the vulnerable zone as Mickey Mitchell made a huge 1v1 save against Pollock and Furukawa hit the post in the remaining minutes. United would strike the woodwork themselves through Canham. Had to be a 1-1 draw at Martin Luckie Park.

Once again: don’t go sleeping on the Capital clubs. Auckland United had won 29/31 games this season across all competitions scoring 94 goals and conceding only 13. The Wharfies had them on the ropes for at least a short while there, joining Eastern Suburbs and Fencibles as the only teams to have avoided defeat in any capacity against Auckland United this year. If that doesn’t spur them on in this competition then nothing will. Doubt Auckland Utd will freak out too much, there’s too much championship heritage in this side for that. But if they have trouble at home against Eastern Suburbs next week then it’ll really blast this competition wide open.

Waterside Karori 1-1 Auckland United

53’ | AU | 0-1 | Wasi (Roche)

62’ | WK | 1-1 | Pollock (Bryant)

Eastern Suburbs vs Southern United

Thankfully, the livestreams were back on form for the Sunday slate. That only included one WNL match but, having rightfully criticised what was dished up on Saturday, it’s only fair to rightfully praise the coverage of this match (and others in the MNL on Sunday). Back to the old graphics, the picture was in high-def with multiple cameras and quality commentary. That’s the way to do it. Happy days.

Coincidentally, this was also the opening fixture for both of these teams last season. That match was in Dunedin and Eastern Suburbs won 1-0 thanks to a banger goal from Charlotte Wilford-Carroll (who’s since moved to Oz, playing for Blacktown Spartans, and doesn’t seem to have resurfaced for the WNL)... however Southern had the last laugh as they ended up qualifying for the final. There’s been huge change for Suburbs since then. Lots of new players and even a new coach in Footy Ferns centurion Katie Duncan. The hosts had Nikki Whyte in goal. Erinna Wong, Yuki Nishizono, Kenya Brooke, and Hannah Saxon across the backline. Saki Yoshida in midfield with Zoe Benson and Shion Hwang operated slightly further ahead. Sofia Garcia and Putri Ardana were the wingers with Britney Cunningham-Lee up front.

BCL played for Ellerslie in last year’s WNL but spent the winter with Franklin United a division below the top flight. Great addition to the cause – she struggled to make an impact with an overmatched Ponies side last year but Suburbs should give her more room to do what she does best. Garcia was one of several Western Springs players to move to the Lilywhites this year. Ardana is a candidate for the impending U17 World Cup, as is Saxon (who made her WNL debut last year with a lone bench appearance). Yukino Nishizono played that Southern fixture a year ago but then must have gotten injured because that was her only game.

Southern United have predictably kept the spine of last year’s fantastic team in tact, although striker Amy Hislop is out injured and will probably miss the first couple of weeks. And while Southern have lost the wonderful contributions of Marissa Porteous and Kendrah Smith, they’ve diversified their outside interests instead. Stacey Martin and Danica Urlich-Beech have joined from Hibiscus Coast up in Auckland. Georgia Keen and Millie Scott have joined from Adelaide’s Metro United over in the Southern NPL of Australia. All things combined, their starting team went: Lauren Paterson in goal; Toni Power and Sam Woolley at fullback; Hannah Mackay-Wright and Alisa Tuatagaloa in central defence; Rose Morton and Georgia Keen in midfield with Abby Rankin slightly more advanced; and Stacey Martin as the centre-forward with Bianca Park and Millie Scott in support.

Interesting that both strikers were outside signings: BCL and Martin. It was a windy afternoon at Madills Farm but the dogs managed to stay off the pitch as Southern began by knocking the ball around comfortably for a few minutes... until Cunningham-Lee snuck through and fizzed a shot slightly wide with the first decent chance going back the other way. It was also the best chance of the entire first half. Otherwise we had ourselves a scrappy midfield battle with lots of heavy challenges and some supremely assured defending and there wasn’t enough creativity on show to bust up that formula. Rose Morton managed to overlap into the area a couple times. One of those led to a wonky cross for Scott which could have been a moment. Suburbs did plenty of repelling with Whyte rushing out to beat Morton to a through-ball and Yoshida beginning to get plenty of touches. But it was a calm nil-all as the teams reassessed at HT.

Zoe Brazier replaced Shion Hwang for Suburbs when the teams returned. Hwang is 18 years old and scored an incredible 35 goals for Melville United last year, leading to her move to Eastern Subs. She’d been bright in that first half but they did probably need to change the approach. Not that it worked. Zoe Benson had a half-chance shooting high from a broken-play drive but otherwise Southern’s defensive line was engaging quickly and not giving them room to get in behind as forwards like BCL and Garcia would have thrived upon. Meanwhile Southern’s attack was down a couple first-choice players (Hislop and probably Urlich-Beech too) and similarly struggled to find any room to shoot from. Both teams found set pieces to be their main encouragement, with Power heading a corner into the hands of Whyte for SU and Brooke glancing one header wide before looping another onto the crossbar. Nobody was arguing when this one ended 0-0.

Southern United made the last final despite starting worse than this so they’ll be sweet with a point and a clean sheet on the road. Rose Morton was absolutely everywhere, at times slotting into the backline to cover and at times dashing into the attacking penalty area. Winning tackles everywhere... and she found a combative ally in Australian Georgia Keen. You’re not wandering through that midfield unscathed. Mackay-Wright and Tuatagaloa were awesome at the back – standard from HMW but Tuatagaloa was on WNL debut (although she is a capped Samoan international). Kris Ridley’s team did perhaps miss Margi Dias as that dribbling threat out wide but their defence is going to be equally as strong as it was last year and that’s a very sturdy foundation to build upon.

Eastern Suburbs might be a little more annoyed at not having won at home. Not that they created enough to justify anything more. Cohesion was a factor, with the team still adjusting to BCL as a different sort of striker. Last year Charlotte Lancaster bossed the show but she’s not around at the moment... and they also don’t have the widespread creative vision of years gone by with no Tayla O’Brien, Deven Jackson, Nicole Mettam, or Nicole Cooper. O’Brien was on the bench as an assistant coach but doesn’t seem to be playing at the moment. Zoe Benson is a great option but she was too deep to influence things. They’ll just have to find better ways to unleash their forwards... but, like their opponents, they’ll be doing so with a wicked defence to steady them. Kenya Brooke was fantastic here, having really emerged as a leader in this unit over the past two years. Yoshida as always. Youngster Hannah Saxon enjoyed her first WNL start, even getting into the scrappy stuff in the second half. Good fun but no goals. There was not a single 0-0 draw in the entire Women’s National League during 2023 so let’s hope this is the last of its kind for 2024.

Eastern Suburbs 0-0 Southern United

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