2026 Women’s National League – Week 5
Wellington United vs Waterside Karori
For the past decade, two teams have dominated the Women’s Central League. Shout out to Petone who have been there and thereabouts too but the last nine titles have been shared between Wellington United (seven) and Waterside Karori (two). This is only the fourth year that Wellington club teams have been included in the National League (rather than a Capital Football federation team) but there’s been success there too with Karori making it to the 2024 grand final while Wellington United were only one point shy of matching that achievement last year. With Auckland United running clear at the top there was only room in town for one grand final contender, making this a must-win game either way.
Wellington Utd brought Natalie Brook back into the eleven, meaning Marla MacInnes could return to midfield. That was their only change after the 4-0 win against Otago Uni. Karori made a couple following defeat against the WeeNix: one was Ariana Gray getting a second start in goal, another was Ella McMillan returning in the midfield, third was their exciting young forward Jessica Woodside getting back into the starting eleven for the first time since week one. The scene was set at Martin Luckie Park... and away we go.
Very immediately there was an insane save by Molly Simons diving to double-palm a snapshot from Sophie Burchfield at close range from a corner kick scramble. At the other end it was Hannah Pilley glancing a header off the post. Chances for both sides, particularly from set pieces... though all in all it was a bit scrappy. Lots of contested ball and not much sustained possession either way – good spotlight for Rose Morton and Amelia Abbott doing elite defensive midfielder things, at least.
As the game wore on, it was the Diamonds who were slowly turning the screws in the territory battle... but it ain’t so easy to break down this Karori unit. Their active defensive work is so good – Ava Hipkins, for example, is making a real habit of her tough tackling at fullback. But when you keep the ball in good areas, prosperity usually ensues eventually. Five minutes before half-time, Maddie O’Farrell stepped onto a clearance in midfield and took one touch to set herself up on the bounce and with nobody close enough to stop her, she swung through a half-volley about as sweetly as it’s possible to hit one of those.
And not long into the second half she scored an even better one. The Wharfies had begun the spell with a surge in energy, looking like they might have an equaliser in them, only for United to add a multiplier to their deficit from damn near thirty yards out. They’d defended the initial break well by getting numbers in front of Pilley to force her to pass backwards... yet that backwards pass turned into an assist when O’Farrell swung a boot through and let the top corner of the net accept the charges. Yeah, wow.
Two up in a game like this, the Diamonds were right where they wanted to be. They continued to take regular pokes and prods towards a possible third goal with Jerez, Pilley, and O’Farrell being the obvious suspects. The closest they got was when Pilley lobbed Gray with a header only for Jayden Watts to be patrolling the goalline to make the clearance, then Gray pushed away the effort from O’Farrell that followed. That turned out to be a critical phase of play because within two minutes Karori scored to get back into it. Ella McMillan’s initial dipping strike was touched onto the crossbar by Simons only for Jessica Woodside to swoop it over the line on the rebound. We’ll give EM the assist for that, sure why not. Fine reward for Woodside’s busy work too.
The Wharfies hadn’t looked like scoring for ages until that moment. Suddenly they had some momentum and Woodside might have promptly equalised had Morton not stepped over to prevent the shot. But nah, there wasn’t enough time left and the Diamonds saw it through. Natalie Orellana put a free kick narrowly over and a huge appeal for handball with the last action of the game went unheeded. No dice there and thus Wellington United took the biscuits thanks to Maddie O’Farrell’s spectacular brace.
Three wins on the bounce for Wellington Utd, who did deserve the points if you’re judging it on the overall flow of the match. This raises them up to second in the standings until the Wednesday night game where either Fencibles or Eastern Subs will overtake them. Game-changing quality from Maddie O’Farrell with the goals. Great platform set by the likes of Morton and MacInnes in midfield, while Lara Smith led another strong defensive showing for the Diamonds who are yet to concede multiple times in these Nats. Can’t sat that for the Wharfies who were well up for this one but didn’t get the same magic from their Americans as what their opponents did. That’s three defeats already so we can scratch Karori out of grand final contention, especially as they haven’t had their bye or played Auckland United yet. They were close... though that’s rarely any consolation after a derby defeat.
Wellington United 2-1 Waterside Karori
Goals (Assists)
40’ | 1-0 | WU | O’Farrell
53’ | 2-0 | WU | O’Farrell (Pilley)
80’ | 2-1 | WK | Woodside (McMillan)
Otago University vs Canterbury United Pride
Having already seen the two South Island teams in the Men’s competition do their thing on Friday night, the rivalries continued on Sunday with another southern clash. And a very valuable one since both Otago Uni and Canterbury Utd entered this game having lost every game thus far. Goes without saying that this would be both teams’ best chance of putting some points on the table.
The Pride had a few players back for this one and that presented Courtney Napa with a conundrum: how to fit them all in? The solution was to go to a back three with a couple of defensive midfielders capable of dropping in when the situation required it – allowing them to get Mac Michael and Liv Deane on the wings plus Anya Stephan and Ruby Luxton in attacking roles through the middle. Lots of dangerous players all out there at once. Otago Uni made quite a few alterations, most notably welcoming back their centre-back duo of Emily Dunkel and Madison Kay.
As has been the case in most of their games, Otago Uni got started with plenty of enthusiasm and set about trying to score an early goal. They almost got one when Georgia Kennedy ran onto a super through ball from Jemma MacCormick but wasn’t able to beat Amelia Simmers in the 1v1, good goalkeeping to get up and close the angles. Ruby Burgess made a similar run in behind later on where her touch got astray and Simmers again made the intervention. Bit of space in behind that Pride backline though. Where Canterbury were finding encouragement was mostly through Mac Michael on the left wing, albeit nothing really came of those excursions. Best instance was a cut-back for Marina Ishimoto who sliced a shot wide from inside the area. Otherwise we’re talking about a game where the defenders and defensive midfielders were mostly getting the better of their match-ups.
Until this happened...
It took 394 minutes but Otago University finally scored a goal in the National League. Four shutout defeats in a row before this... and it was 15-year-old Ruby Burgess who broke the drought. She’s one of the shining lights coming through in Otago footy. On loan for the WNL from Dunedin City Royals so we should continue to see plenty of her at this level next year. Burgess captained the NZ U15s earlier this year – mentioned this in previous weeks but, incredibly, five of that squad have already played National League (Ruby Burgess for Otago Uni; Hayley Pirihi for West Coast Rangers; Ruby Barber, Elsie Sroufe & Jada Szeto for the WeeNix) and three of those five have now scored goals (Burgess, Barber & Sroufe).
The Pride’s search for a reply involved a couple crosses that didn’t quite reach their intended targets in challenging areas. They also had to rely upon Amelia Simmers making another stop against a runner in behind, this time it was Kennedy once more. Very heartening stuff from Varsity, with Jemma McCormick and Ruby Burgess getting quick ball forward from those midfield areas to make use of the turnovers they were forcing with their aggressive defence. All of which meant that not only had they scored their first goal but they also completed their first half of footy without conceding.
There were changes at the break by both teams. The Cantabs tightened up the defence by bringing on Ruby Dixon for Liv Deane. Defender for an attacker, not the usual move when down 1-0 but this was for the balance of the side. Otago Uni chucked on Gracie Va'afusuaga (for Kennedy) over on the right wing. Nothing tactical there so potentially an injury. Anyway, with Dixon out there the Pride entirely cut down those runners in behind but that wasn’t going to be enough... they still needed to find a goal from somewhere and there just wasn’t any space available against a front-foot Varsity defence. Michael switched to the right side for the second half and had next to no joy against American fullback Shelby Jones. It almost got worse for them when Hannah Barclay sliced her way into the box but couldn’t finish past the outstretched leg of Simmers. Another superb last-ditch save from the Pride goalie.
We’d seen plenty of tough defensive mahi from Otago Uni over the previous month. They always spoiled it by conceding in flurries but it wasn’t like they hadn’t shown their capabilities before and this was obviously a more forthcoming match-up than Auckland United or Wellington United. Such was the extent that they rose to the occasion, they didn’t even need their goalkeeper, Lauren Paterson, to add anything to her wicked save compilation. The Pride just couldn’t get anything going. Otago Uni avoided adding to the seven goals they’ve already conceded in the final twenty minutes of games and instead celebrated a clean sheet victory at sounding of the final whistle. No doubt the coach would have preferred the safety net of a second goal but Varsity controlled that game very competently after taking the lead.
And there you go. Sometimes you’ve just gotta target certain games. All the other fixtures were bonuses for an Otago Uni squad with even more inexperience than they have youth but this was a game they could circle on the calendar for a couple of reasons and they turned in an ideal performance for the occasion. Ruby Burgess and Jemma McCormick with Morgan MacCormick patrolling behind them made for a wonderful midfield trio that was winning plenty of ball but also making smart decisions with it. Everyone put in a shift but Shelby Jones deserves an extra shout for some commanding fullback work. They’re still the lowest-scoring team with the worst goal difference but they’re no longer last in the standings.
The Pride perhaps left themselves a little too open in that first half and it’s been the case in all four games that they just don’t have much of a goal threat. They put all their best options out there for this game and stilll weren’t able to get in behind or win their duels. It was a harsh one and they’ll have to pull a rabbit out of the hat to avoid the wooden spoon after this, with Welly Utd, Karori, Eastern Subs, and WC Coast Rangers to follow. Amelia Simmers was awesome though. And once they got that Empson-Dixon CB combo reunited they pretty much locked it down from there. Problem was the damage had already been done, limited damage though it may have been,
Otago University 1-0 Canterbury United Pride
35’ | 1-0 | OU | Burgess
Fencibles United vs Eastern Suburbs
One more game to get to from this week’s activities and it was pushed back all the way to Wednesday night. That delay would have been so that some of the younger players for the home side could partake in the Napier U19s tournament. That strategy worked out beautifully for Fencibles United as they won the trophy, beating Ellerslie on penalties in the final with a squad that included Natalie Young, Grace Eng, and Millee Loxton who all rushed back to be in the starting line-up to face Eastern Suburbs at Riverhills Park. Fencies were unchanged from the side that beat Canterbury Utd 2-0 down south... including second starts for new additions Angelique TuiSamoa (GK) and Saige Thor (RB). Thor swapped from the left side to the right in order to deal with the dangers of Erika Skindlov. Eastern Suburbs were previously in action losing 2-0 to Auckland United. Yuki Nishizono returned for the injured Zoe Barrott while Nicole Mettam was also back in the eleven so pretty steady from them too.
TuiSamoa had to tip one away from a curling Skindlov strike a mere 22 seconds after the opening kickoff and that rapid start had a rapid reward when the two Ellas combined to put Eastern Suburbs ahead in a hurry. Deep curling cross from Findlay, ghosting run and an unchecked close finish from McCann. Amazingly, that’s the third time that McCann has scored inside three minutes of a game this season – the other two were actually in the first minute (vs WCR and the WeeNix). She’d draw another save out of TuiSamoa with a header not long after.
That is not how you want to start against Eastern Suburbs (even though been it’s pretty common with Ella McCann around). Fencies were under huge pressure and they did well to slow things down and get a bit of balance back... though it took more than twenty minutes for a decent chance of their own and that was only because of a misplaced Suburbs pass (Hayley Miller got the interception and shot wide from just outside the box). The Lilywhites were bigger and more physical and it was frustrating their hosts. Sure enough, a second goal ensued when Maddi Ollington threw a shimmy to get to the byline where she crossed one onto the head of Erika Skindlov making the quick-burst run in front of her marker.
The things that’ve been working for Fencies in other matches just didn’t work against the Lilywhites. There was no space out wide to progress through and keeper Nikki Whyte swept up when anything got in behind. The tricky stuff from Mihiro Kisu and Tineke De Jong didn’t lead to anything. Natalie Young battled hard to no avail. The second half was a bit more encouraging as they quickened the tempo but Eastern Suburbs weren’t done yet. It had taken a crazy save from TuiSamoa to push a Skindlov effort onto the crossbar in an earlier instance, however she couldn’t prevent McCann from adding her second in the 68th minute. Deep free kick flicked on by Jess Shilton and McCann’s half-volley from the corner of the six yard box was superb. Great contact on the spin. Wonderful finish from a tricky angle.
Three minutes later, Skindlov collected a short throw, spun her marker, and then curled in a beauty of a finish from the left wing. Probably not a coincidence that those goals came after Fencies had replaced their three U19s champs as they reached their physical limits. A fifth goal arrived later when McCann dashed into the area and, despite being on a hat-trick, squared the ball for Maddi Ollington to score. One more great save from TuiSamoa prevented it being six when she palmed away an RVD header off a corner. No matter for Suburbs, five was more than enough. Very convincing win to get the train back on the tracks following that defeat against Auckland United.
In four games, Eastern Suburbs have only conceded twice and those were the two goals that Auckland United put past them. Nobody else has yet breached this backline. Rebekah van Dort led the way as per, while Nikki Whyte has now kept three clean sheets. Ella McCann is the new Golden Boot frontrunner with five goals and her teammate Erika Skindlov is only one behind (as is Aniela Jensen of AUFC). Skindlov has been doing this stuff all year, no surprises there, but it’s been awesome to see how good Ella McCann has performed since returning from a long ACL recovery. The finishing is on-point. The hold-up play goes down a treat. She’s strong, she’s fit, she moves well. More than enough to remind you why she signed a scholarship deal with the Wellington Phoenix back before her injury.
Fencies weren’t even that bad... they stuck in midfield and couldn’t find any solutions to the ESAFC defence but Rosie Missen was great in central defence (they need two of her, somehow, so that she can play CB and CM at the same time) and even though Angelique TuiSamoa conceded five, she prevented at least that many more. It was only in the last quarter of the match that it got away from them (after they got tired and after they subbed on a few youngsters). It’ll require sweeping the rest of their games (including Auckland United) to make the final from here but that’s fine this isn’t a squad that was expecting to win the whole thing at the first attempt. It’s a young group with one of the very best development records in the country over the past five years seeking to gather up experience at the top level so that they can go back and get themselves promoted to the National League in a year’s time. And with the talent coming though, they’ll probably do exactly that. But Eastern Suburbs, as in the NRFL Premiership, remain a class above.
Fencibles United vs Eastern Suburbs
3’ | 0-1 | ES | McCann (Findlay)
37’ | 0-2 | ES | Skindlov (Ollington)
68’ | 0-3 | ES | McCann (Shilton)
71’ | 0-4 | ES | Skindlov (Brooke)
84’ | 0-5 | ES | Ollington (McCann)
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auckland United | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 11 | 12 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 9 |
| Wellington United | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
| Fencibles United | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 9 |
| Waterside Karori | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 6 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 6 |
| West Coast Rangers | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 3 |
| Otago University | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 16 | -15 | 3 |
| Canterbury United | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 10 | -8 | 0 |
| TOP SCORERS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ella McCann | Eastern Suburbs | 5 |
| Aniela Jensen | Auckland United | 4 |
| Erika Skindlov | Eastern Suburbs | 4 |
| Mihiro Kisu | Fencibles United | 3 |
| Hayley Miller | Fencibles United | 2 |
| Natalie Orellana | Waterside Karori | 2 |
| Sophie Burchfield | Waterside Karori | 2 |
| Margot Ramsay | Waterside Karori | 2 |
| Ruby Barber | Wellington Phoenix | 2 |
| Halle Johnson | Auckland United | 2 |
| Ela Jerez | Wellington United | 2 |
| Hannah Pilley | Wellington United | 2 |
| Madeline O'Farrell | Wellington United | 2 |
| MOST ASSISTS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Natalie Young | Fencibles United | 3 |
| Sophie Burchfield | Waterside Karori | 3 |
| Erika Skindlov | Eastern Suburbs | 2 |
| Hayley Miller | Fencibles United | 2 |
| Siobhan Edwards | Auckland United | 2 |
| Madeline O'Farrell | Wellington United | 2 |
| MOST CLEAN SHEETS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Charlotte Eagle | Auckland United | 3 |
| Nikki Whyte | Eastern Suburbs | 3 |
| Zoe Doughty | Fencibles United | 2 |
Next Week’s Fixtures
Waterside Karori – BYE
Canterbury United vs Wellington United
Eastern Suburbs vs Otago University
West Coast Rangers vs Fencibles United
Wellington Phoenix Reserves vs Auckland United
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