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

And, well... that was it for the weekend’s WNL action. The Wellington Phoenix Reserves had their bye while Auckland United’s game vs West Coast Rangers has been postponed due to the FIFA Champions Cup. And this game between Fencies and Suburbs has been pushed back to Wednesday night – going to assume that decision was some combination of the long weekend and the Napier U19s tournament. Check back later in the week and we’ll update this yarn to incorporate the rescheduled fixture. Will save the Team of the Week stuff until afterwards too (check for those in our Substack newsletters or cross-posted on TNC’s Facebook).

PWDLGFGAGDPTS
Auckland United44001211112
Wellington United43018359
Fencibles United43017259
Eastern Suburbs32017256
Waterside Karori52038716
Wellington Phoenix420267-16
West Coast Rangers310236-33
Otago University5104116-153
Canterbury United4004210-80
TOP SCORERS  
Aniela JensenAuckland United4
Ella McCannEastern Suburbs3
Mihiro KisuFencibles United3
Erika SkindlovEastern Suburbs2
Hayley MillerFencibles United2
Natalie OrellanaWaterside Karori2
Sophie BurchfieldWaterside Karori2
Margot RamsayWaterside Karori2
Ruby BarberWellington Phoenix2
Halle JohnsonAuckland United2
Ela JerezWellington United2
Hannah PilleyWellington United2
Madeline O'FarrellWellington United2
MOST ASSISTS  
Natalie YoungFencibles United3
Sophie BurchfieldWaterside Karori3
Erika SkindlovEastern Suburbs2
Hayley MillerFencibles United2
Siobhan EdwardsAuckland United2
Madeline O'FarrellWellington United2

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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Written by Nick Robinson On Tagged