2026 Women’s National League – Week 7
Auckland United vs West Coast Rangers
On a Thursday night at Keith Hay Park, we had a rescheduled match between the two most recent NRFL Premiership champions. Auckland United’s trip to China for the FIFA Champions Cup required this one to be postponed so they chucked it on a midweeker ahead of their bye week – meaning that for the only time this season we had every team in the WNL in action during the same round... including West Coast Rangers twice because they’d have to back it up a few days later against Otago Uni. But they would have been brimming with joy nonetheless after coming from two goals down to beat Fencibles 3-2 in their previous effort, Emily Lyon (wearing the captain’s armband here) having inspired that recovery. The 2025 NRFL champs fell back to fourth this year, not quite able to sustain the toe-to-toe they had going with Auckland United over the last couple years... but it’s always a good battle between these two.
No changes for WCR following that Fencies win – although it is a bummer to learn that Marissa Porteous did her ACL a few weeks ago so we won’t be seeing her again for a while, sadly. Several changes for Auckland United after they made it 5/5 with a 5-0 win over the WeeNix, overcoming some initial legginess following all their travel to capitalise on a few individual errors and run away with it. They rotated Natalie Olson, Laura Bennett, Rena Okutsu, and Halle Johnson into the side... which, as you can guess from those names, only made them stronger.
But you know what a game like this always benefits from? An early goal to the underdogs. Rangers got underway with plenty of excess vigour from last week and carried on the rapid goal-scoring when Shannon Henson broke down the line on the left, cutting the ball back wonderfully for Lyon whose goal-bound strike was blocked by Piper O’Neill and then Taylor Vujnovich had a shot blocked as well before Sienna Higinbotham slammed it into the net at her team’s third attempt. And with that Auckland United found themselves behind in a National League game for the first time this season.
Nor did Rangers settle. They wanted more. There was some danger with their high defensive line when Laura Bennett was running around on the other side though, with she and Okutsu both going close-ish with ambitious attempts. Lyon also tried her luck with a few long shots up the other end... and did actually get the ball in the net midway through the half but the flag denied her a goal (looking at the replay it was pretty close, though probably fair). The key thing is that there were no defensive mistakes from Rangers, they were on point with Dani Canham and Sienna Higinbotham chopping it up in the midfield and the backline locking it down behind them.
Despite some impressive counter-attacking moments (usually instigated by Bennett), United didn’t really look like scoring in that half. That is... right up until stoppage time when a Rena Okutsu free kick was parried around the post for a corner kick, from which Halle Johnson rose up and nodded into the back of the net to equalise with the last action before the teams hit the sheds. Another example of the American’s dominance in the air. Great ball in from Bennett too. Rangers scored right at the start of the half, United levelled up right at the end of it.
Charlotte Roche replaced Chloe Bellamy at HT to give United a more focal striker and further their intentions after the momentum shift of the equaliser. The second half was drastically different with AUFC as the aggressors, and they should have gone ahead five minutes after the restart when Bennett teed up Roche who bobbled her controlling touch six yards out when she probably ought to have shot first time. The assault continued with Granger unable to put a header on target from a mint cross by O’Neill and then Olivia Ingham figured enough of all that and struck a dipping shot into the net from a step outside the penalty area, clearing the keeper but flying under the bar. Superb goal off the left boot. And a few minutes later they had a third when Rena Okutsu collected a deep cross, angled onto her right foot, and placed a very good finish inside the far post. Sizzling footy from United – probably the best ten minute spell they’ve produced this WNL campaign. And guess who put the cross over for the assist? Laura Bennett, of course.
Henson and Lyon were still looking to hunt in behind for Rangers. Substitute Mila Morles clipped the near post with an effort. But as they pushed for a way back into the game, they got caught out again. Turnover in midfield and with the rest defence very high, Olivia Ingham put that left boot to use again by chipping the keeper from distance. An even more spectacular finish than the last one – who needed fireworks on Guy Fawkes Night when you had Olivia Ingham bringing the pyrotechnics instead (having said that, there were regular fireworks popping off in the distance throughout the game).
Talk about a game of two halves. WCR were brilliant in the first half and then got buried in the second, unable to handle the heat once Auckland Utd turned it up. Does make you wonder if it might have been different had they made it to the break with that lead intact, it really was a terrible time to concede, but in the end there was clear daylight between the sides. Nobody’s sticking with United when they play like that. 4-1 was the final score as Auckland Utd march onwards with their sixth win in a row.
Laura Bennett was awesome yet again. Without doubt one of the very best up-and-coming players in the country – she now leads the WNL with five assists. Olivia Ingham’s finishing, of course. We’re seeing her play through the middle a lot more at AUFC which puts her into goal-scoring situations more often and with four goals to her name, Ingham’s right there in the Golden Boot race. Piper O’Neill, Halle Johnson, and Saskia Vosper were among the other standouts. Six wins from six and if they want to, they can rest easy over the weekend knowing nobody can touch them – one more point from the last two games will confirm a grand final spot. You get the feeling they won’t be easing up though. By the way, that’s the only goal that Charlotte Eagle has conceded in 450 minutes of National League footy this season. The team did concede one other (Ruby Luxton for Canterbury United) but Blair Currie was in goal that day.
Auckland United 4-1 West Coast Rangers
Goals (Assists)
3’ | 0-1 | WCR | Higinbotham
45+2’ | 1-1 | AU | Johnson (Bennett)
53’ | 2-1 | AU | Ingham (Vosper)
55’ | 3-1 | AU | Okutsu (Bennett)
68’ | 4-1 | AU | Ingham (Roche)
Canterbury United Pride vs Waterside Karori
The Women’s National League was largely defined by Canterbury United during the 2010s but after losing to Otago Uni a couple weeks ago they were on a runaway train heading for woodenspoonsville. Not the way they’d want to go out before things go fully club-based next season. Goal-scoring has been the main issue and they were running out of time to fix it with only three more games left... so they pressed the emergency button and called up Margi Dias, who was fit and available after getting injured in the Rena Fitzpatrick Cup final for Cashmere Tech a wee while ago. The Southern League’s top scorer in 2026. And what do ya know, she scored after 25 seconds against Waterside Karori...
Strange place for the Pride to find themselves because they’d only scored twice all season (Mac Michael vs the WeeNix, Ruby Luxton vs AUFC) and both times they were already multiple goals behind when it happened. So this was their first lead, coming in their sixth game. How would they handle that responsibility? By promptly scoring a second, of course. Doubling their goal tally after committing numbers high up against Karori’s short goal kick, leading to Anika Lomax picking out Dias in the area, who slipped it wider to Maclani Michael. Ella McMillan tried for a desperate lunging block only to give the ball a deflection that took it out of reach of her goalkeeper.
Tell ya what, Michael had another good chance ten mins later that she flipped straight into the hands of Emma Andrew. Then a heavy touch from Dias cost her an opportunity, though Michael kept it alive and Dias got a second chance only to also be denied by Andrew. Sara Mann hit the crossbar with a shanked half-volley that almost ended up working out anyway. All that within twenty minutes of kickoff – more attacking vigour than we’d seen from them all season. What a huge and immediate difference Margi Dias made to this team.
The Wharfies had to do something about this very concerning situation. They were coming off their bye and the rust was evident at English Park. Only one change to their team since the unlucky 2-1 loss to Wellington United, with Ella McMillan sliding back into central defence in the absence of Jayden Watts while Jazz Shailer got a start in midfield. Watts is a big loss but this was still a strong team and there was no reason for them to be in this predicament... so Sophie Burchfield went running through the line to try get them going, although a quality stop from Amelia Simmers didn’t allow the American to chip her. But that moment did spark the Wharfies into life and five mins later they had one back... or so they thought. Marie Green converted on the end of a corner kick but a very late decision saw the goal chalked off for a foul on the goalkeeper. Bit harsh.
That got the Pride through to half-time but there was still a long way to go from there. Jess Woodside almost floated one in from deep, with Simmers tipping it over. That would have been a slightly fortunate one, however Karori really should have scored their next big opportunity when some good work from Taylor Cooper at right-back led to her cross being parried out to Burchfield... who fired over the bar on the rebound. Didn’t have much time to react but she did have most of the goal to aim for.
Chances were coming with much more regularity yet it wasn’t until the 8rd minute that the Wharfies finally scored one. Cooper intercepted a ball stepping up and Burchfield whipped an early ball in behind, with Jess Woodside taking advantage of a staggered backline to stay onside. Gassed it into the area and then chopped back onto her right foot to score. It was Woodside who scored against Wellington United in the previous game too. Bit of a breakthrough campaign considering she only recently celebrated her 16th birthday. Taylor Cooper is only one year older so to see them both involved in the same scoring move is really something.
The Pride almost hit back instantly when a Lomax shot took a chunky deflection and Andrew had to make a rather incredible save readjusting herself to the change in trajectory. Margi Dias couldn’t quite react in time for the rebound (similar to the Burchfield miss in the first half). But not to worry because the Cantabs held on for the 2-1 victory. Brilliant stuff at the back from central defender Chelsea Empson and goalkeeper Amelia Simmers in amongst. Olivia Hooper had another slick game in midfield, she’s been a real underrated performer in all these games. And of course Margi Dias provided the quality they’d been lacking up top. This win raised them up out of last place and if they can defend like that in their last couple they might just stay there.
Very disappointing from Karori who were slack to begin the game and then wasteful once they got going, relying on a 16yo local to finally put the ball in the net. Amelia Abbott did her best in midfield but it wasn’t enough. The Wharfies have got Auckland United and Eastern Suburbs to finish the season therefore they’re going to need to sharpen up if they don’t want this to get ugly. All four of their defeats have been close ones though, they’ve been competitive in every fixture.
Canterbury United 2-1 Waterside Karori
1’ | 1-0 | CU | Dias (Michael)
8’ | 2-0 | CU | Michael (Dias)
83’ | 2-1 | WK | Woodside (Burchfield)
Wellington United vs Eastern Suburbs
It was the biggest game of the round, it was arguably the most important game of the entire season to date. Wellington United only barely lost to AUFC in their first game, conceding deep in stoppage time to go down 1-0, and ever since then they’d won four on the bounce scoring multiple times in each of them. Eastern Suburbs were beaten a little more comfortably by Auckland United (going down 2-0 at home, albeit also putting up a very competitive showing – feels safe to say these are the only two teams who could give AUFC a challenge in a grand final). But the Lilywhites have been more comprehensive than the Diamonds in their other matches – winning them all to nil by at least three-goal margins.
With Auckland United having moved to 6/6 on Thursday night, there’s only room for one of these two sides, Diamonds or Lilywhites, in the grand final. If a victor emerged then they’d be in the box seat. A draw and we’d have a hung parliament with special votes (aka goal difference) likely to decide the outcome, assuming nothing silly happens from the rest of the fixtures... and in the mighty National League of Aotearoa you should never discount some delightful silliness. A very soggy Newtown Park was the venue for this critical game of soccerfootball.
For Wellington Utd, the big blow was having no Sarah Alder in the side, although Lara Smith did return to captain them in her absence. Marla MacInnes returned to the midfield and there was another start for NZ U17s rep Louisa Egley-Turner in the back three. Also one import was swapped out for another with the experience of Florin Wagner preferred in attacking midfield to the creative dynamics of Maddie O’Farrell (who was on the bench). For Eastern Suburbs, Kenya Brooke and TJ Anderson were the only changes, having each been rotated to the bench against Fencies last time.
Suburbs made the better start, with more possession and occupying some challenging areas. United handled it well though. Nothing to worry them until ten minutes deep when Erika Skindlov had a free kick tipped over the top by Molly Simons. It was very steady, concentrated football initially… but things opened up around the half hour mark. You might have assumed that would be prime territory for Wellington Utd to stretch their legs on the break but what actually happened was that Eastern Suburbs took the lead when Erika Skindlov made a powerful run up the left and then slide a perfect low cross for Ella McCann to slide over the line from close range. Seventh of the season for the WNL top scorer. First blood to the visitors.
Tell ya what else, they almost doubled it a few mins later when Jess Shilton decided to chuck one into the mixer from deep and a wonderful header from Ella Findlay was well saved by Molly Simons on the dive. There were some hints of Wellington getting a roll-on when an early ball from Rose Morton put Farina Anchico in behind except she couldn’t beat Nikki Whyte with her shot. And by the time the first half ended, they seemed pretty happy to get back into the sheds and reassess… a process that led to Olivia Gibbs replacing Natalie Brook at HT with MacInnes moving into defence – very likely as a way of combating the Skindlov Factor.
Gotta say the Diamonds resumed the game with great intent, looking like a team that believes they could win. It did take some slick defending from Egley-Turner to halt Maddi Ollington in the area but the hosts were equally threatening when Whyte had to slide out of her area to stop Anchico and then Pilley couldn’t get her long range chip on target with the keeper out of the picture. This was promising. This was encouraging. But then Skindlov got in behind MacInnes and once again sent a super ball into the area. Simons tried to punch yet the ball was out of her reach, falling instead at the feet of Anna McPhie, inside the six yard box, and while she didn’t exactly hit it with the middle of the bat, the ball still found its way into the net to make it 2-0 to the Lilywhites. If the first goal was important, the second was even more so.
Some curious tactical switches ensued from the respective coaches. Obviously Maddie O’Farrell had to get a run for the Diamonds as they tried to turn the tide… and it was around that time that they also swapped Egley-Turner from the left side to the right, giving Skindlov her third different marker of the afternoon. Suburbs took off Yukino Nishizono and chucked TJ Anderson into the backline which felt unnecessarily risky but TJA ended up doing a stellar job there. And there was certainly some defending to be done… along with the distinct possibility that Suburbs would kill it off with a third. Ella McCann had a couple more efforts, firing wide first time and putting a header on target. Then O’Farrell stuck the ball in back of the net… albeit her own net. She’d copped a push in the back as she tried to win a clearing header from a defensive corner so fortunately the OG didn’t count.
The major moment for Wellington arrived with fifteen to go when O’Farrell stepped into a turnover on the press and carried past Anderson’s challenge and into the box... only for her finish to let her down as Nikki Whyte made the save. Needed to score that if the comeback was gonna happen. Louisa Egley-Turner took a turn as an emergency striker, a tactic that’s all the rage across the National Leagues at the moment, but the Diamonds never did find a way through that impeccable Suburbs defence. Auckland United are the only team that’s managed to do that. 2-0 to the Lilywhites and the path to the grand final is now clear ahead of them, simply gotta take care of business against Canterbury United and Waterside Karori. Both are home games. Can’t argue with it. They’re one of the two best teams and they proved it with this victory.
Erika Skindlov was unstoppable, a puzzle that Suburbs didn’t have a solution to no matter how many options they tried. Two assists from the American… one to each of the Maccas. Ella McCann has seven goals and sits atop the Golden Boot ranks having found the net in every game aside from the AUFC match. Anna McPhie has four goals from midfield herself. And Nikki Whyte’s five clean sheets are also the most in the competition. Wellington Utd may have made a mistake leaving O’Farrell on the bench, and it would have been helpful if Pepi Olliver-Bell had been available, though picking Louisa Egley-Turner was a clever call. Such a good 1v1 defender already, buckets of potential. The Diamonds gave it a crack but lost to a superior team, so it goes.
Wellington United 0-2 Eastern Suburbs
32’ | 0-1 | ES | McCann (Skindlov)
52’ | 0-2 | ES | McPhie (Skindlov)
Otago University vs West Coast Rangers
It was back home for Otago Uni which meant they had a full squad to choose from with no uni exam conflicts like for the trip to Eastern Suburbs last week. There wasn’t actually much difference in that Varsity performance despite having to make seven changes – that game followed a similar pattern to all their others (except the 1-0 win over the Cantabs). But yeah, seven changes last time and seven more changes this time as Hamish Philip selected a team much closer to that from a fortnight ago when they got their only win. Even better, in fact, because Abby Rankin turned up in the midfield. The Dunedin City Royals and Southern United standout of recent years wasn’t originally named in their National League squad but did play a few excellent seasons with Otago Uni a couple years ago. Very handy mid-season addition. American defender Emily Dunkel and Shelby Jones were both back. Reese Palmer held her spot after a strong display up in Auckland. And so forth.
Their opponents at Logan Park were West Coast Rangers, playing their third game in eight days following an amazing 3-2 comeback win against Fencibles and then that second-half humbling in the 4-1 loss to Auckland City. This was the first of two South Island trips across the last three weeks. No Nicole Stratford so Charli Reo made her second start of the term at right-back. There was also a starting debut for Hayley Pirihi, the 15yo midfielder from Northland who had looked very sharp beyond her years (and above her size) in four previous substitute outings. With Ruby Burgess again in the line-up for Otago Uni, that meant each team had a starter from the 2026 NZ U15s squad... and they were in direct combat in the middle of the park.
It was obvious from the opening seconds that Emily Lyon’s strength and footwork were going to cause trouble... although she didn’t make the most of her first opportunity, unable to link with her support and shooting straight at Lauren Paterson. However, Otago Uni’s press was also causing issues, as it often does (it’s one of the main reasons they tend to start well but then fade in games), and a major figure in that was Burgess. Nothing to show for it beyond a couple long shots but they were getting into good areas.
They were also looking like conceding every time that WCR got a corner kick. Lauren Paterson did just enough with the first few but when Emily Lyon won a free kick down the left edge, with a similar angle of delivery to her corner kicks, the back post delivery took the keeper out of the picture and a courageous leap from Sienna Higinbotham did the rest. Five minutes later, Lyon’s next corner kick was headed off the crossbar by Valerie Hover. Varsity had no answer at set piece time.
Meanwhile, Burgess had been nudging the duel of the 15yo’s but that was before Hayley Pirihi collected the ball in a pocket of space in her own half and gave a little shimmy to create a passing lane to find Shannon Henson further up. Smart, subtle midfield work... Henson then handed off to Emily Lyon who curled in a lovely finish from outside the box to double the lead and continue her awesome form. Four goals and three assists this term. Once again, Otago University were tripped up in that middling part of the first half, although fair play this was the longest they’ve lasted before finding themselves in the typical 0-2 hole (the win against the Cantabs excluded).
Minutes that Otago Uni have conceded the first & second goals in each game:
Auckland Utd: 14’, 19’
Fencibles: 18’, 21’
Waterside Karori: 16’, 22’
Wellington Utd: 7’, 24’
Canterbury Utd: N/A
Eastern Suburbs: 15’, 20’
West Coast Rangers: 21’, 29’
They didn’t concede again though. Not even after losing Shelby Jones to injury later in the first half (Gracie Va'afusuaga replaced her at fullback). WCR continued to control things, playing some silky stuff through the likes of Lyon and Henson, yet things became a bit tepid there for a while. Rangers got complacent and kept trying to score perfect goals. And ten minutes into the second spell they paid for that when Otago broke up the left wing where Georgia Kennedy’s pace got her into a crossing position and Ashley Geusebroek pounced at the far post when the delivery made it all the way through to her. Put it into a great area between the advancing goalkeeper and the retreating defensive line and there ya go, the home side were back within range.
That snapped WCR back to attention and there were no further slips from then onwards. Valerie Hover and Mia Ferrentino did a lovely job keeping things stable at the back and the closest Otago ever got again was Jemma McCormick fizzing over from a low corner kick. Rangers almost added a third when a header from a corner (unless it was a punch from the keeper gone awry, hard to tell) needed to be cleared off the line by Va'afusuaga. Otago kept it out of the net regardless but they did have to accept a 2-1 defeat when the final whistle sounded. Got their second goal of the campaign and on the whole it was probably their second best performance after the Canterbury win... but with the Pride having turned over Karori the day before it did mean that Otago Uni have fallen back into last place with only one more game to go (they’ve got their bye in week nine). That’s against the WeeNix so they could get something out of that. Otherwise they’ll be hoping for the Pride to lose heavily to Eastern Suburbs and West Coast Rangers to overturn the goal-difference swing.
Conclusion from the Ruby Burgess vs Hayley Pirihi head to head: they’re both awesome and we’re going to see plenty more of both of them in the coming years. Enormous potential. Neither plays with any intimidation. Burgess covers so much ground, she presses well and has proven she can score goals. Pirihi plays with her head on a swivel, always active with great skill and vision.
Otago University 1-2 West Coast Rangers
21’ | 0-1 | WCR | Higinbotham (Lyon)
29’ | 0-2 | WCR | Lyon (Henson)
56’ | 1-2 | OU | Geusebroek (Kennedy)
Fencibles United vs Wellington Phoenix Reserves
There’s always a team or two each season who start brightly but then it turns out that they may have simply played a bunch of the weaker teams. Fencies won three of their first four games, all to nil, but those were against Karori, Otago Uni, and Canterbury Utd who it seems will all be lower half finishers. So perhaps this young squad was kinda flattered by that start... nevertheless the WeeNix are in similar territory hence this was a game they could target at home. No captain Rosie Missen but Mihiro Kisu did return to the side in the only change from their crumbled 3-2 loss to WCR last time they were in action (the only personnel change, that is, since they did shuffle the front four around).
The Phoenix Reserves have also beaten Canterbury and Karori and will face Otago Uni next week. They were coming off a hefty defeat to Auckland United in which a decent performance was marred by individual errors at the back. Two changes for them with Amelia McClintock into the midfield and Victoria George on the wing (Libby McMillan and Katie Pugh each missed their first games of the campaign). Still had four players with varying levels of A-League contracts: Addie Ferris, Freya Des Fountain, Sienna Candy, and Lily Brazendale.
The Nix were much busier to begin with, working hard off the ball with their pressing and counter-pressing. Fencibles, in contrast, were a bit more composed about their work. The problem was that nobody could keep hold of the ball. The clues were a little more in Wellington’s favour when they were able to get runners released in transition – although Brazendale seemed to have a magnetic attraction to the offside flag – but Hayley Miller said two can play at that game. When the WeeNix sloppily turned the ball over from their own attacking set piece, Grace Eng shifted it quickly to Miller who shaped up her marker and then curled in a stunner of a finish from twenty yards out.
Then they doubled it. This time from a more structured set piece situation. Mila Clark pumped it long into the area, Miller kept the ball alive, Makwana was probably shooting when she gave the ball a whallop on the spin but it turned into a perfect pass to Kisu at the near post who flipped it home... except that after a lengthy chat the officials decided it was offside. Teams were all ready to kick off; it must have been Miller who strayed from the initial free kick. There wasn’t an angle on the broadcast to show it so we’ll take them at their word. Reprieve for the WeeNix.
That meant it was still 1-0 at the break with that dose of magic from Hayley Miller all that separated them. Each team had tried a few other long shots (McDonald for WP and Young for FU got the closest) while Lily Brazendale’s running was only ever a stagger-step away from making something happen. Otherwise it was the defenders winning their duels, particularly (no surprises here) Mackenzie Rastatter and Freya Des Fountain.
And then Fencibles went ballistic. Grace Eng’s lobbed cross met a smart near post run and flick header from substitute Morgan Day to get the crowd on the balcony cheering a second goal that actually counted. Second assist of the day for Eng too. Then Mihiro Kisu got the goal she was denied earlier when she collected the ball in a crossing area wide left and decided to aim for the top far corner instead. Slapped it on like a postage stamp. Pretty similar spot to where Natalie Young placed the ball from a free kick five minutes later – a former WeeNix player, still young enough to be playing for them and showing what they missed out on with a superb goal. Great highlight for her amidst what has been tremendous season on the whole. This was her first National League goal and what a way to score it.
The Nix would’ve been reasonable in arguing they had the better of the first half despite being down... but fifteen blistering minutes from Fencies after the break thoroughly crushed them out of this game. However, the Nix would get one back when two of their scholarship players combined – Sienna Candy with the ball over the top, Lily Brazendale with the pressure running through, leading to a mistake from Angelique TuiSamoa stepping out that allowed Braze to tap home into an empty net. Rare lapse from the Fencies centre-backs leaving space for her to target between them. There was a decent chance for a WeeNix second when Isla Cleall-Harding rushed a first-time effort off target from distance with TuiSamoa out of position. Then another when Brazendale narrowly cleared the crossbar from a tight angle, her pace once again getting her beyond.
But then Fencies applied the finishing touches via Mille Loxton with only a couple minutes to go. Eden Chaytor, on as a sub, had gone on a mazy run towards the box only to be dispossessed. The ball ended up in front of Loxton who gave it a tonk which looped over the keeper, clipping the underside of the bar on the way home. Might have taken a deflection on the way, which would explain the weird trajectory. Regardless, that was five for Fencies. Loxton had been getting medical treatment right before that after getting clattered in a collision. Dusts herself off and scores a goal, that’ll make the pain go away.
That was the first time that Fencibles have won a game without a clean sheet and it was the first time that the WeeNix have scored in a loss. By the way, seven rounds deep (only two to go) and there STILL has not been a draw in this competition. Blistering second half performance from Fencies to take control though what really did it for them was the quality of their finishing. Addie Ferris, who has a youth development deal with the A-League squad and is therefore fourth in line at the club, has played two WNL games and conceded ten goals. She had a day to forget against Auckland United with several fumbles but there was nothing to blame her for here. She made a couple very nice saves in fact, including a late one to prevent Florence George from putting an own goal into her top corner. Ferris did all that she could yet the finishing was too good. Credit to Freya Des Fountain who once again showed why she’s got Football Ferns potential down the line. Cool to see Madison Sharkey involved for the first time this term, fresh back from the U17 World Cup (where she played alongside four of these Fencies players). And young Jada Szeto continues to tally up experience, having appeared in every game thus far (two starts, four subs).
This turned out to be a celebration of a different development club though. Fencibles won it easy in the end – and heavy within that was the influence of homegrown talents such as Grace Eng, Millee Loxton, Mila Clark, and Micaela Besley. Along with more experienced figures like Mihiro Kisu, Mackenzie Rastatter, and Hayley Miller, of course. Fencies have a bye next week and then wrap their campaign up by hosting Auckland United so this’ll most likely prove to be the high point of their debut National League outing. Pity they won’t be back next year because they’re certainly stronger than a couple of clubs that have qualified... but they’ll probably earn promotion and be back amongst the nation’s best before half their starting line-up celebrates their 21st birthdays.
Fencibles United 5-1 Wellington Phoenix Reserves
29’ | 1-0 | F | Miller (Eng)
50’ | 2-0 | F | Day (Eng)
54’ | 3-0 | F | Kisu (Thor)
60’ | 4-0 | F | Young
64’ | 4-1 | WP | Brazendale (Candy)
88’ | 5-1 | F | Loxton
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auckland United | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 19 | 18 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 2 | 16 | 15 |
| Wellington United | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| Fencibles United | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 12 |
| West Coast Rangers | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 13 | -4 | 9 |
| Waterside Karori | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 6 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 17 | -10 | 6 |
| Canterbury United | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 15 | -11 | 3 |
| Otago University | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 22 | -20 | 3 |
| TOP SCORERS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ella McCann | Eastern Suburbs | 7 |
| Aniela Jensen | Auckland United | 4 |
| Erika Skindlov | Eastern Suburbs | 4 |
| Mihiro Kisu | Fencibles United | 4 |
| Hayley Miller | Fencibles United | 4 |
| Anna McPhie | Eastern Suburbs | 4 |
| Emily Lyon | West Coast Rangers | 4 |
| Olivia Ingham | Auckland United | 4 |
| Ela Jerez | Wellington United | 3 |
| Halle Johnson | Auckland United | 3 |
| Sienna Higinbotham | West Coast Rangers | 3 |
| MOST ASSISTS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Laura Bennett | Auckland United | 5 |
| Sophie Burchfield | Waterside Karori | 4 |
| Erika Skindlov | Eastern Suburbs | 4 |
| Natalie Young | Fencibles United | 3 |
| Emily Lyon | West Coast Rangers | 3 |
| Grace Eng | Fencibles United | 3 |
| Hayley Miller | Fencibles United | 2 |
| Siobhan Edwards | Auckland United | 2 |
| Madeline O'Farrell | Wellington United | 2 |
| Stacey Martin | Eastern Suburbs | 2 |
| Saskia Vosper | Auckland United | 2 |
| Shannon Henson | West Coast Rangers | 2 |
| MOST CLEAN SHEETS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nikki Whyte | Eastern Suburbs | 5 |
| Charlotte Eagle | Auckland United | 4 |
| Zoe Doughty | Fencibles United | 2 |
| Molly Simons | Wellington United | 2 |
Next Week’s Fixtures
Fencibles United – BYE
Waterside Karori vs Auckland United
Wellington Phoenix Reserves vs Otago University
West Coast Rangers vs Wellington United
Eastern Suburbs vs Canterbury United Pride
Get on board with TNC’s Patreon, Substack, or Buy Me A Coffee if you appreciate the kiwi sports coverage and want to support what we do
Also helps to whack an ad, share our stuff on socials, and tell your mates about us