2026 Women’s National League – Week 1
Waterside Karori vs Fencibles United
We’ve got National League footy during the Daylight Savings months one last time. It’s the end of an era as the WNL federation teams fall away one by one and we prepare to shift into a full winter season. No worries there, seasons change and eras end while National League footy keeps rolling onwards in whatever format happens to be the soup du jour.
One of the trends of the end-of-year National League is seeing the players from the team that missed qualification from the big three in the Central League divvied up amongst the two that did make it. Sure enough Waterside Karori have done their due diligence by picking up Jazz Shailer, Marie Green, and Emmy Lantz from Petone to add to what was already an impressive squad. Skylar Cornell has also arrived to add to their import contingent alongside top scorers Natalie Orellana (11 goals in Central League) and Sophie Burchfield (20 goals in WCL). You might also be interested to know (if you didn’t already) that former Wellington Phoenix A-League reps Amelia Abbott and Ella McMillan are both with the Wharfies.
Fencibles have done some loan business too because in their starting eleven for this game was Western Springs standout Sienna Makwana. This was a return to this stage for Waterside Karori and a debut at this level for Fencibles. The Wharfies have also qualified for 2027 but Fencies will have to get themselves promoted since they didn’t have the backlog of results over the past five years for that one, despite having had a far superior season to Western Springs. No dramas for Makwana... she’ll just play both.
But she won’t play as much as she’d have preferred for Fencies because the Western Springs Player of the Year was red carded after seventeen minutes against Karori, marched for chopping down Sophie Burchfield who was running in on goal. Makwana was shocked by the decision. Definite foul but there were other defenders around her... then again none of them were going to stop Burchfield with her pace from going through on goal. Dunno if there’d have been too many complaints if it had only been a yellow but it is what it is and Fencies had to do the rest of it with ten women.
Which they handled really well. What had been a pretty open game to that point with plenty of defensive duels and lots of long shots and a heap of through balls towards willing runners... continued on in the same fashion even after the red. Mihiro Kisu dropped into a hybrid wide role on the left to cover Makwana’s absence and Fencies simply kept up the good work. Same deal after they lost their other starting fullback (Makwana’s more of a midfielder but she played fullback here) when Micaela Besley wasn’t able to continue after a collision.
Besley’s one of the many, many impressive prospects coming out of this club these days. Barely a New Zealand age grade team goes by without the name ‘Fencibles United’ included in there somewhere. That was emphasised by their 2025 National Youth League championship and Besley was part of that squad, as was Grace Eng who played the first half of this game in midfield (subbed at HT for Charlize Kerr... another of that NYL group). Millee Loxton too, who go the last 20-ish mins here in midfield. As were Eden Chaytor, Mila Clark, and Morgan Day who, along with Besley, have all been named for the upcoming U17 World Cup. Chaytor and Clark didn’t play but Day also got minutes off the bench. And the star of that show was surely Mikaela Bangalan who is now with the Wellington Phoenix.
Clearly they’re doing something right because on top of all that national age grade presence, and a heavy prominence in those Auckland FC U17s invitational squads too (AFC also called up Zoe Doughty, the USA import goalkeeper for Fencies, for that Chelsea friendly)... they won this game. Ten women for more than seventy minutes but a supreme pass over the top from Natalie Young (from Hamilton Wanderers via the Wellington Phoenix Academy) set up Hayley Miller for a clever dinked finish shortly before half-time and what do ya know. Can’t speak highly enough about the weight and angle on that pass from Young. Then Miller then did the rest, with defender Marie Green unable to prevent it from crossing the line.
Bringing Kerr on at HT freed Kisu to move higher up again while Tineke de Jong took on a few more midfield duties. But the buzzy thing about it is that if you’d tuned in late and didn’t already know that Fencibles were playing with ten, you wouldn’t have realised it. That’s not to say that Karori were without their moments of threat, since their American forwards did skew a few chances. Not at their best on this occasion. But they were no closer to an equaliser than Fencies were to scoring a second despite playing a woman down. They didn’t shut up shop, they didn’t park the bus. They merely kept on doing what they’d been doing – much of which can be described as: letting Natalie Young cook.
They could do that since the other thing about Fencies is that their defence has been outstanding all year. Take out the games against Auckland United and Eastern Suburbs (in which they never conceded more than three times in any of those six combined meetings) and they only conceded six goals in 15 games against everyone else. That includes WNL qualifiers West Coast Rangers. The Wharfies were prolific in the Central League but they were without Renee Bacon in this game and perhaps hadn’t faced too many defensive units as cohesive as this. Mackenzie Rastatter was awesome. Zoe Doughty in goal had a near flawless game. Fencies stayed cohesive despite losing both fullbacks in the first half and using a bunch of homegrown teenagers. And they earned three points on the road to show for it. A tremendous result in their National League debut.
Waterside Karori 0-1 Fencibles United
Goals (Assists)
17’ | RED | FU | Makwana
42’ | 0-1 | FU | Miller (Young)
West Coast Rangers vs Eastern Suburbs
West Coast Rangers could hardly have made a worse start to this WNL campaign. They took the kickoff and knocked the ball back and around. Keeper Jo Peel lobbed a pass out towards the left wing where it was jumped on by Jess Shilton for Suburbs. A shanked clearance from Valerie Hover kept the threat alive and then a first-time strike from Ella McCann went straight at Peel who fluffed it. 25 seconds from the ref’s whistle to the ball being in their own net. It was a goalkeeping error on the end of a sloppy spell of play but what a start for the Lilywhites... and what a start for Ella McCann: a goal with her first touch on debut for her new club.
McCann previously had a scholarship contract with the Wellington Phoenix but she tore her ACL at the U20 World Cup two years ago and never got to feature in an A-League matchday squad. Shilton’s also a new addition to this Lilywhites team, a versatile defender last seen at National League level for Waterside Karori before spending a couple years with Alamein FC in Australia. Two very useful additions for Eastern Suburbs to back up their championship aspirations – having already lifted the Kate Sheppard Cup and only missing out on the NRFL Premiership title to Auckland United on goal difference. No major additions for WCR between regionals and nationals. They were a distant fourth in the NRFL, not quite the force they’ve been the last couple years though still a very recognisable side under Andy Clay’s coaching and Marissa Porteous’s captaincy. Three Americans in this starting eleven: CB duo Mia Ferrentino and Valerie Hover plus midfielder Sienna Higinbotham who also played last year.
It could have been even worse WCR had Stacey Martin not headed over from eight yards in the third minute – really should have doubled the lead there. Rangers began to settle into the game thanks in part to the mobility of their front three rushing around but unfortunately those encouragements went out the window when Maddi Ollington got in behind and was dragged down by Mila Morles who promptly saw a direct red on 23’. Already a goal down and now a player down too. Peel and her CBs did do well to prevent Ollington from rounding and scoring the next time she dashed through... but there was no reprieve when Erika Skindlov skipped past Nicole Stratford a bit later and squeezed a shot under Peel, who got a strong hand on the ball yet it still crept inside the post. Hate to say it but that was another preventable goals. Having said that, Peel did make a wicked save off Anderson at the end of the first half.
Poor Jo Peel’s afternoon ended early when she had to be substituted after getting a knock from McCann. Both were entitled to go after a loose ball but the wet conditions meant that McCann slid into Peel a bit heavier than intended. On came Maddison Day... and five minutes later she got tackled by a pressing Skindlov in her own six yard box and chalk that up as the third goal from a goalkeeping error for Rangers. With two different keepers responsible! At least the fourth (and last) one they conceded was different. This was was merely a simple case of Maddi Ollington shooting onto the crossbar and Ella Findlay being in the right place to pop it in.
So to recap... West Coast Rangers conceded after 25 seconds because of a goalkeeping error, got a red card midway through the first half, conceded another one from a keeping error, lost their starting goalie to an injury, conceded another one to a keeping error, and eventually leaked a fourth. Plus the weather was soggy and miserable. When your luck is out, it’s out. The frustrating thing is that while sometimes, in a league like this, you will see a goalkeeper who is out of their depth (usually a young one not quite ready for this level)… that wasn’t the case here. Both Peel and Day made quality saves outside of those isolated errors. But you just can’t compete when you gift them three soft goals like that.
The Suburbs back four were wonderful at cleaning everything up but you know what? WCR were still able to get at them a few times and perhaps they might have found some joy if they’d had the benefit of one more number... particularly if their best striker, Emily Lyon, had been playing. Lyon recently got back from the U20 World Cup and across the board those players were almost all rested in week one. The only woman from that U20s squad who National League this week was Mackenzie Green for the WeeNix. Charley March did get limited minutes for Auckland United’s NYL team while Laura Bennett played and scored for Melville’s U18s last week (prior to joining Auckland United) but that ain’t the same thing.
Point being that on a day when damn near everything went wrong for West Coast Rangers and they ended up getting smoked 4-0 by one of their rivals... it might not be a wise idea to judge WCR based on those ninety minutes. Feel free to jump to conclusions about the might of Eastern Suburbs though. They have potentially the best goalkeeper in the competition with Nikki Whyte and their backline is magnificent. Yuki Nishizono had a super game. New signings Shilton and McCann fitted in immediately while they tried something different with Zoe Barrott in midfield this match. Ollington and Skindlov were uncontainable. Absolutely no reason why this Lilywhites team cannot win it all.
West Coast Rangers 0-4 Eastern Suburbs
1’ | 0-1 | ES | McCann
23’ | RED | ES | Morles
35’ | 0-2 | ES | Skindlov (Martin)
63’ | 0-3 | ES | Skindlov
79’ | 0-4 | ES | Findlay
Auckland United vs Otago University
The presence of Otago University was quite the surprise when the National League draw got announced. Canterbury United are having one more swing at it but Central Football withdrew (hence there are bye rounds this year) while Southern United have done something in between by phasing themselves out with the help of Otago Uni. Not Dunedin City Royals but Otago Uni... and it’s noteworthy that only a couple of youngsters from DCR popped up in the squad announcement. Royals have qualified for the 2027 Nats so presumably they’re all taking a step back to get ready for that, both players and club, hence Otago Uni have pounced on the opportunity.
Looking at the Varsity squad, it’s mostly the same players who’ve carried them through the season... although they have lured back goalkeeper Lauren Paterson after she crossed the Tasman for a spell with Adelaide City (Paterson has been excellent for Southern United for a couple years) and in true Southern Utd fashion they’ve added a handful of players from other local teams (Charlotte Grey and Morgan MacCormick from Roslyn Wakari most significantly), a couple from the best-placed Auckland team to have missed qualification (Hannah Barclay and Tatiana Mason at Ellerslie), and a couple American imports with Shelby Jones and Reese Palmer travelling over from Arcadia University Knights. From one uni team to another.
Yeah righto but they had to play away against Auckland United in week one. Welcome to the big time, ladies. AUFC did lose Grace Bartlett who has joined Peterborough in England following the U20 World Cup but there must be a waitlist for Auckland Utd signings because they never have any worries with finding replacements: like how about Natalie Olson and Danica Urlich-Beech? Two proven goal scorers who’ve been playing in Australia. Blair Currie as well, an age rep NZ goalkeeper who played for Wellington United last WNL season alongside Olson and more recently had a spell in Finland. Oh and the Melville prodigy Laura Bennett who is one of Aotearoa’s most exciting teenaged attacking talents (also fresh from the U20 WC). The other news is that Auckland United have promoted Alexander Barlow to head coach with Jo Dawkins stepping aside.
Otago Uni were prepared for the challenge as they set up nice and compact without the ball. Plenty of room on the outside but you can’t cover everything, can you? It took a dozen mins before Shev Edwards dragged a strike wide from the top of the area with Auckland Utd’s first chance of any significance - some quality resilience from Otago Uni considering the task at hand. Of course, the next chance that fell the way of Edwards, she thumped it into the onion bag for 1-0. Stemmed from Talisha Green getting around her marker to the byline and Varsity weren’t able to cut out the cross properly. Rebounded to Edwards and bang. Five minutes later a magical long pass from Halle Johnson, an American import, exploited a rare creak in the Otago Uni rest defence to allow Olivia Ingham to go surging past at speed and she completed the 1v1 finish to double the lead.
But Auckland Utd didn’t score again for a very long time. Didn’t really make the most of the areas they were getting into. Perhaps a bit too impatient at times. Definitely some rust after not playing for a few weeks. Gotta give credit to that Otago Uni defensive shape though, with Mason having a strong game in central defence while Paterson was as reliable as ever between the sticks. Of course, AUFC were already two up so there wasn’t any need for urgency... though clearly it was going to take some guile, rather than brute force, if more goals were to follow. Step up Aniela Jensen. She put two away in the closing stages while substitute Charlotte Roche added a fifth in stoppages.
Three late goals really blew the scoreline out... granted, you could kinda see it coming once AUFC dipped into their inimitable bench stocks and were able to accelerate things against a tiring defence (they also seemed to go to a back three around that time, allowing for more width and an extra striker). Would have happened sooner except Roche missed a couple good looks, hence she must have been relieved to apply the final flourish to the result. Roche is not that far removed from returning after an ACL injury. Jensen’s second finish was the pick of the bunch – she’s been in Football Ferns squads before (uncapped) and continues to prove that she’s too good for this level. Getting a pro gig overseas isn’t always a simple task however she was part of the Auckland Invitational team that played Chelsea a few months back so perhaps she’s holding out for a local A-League spot. Hefty win for the defending champs, though they did have to work for it against a dogged Otago Uni resistence.
Auckland United 5-0 Otago University
14’ | AU | 1-0 | Edwards
19’ | AU | 2-0 | Ingham (Johnson)
87’ | AU | 3-0 | Jensen (Lawson)
89’ | AU | 4-0 | Jensen (Okutsu)
90+3’ | AU | 5-0 | Roche (Vosper)
Wellington Phoenix Reserves vs Canterbury United Pride
And here we had the last of the federation teams, Canterbury United Pride... a few years removed from the all-conquering team that owned this competition for the best part of a decade, winning six titles between 2013 and 2020, but still hanging around after Capital Football disappeared into club representatives and Central Football withdrew to focus on the youth league and Southern United manoeuvred into Otago University. The last federation team standing... although the cynics might argue that the Phoenix Reserves occasionally resemble a NZ Football fed team.
After a sterling season from Cashmere Technical, going undefeated on the way to the South Island League trophy and making it to the Kate Sheppard Cup final, no surprises that the bulk of this Pride squad hail from that particular club. Not necessarily the best players though, it has to be said, with Lily Fisher not there after an injury-addled season, Kate Loye absent, the Auckland imports Laney Strachan and Kailey Short not there either, nor Philippines international Maya Alcantara. Of the starting eleven for the KSC final, only four are carrying on into National League: Keogan, Brugh, Dias, and Stephan.
However they do have a five-strong contingent from Universities of Canterbury (Dixon, Lomax, Deane, McKenzie, Jamieson) after their excellent South Island League season along with a similar number from Coastal Spirit (Simmers, Empson, Hawkins, Woollett, Hooper) plus Shiloh Jenkins from NW United. Mac Michael is a funky one too... multi sport athlete who is back after scoring bundles of goals in the lower tier American college leagues. They’re coached by Courtney Napa of Coastal Spirit.
Their hosts and opponents were the Wellington Phoenix Reserves, playing on the NZCIS grass same as the bloke had done the previous day. The WeeNix named a pretty youthful side even by their own standards. Mackenzie Greene (captain) was the only one here who played at the U20 World Cup with the rest of them presumably included on the preseason trip across the ditch with Bev Priestman’s A-League team. Pia Vlok and Zoe Benson have A-League deals so don’t expect to see them playing much WNL. But Lily Brazendale, Alyssha Eglinton, Brooke Neary, and Freya des Fountain should all pop up at opportune moments this season. As for the youthfulness, well, Jada Szeto (midfield) and Elsie Sroufe (forward) were both in the starting eleven having partaken in some NZ U15s stuff earlier this year.
It was very wet and very grey in Wellington on Sunday. Windy too... windy enough to have the corner flags dancing around like those inflatable tube men you see at car sales yards. Not easy conditions since the wind didn’t allow the Nix to play a killer ball on the end of their rehearsed passing patterns from the back and into midfield. It also largely prevented Canterbury from being able to clear their lines. Scrappiness ensued and there wasn’t a decent chance until about 26 mins deep when Katie Pugh whacked one on target after a goalkeeping clearance had been charged down, although Chelsea Empson was in the right place to clear it. There was nobody within a cooee of Elsie Sroufe a few minutes later though...
Let’s just take a second here. Elsie Sroufe is 14 years old and has scored in the National League. An NZ U15s international this year and almost certain to move into the U16s programme next year. She was also the top scorer for the Phoenix U18s in the Central League with five goals, including a hat-trick against Seatoun. The goal vs Canterbury was a sitter thanks to the non-existent marking (a rarity during this game, to be fair) but Sroufe still impressed with her strength and quick feet on the ball. Now that’s what we’re talking about. Breakthrough young talent right out of the National League gates.
From there, Maisy Donald doubled the lead very early in the second half thanks to a sharp turn to go past her marker after the Pride had failed to clear their lines leading to a typically powerful finish for the left wing-back. McDonald had a really good National League season last time, an all-action player originally from Southland. But the Pride pulled one back via Mac Michael shortly afterwards as Nix keeper Sophie Yeoman couldn’t hang onto a slippery cross and then Michael’s attempt was partly blocked. Evie Baird nearly got tangled up in the net unable to stop the ball from sneaking over. Liv Deane was on hand in case it hadn’t already crossed the line. Very messy goal to concede.
That response opened the game up, encouraging Canterbury to get on the front foot a bit more. Mac Michael had a couple runs where she wasn’t able to get a shot away in time, usually because Evie Baird was there to sweep up. Baird had a couple wonky moments in the first half (as did everyone in that weather) but was superb in the second spell. Wonderful defensive instincts. Meanwhile, Sroufe went close with a couple more attempts... before half-time substitute Ruby Barber clinched it for the Nix with a slaloming run and clinical finish. Lovely goal. Barber was the lone Welly Nix representative in the NZ U16s team that just got back from winning the Oceania Championships.
Very good win first up for the WeeNix, especially considering the players they were missing. Admittedly, this is likely to have been one of their easier games – these two teams finished seventh and eighth last season, the Nix the higher up team by one point. But that’s all the more reason why it was an important win. Elsie Sroufe took the opportunity to announce herself to the nation while Ruby Barber’s energy out wide in the second half was a helpful boost. Evie Baird was commanding at the back. Maisy McDonald asked plenty of questions. Jada Szeto was all over the place. Yeah, lots to work with there. Similar things for the Pride whose back four did what they could, while Amelia Simmers made a couple good saves and they certainly had plenty of industry in midfield with the likes of Petra Buyck and Olivia Hooper buzzing around. The Pride looked better after they scored that goal. Bye week up next for them.
Wellington Phoenix Reserves 3-1 Canterbury United Pride
32’ | 1-0 | WPR | Sroufe (George)
47’ | 2-0 | WPR | McDonald
54’ | 2-1 | CUP | Michael
85’ | 3-1 | WPR | Barber (Cleall-Harding)
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auckland United | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Fencibles United | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Wellington United | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Waterside Karori | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| Canterbury United | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 0 |
| West Coast Rangers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 0 |
| Otago University | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | -5 | 0 |
Next Week’s Fixtures
Canterbury United Pride - BYE
West Coast Rangers vs Waterside Karori
Wellington United vs Auckland United
Otago University vs Fencibles United
Eastern Suburbs vs Wellington Phoenix Reserves
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