Returning to domestic action, Auckland United’s task was to pick up where they left off against the Wellington Phoenix Reserves down at Fraser Park. And they didn’t make too many changes from the Champions Cup game

Here it was, the game that many folks would have immediately scanned for when the fixtures were released. Last year it was Auckland FC who came out on top with a 2-1 victory against the WeeNix up in Tamaki Makaurau…

There were two South Island Derbies this week. The Women’s NL saw a very close game between Otago University and Canterbury United... the Men’s NL served up Ferrymead Bays vs Cashmere Technical where the margins weren’t expected to be quite so slim

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)

Auckland City vs Miramar Rangers gave us two undefeated sides at David Farrington Park. Tantalising match-up... especially when you recall that Miramar actually beat ACFC 3-0 in this corresponding fixture last season.

The Diamonds instantly (and predictably) got on the assault, carrying on from the win against Fencibles in week toru, with Hannah Pilley putting one into Lauren Paterson’s hands after barely a minute

On paper, this did not look like much of a challenge for Auckland United. But the selections did make it interesting as AUFC opted for rotation while CU reintegrated a couple of their Cashmere Tech players in the frontline

No biggie, just the Mediterranean Cup against the old foes of Auckland City up at Kiwitea Street. Probably the best rivalry we’ve got in the National League these days

It took absolutely no time at all for Erika Skindlov to give it a burst up the left wing and then a low cross for Ella McCann who pulled out the heel flick to score against her old team... 27 seconds on the clock as that one rustled the net

Cashmere Technical 10-0 Wellington Phoenix Reserves. Now that’s a hiding. Tech were 5-0 up after only 29 minutes at Garrick Park so it was a fortunate thing the scoreline wasn’t any worse than that

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

Birkenhead United vs Cashmere Technical… one of these two teams went undefeated throughout their league season to win a regional championship, although lost to Fencibles United in the Chatham Cup. And so did the other.

It was all about the Cup Finals last week but other games of football also took place over the past fortnight, including a trio of regional catch-up games and some very important National League qualifiers

The closest of all the title races was this one, with Auckland United and Eastern Suburbs having gone back and forth throughout the year leaving us in a position heading into the final week of matches where, barring anything shocking, goal difference would determine the champion.

We’ve still got a title race in the Men’s Central League despite one of this weekend’s results and because of another. The ‘despite’ comes from the Saturday slate of games where Petone held Wellington Olympic to a 1-1 draw…

Cashmere Technical were supposed to seal the deal for the Southern League title when they hosted Coastal Spirit on Sunday... but it turns out it didn’t even have to wait that long. Instead they were crowned champs a day earlier without having to do anything…

They’ve done it, Birkenhead United are champions of the Northern League with four games to spare – the first trophy winner to be confirmed across the top men’s and women’s footy leagues this year

Friday night under lights at Ferrymead Park was the scene for a second versus third scrap-out between Ferrymead Bays and Coastal Spirit... although the scrapping only went in one direction…