Last year’s pair of finalists, Canterbury United Pride and Auckland, have put themselves in pole position to again fight it out for the National Women’s League title after both continuing their unbeaten runs this afternoon.

The table-topping Pride continued to lead the way by edging out Northern 2-1 in the match of the round while Auckland are now the only other side yet to lose a match after sweeping aside Central 6-0. In the sole game played on Saturday, Capital kept in touch with the top two but were given a scare by WaiBOP, leaving it late to eventually triumph 2-1.

Central and WaiBOP are both still waiting to get off the mark and are surely now out of the running for the honours while fourth-placed Southern United couldn’t add to their tally as they had the bye.

After the excitement of Saturday’s late show in Wellington – where a pair of last-gasp goals gave Capital a vital three points – most of the attention turned to McFetridge Park on Auckland’s North Shore this afternoon as two of the league’s heavyweights went head-to-head.

The Pride travelled north as the only team to boast a perfect record but were still to be truly tested as they had so far played the three bottom-placed teams. A Northern line-up packed full of international experience would clearly provide their sternest examination yet and so it proved as the 2015 champions took the lead mid-way through the first half, Claudia Bunge prodding home in a goalmouth scramble following a corner.

But the Cantabrians were level by the break thanks to a powerful Whitney Hepburn header in the 36^th minute. Both sides were on track to continue their unbeaten runs as the clocked ticked down but the Pride managed to steal all three points when substitute Cody Taylor took advantage of some miscommunication at the back to slot a dramatic winner past Northern goalkeeper Anna Leat with only eight minutes remaining.

The win keeps Alana Gunn’s side perched proudly on the summit but defending champions Auckland are only two points back after cruising to victory in Palmerston North. Central’s pointless streak was never likely to come to an end against a side with the quality of Auckland, who recorded their third win of the campaign at Massey University.

Jade Parris led the way with a double while Lucy Carter scored from the spot before Paige Satchell, Britney Cunningham-Lee and Sarah Morton also found the net to keep Auckland snapping at the coat tails of Canterbury. Morton’s goal was a particularly painful dagger to the hearts of Central as she hails from the region but is now wearing Auckland colours.

In Wellington yesterday, WaiBOP came agonisingly close to recording their first points of the campaign when Kelli Brown gave them a lead they clung onto until the 90 minutes were nearly up. But Charlotte Wilford-Carroll and Sarah Gregorius then both struck in the dying seconds to break WaiBOP hearts and keep Capital in the running for a top-two berth.

They will now sit out the double header over Labour weekend with a pair of byes as all other sides clash with their local rivals twice in quick succession. Auckland face Northern while Canterbury meet Southern in a series of matches that will shake up the top four significantly while WaiBOP and Central both have their best chances yet to get some points on the board in coming up against each other.

National Women’s League Match Week Five

Capital Football 2 (Charlotte Wilford-Carroll 89’, Sarah Gregorius 90’ + 3’)
WaiBOP Football 1 (Kelli Brown 39’)
HT: 0-1

Northern Lights 1 (Claudia Bunge 19’)
Canterbury United Pride 2 (Whitney Hepburn 36’, Cody Taylor 82’)
HT: 1-1

Central Football 0
Auckland Football 6 (Jade Parris 4’, 56’, Lucy Carter pen 24’, Paige Satchell 30’, Britney Cunningham-Lee 71’, Sarah Morton 80’)
HT: 0-3

For the National Women’s League table and other information please click here

Article added: Sunday 14 October 2018