The National Women’s League continues on Sunday when the third set of matches take place across the country, find out what’s in store with the official preview.

Southern United vs Northern Lights
Rugby Park, Invercargill
Sunday 29 September, 1pm
#NWL #SUvNL

Referee: Lindsey Robinson
Assistant Referees: Allys Clipsham, Craig Smith
Fourth Official: Caleb Corbett-Marsh

Squads

Southern United: 1. Samantha Richards (GK), 2. Zoe Thomas, 4. Mikaela Hunt, 5. Lena de Ronde, 6. Samantha Baldwin, 7. Shontelle Smith, 8. Renee Bacon, 10. Amy Hislop, 11. Emily Morison, 12. Erin Roxburgh, 14. Hannah Mackay-Wright, 15. Mikayla Gray, 17. Ruby Anderson, 22. Kirsty Hayr, 24. Jade Middleditch (GK), 26. Kelsey Kennard
Coach: Ignacio Sande

Northern Lights: 1. Lily Alfeld (GK), 2. Arabella Maynard, 3. Rene Wasi, 4. Aneka Mittendorff, 5. Saskia Vosper (c), 6. Claudia Bunge, 7. Chloe Knott, 10. Hannah Carlsen, 11. Helena Kelderman, 12. Liz Savage, 14. Lily Jervis, 16. Ava Pritchard, 19. Kelli Brown, 20. Greer MacIntosh, 21. Emily Oosterhof
Coach: Shane Verma

Lowdown

Something has to give here as both sides have perfect records so far, the Lights winning their sole game while Southern have posted back-to-back victories. With Northern and Auckland having already had the bye and Canterbury taking their turn to sit out the action this weekend, Southern can put themselves in a strong position at the top of the table with a win. But that will be easier said than done against a Lights side that will be boosted by the return of Claudia Bunge, Aneka Mittendorff and Kelli Brown – three of the best players in the league. Both sides are yet to concede a goal so it could be a tight affair with one moment of magic enough to win it. The likes of Brown and Southern’s Shontelle Smith are most likely to provide that, although Chloe Knott scored a double for Northern last weekend so is another to keep an eye on.

Quotes

Shane Verma (Northern coach): “As long as we keep performances to our standards, I feel like we’ll get a good result out there. There’s no doubt Southern are going to be a strong opposition so we have to be at the top of our game. The U-20 internationals coming back in adds more quality to the squad but the players that did the job against Capital are also very good players so to select a squad for this weekend is very difficult.”

Capital Football vs Auckland Football
Memorial Park, Wellington
Sunday 29 September, 2pm
#NWL #CAvAF

Referee: Nadia Browning
Assistant Referees: Russell Underwood, Alexander Dahlberg
Fourth Official: Barry Buchanan

Squads

Capital: 1. Courtney Norman (GK), 2. Francesca Grange, 3. Zoe Barrott, 4. Ellen Fibbes, 5. Katie Barrott (c), 6. Juliana Los, 7. Jemma Robertson, 8. Charlotte Wilford-Carroll, 9. Emma Rolston, 10. Michaela Robertson, 11. Libby Boobyer, 12. Molly Woodhead, 13. Nina Kondo, 14. Kelsey Wilkinson, 15. Tui Dugan, 18. Molly Simmons
Coach: Natalie Lawrence

Auckland: 30. Rivalina Fuimaono (GK), 2. Genevieve Ryan, 3. Elizabeth Anton, 4. Rebekah van Dort, 5. Maisy Dewell, 6. Stephanie Skilton (c), 7. Britney Cunningham-Lee, 8. Tessa Leong, 9. Jade Parris, 10. Katie Duncan, 15. Emma Leaming, 18. Chloe Marthe, 19. Lucy Carter, 20. Jaedeci Uluvili, 25. Alisha Perry (GK), 26. Sophie Bradley
Coach: Nic Downes

Lowdown

These are already concerning times for Capital as they have no points on the board and are yet to score a goal. To be fair, they have been handed an extremely difficult start by the draw, having to face Canterbury, Northern and Auckland – all of whom finished in the top three last season. Capital are also having to cope without the hugely experienced pair of Anna Green and Sarah Gregorius this term, meaning the early weeks of the new campaign were always going to be a real challenge. Once Auckland is out of the way, it should be much calmer sailing for Capital but Natalie Lawrence will be keen to go into that period with at least a point to her side’s name. Auckland did not get the chance to build some early momentum after their opening win over WaiBOP as they then had the bye so the 2017 champions will be itching to get back out on the park.

Quotes

Maia Vink (Capital assistant coach): “It’s the first home game of our season so we’re really looking forward to getting back into playing in front of our friends and family. We’re excited to see the turn out and put on a good spectacle for them. Coming off the weekend against Northern, the feeling was overall pretty positive, we finished the game strongly and have had a good week of training. There’s a bit of a buzz throughout the group and we’re ready for the weekend.”

Nic Downes (Auckland coach): “They probably haven’t had the start they wanted but it’s another round and a new game. We’re not really looking at their previous results and anything can happen on the day. We had a number of players who were coming off a pretty busy schedule in the club season so having the bye was quite good to give us a bit more time to prepare. We’ve dealt with it now and all the players are really keen to get back out there on the grass.”

Central Football vs WaiBOP Football
Massey University, Palmerston North
Sunday 29 September, 3pm
#NWL #CEvWB

Referee: Wendy McNeely
Assistant Referees: Devyn Crawford, Smiritika Gosai
Fourth Official: Charlie Brown

Squads

Central: 1. Aoife Gallagher-Forbes (GK), 2. Freya Partridge-Moore, 3. Kate Bennett, 4. Jana Niedermayr, 5. Jessica Gates, 6. Tyler Wood, 7. Eve Barry, 8. Abby Rankin, 9. Mikaela Boxall (c), 10. Natalie Olson, 11. Charlotte Lancaster, 12. Torijan Lyne-Lewis, 13. Peta van Hattum, 14. Sophie Crewe, 15. Kate Mori, 16. Florence MacIntyre
Coach: Barry Scullion

WaiBOP Football: 1. Georgia Candy (GK), 4. Caitlin Byrne, 6. Annaliese Heuvel, 7. Olivia Hooper, 9. Emma Sizer, 10. Richlyn Tuhoro, 12. Shannon Trebes, 13. Paige McCloskey, 14. Maddison Ollington (c), 15. Stella Neems, 16. Maddison Williams, 17. Grace Wisnewski, 18. Kaylee Oosthuysen, 19. Natasha Reiri, 21. Amy Harrison (GK)
Coach: Nico Girard

Lowdown

Neither of these sides are likely to trouble the top teams but this is a massive match nonetheless as it provides both with their best chance yet of claiming three points. After facing difficult fixtures in the opening weeks, they are yet to get off the mark and earning a first win here would be a big boost to their confidence levels. That would prove very timely as both sides will be up against it next weekend, Central travelling to Northern – who finished runners-up last year – while WaiBOP host defending champions Canterbury. WaiBOP will be boosted by the return of the talismanic Grace Wisnewski while Abby Rankin is in line to make her debut for Central at just 15-years-old.

Quotes

Barry Scullion (Central coach): “This is a really important fixture for both federations with the potential to get our first points on the league table. We’ve seen improvements over week one and two and we expect to see that throughout the campaign. There’s a real buzz within the football community in the Central region and we’re looking forward to our first home game of the season.”

BYE – Canterbury United Pride

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Article added: Friday 27 September 2019