Next step beckons for Gisborne football champions Wainui Riverina

Tairāwhiti women's football champions Wainui Riverina won the seven-team competition with 18 wins, no draws and no losses. They scored 130 goals and conceded 11. Pictured after a night game at Childers Road Reserve, they are, back (from left): McKenzie Holmes, Katerina Ngarimu, Morgan Lloyd, Katie Walker, Mollie Mulrooney, Lizzie Hall (player-coach), Elliott Smith, Sommer Murrell, Larisa Allen and Lena Baty-Akurangi. Front: Jess Colebourne, Maria Waide, Lily Auckram, Renae Lolohea, Hollie Elliott and Vanessa Rufa.

Wainui Riverina are thinking about taking the next step in women’s football but are looking before they leap.

Gisborne Laundry Services Wainui Riverina won the Tairāwhiti women’s championship by 11 points, winning all 18 games in the seven-team league, scoring 130 goals and conceding 11.

A move into the Hawke’s Bay women’s championship would be the next step but it would depend on sponsorship, player-coach Lizzie Hall said.

“We need to take little steps, so that whatever we do doesn’t fail,” she said.

“In our team we’re fortunate to have some great mentors, with a good mix of ages and experience. We want to help players with aspirations to reach the highest level they can – especially our youth.”

Wainui Riverina had a strong start to their year, finishing first-equal with Havelock North in a Hawke’s Bay pre-season invitation tournament that also included Central League side North Wellington, Hall said.

It was the second time Wainui Riverina had attended this tournament.

“From there, we set both team and individual goals, focusing on each game and not getting ahead of ourselves,” she said.

“We celebrated small achievements along the way, game by game, building confidence and consistency.”

The goal now would be to continue developing a team capable of taking the next step, while still “respecting and valuing” the importance of the local league, Hall said.

That could be achieved by having two teams – one playing in a league that required travel and one contesting the local competition. Those developments were dependent on sponsorship and playing depth, factors that were still uncertain.

Riverina, Thistle exit Fed Cup

Wainui Riverina and Thistle were knocked out of Central Football’s Women’s Federation Cup in quarterfinal matches played in Napier.

Napier City Rovers beat Gisborne Laundry Services Wainui Riverina 6-1 and Whanganui Athletic beat Allan Kellett Panel and Paint Thistle 4-0.

City Rovers were well set up through the middle and played good football, but Wainui Riverina also played their part in an entertaining spectacle.

Elliott Smith and Lily Auckram started together at the heart of the defence, but Auckram went off with a dislocated ankle – she popped it back in herself and it’s in a cast.

Right back Clara Dolman-Tuhou moved into the centre and central midfielder Larisa Allan dropped into the defence.

Goalkeeper Morgan Lloyd was kept busy and made some good saves, while left back Vanessa Rufa had a strong game.

Renae Lolohea, back from Australia, came on for the second half and put in a good shift in central midfield.

Hollie Elliott scored the Wainui Riverina goal 13 minutes into the match to make the score 1-1, but City Rovers led 3-1 at halftime.

“In the first half we were right in it, competing well,” Wainui Riverina player-coach Lizzie Hall said.

“Unfortunately, once some of our more experienced players went down with injuries, it became difficult to hold them out.”

Thistle put in a good all-round performance but Whanganui Athletic were “just a step above”, coach Nick Land said.

“It was one of the best games they’d played all year,” said Land.

Gemma McDonald, Jade McVey, sisters Charlotte and Lucy McDiarmid, Sefa Contreras-Rojas, Frankie Gooding, Hayley Richardson and skipper Natalie Land were all in the Gisborne Girls’ High team who finished fourth at the Grant Jarvis Tournament in Hamilton. Girls’ High played seven games in five days, the last match just two days before the cup quarterfinal.

Aliyah Lardelli and sisters Mya and Taylor Carrington played in a hockey tournament during the preceding week.

Nevertheless, the youngsters combined with senior players Eden Schollum and Leah Koretz, and goalkeeper Kirstin Wilson-Moore (recruited from Marist Thistle), and put on a show.

Thistle played with a central defensive core of Taylor Carrington, Gooding and Koretz, with wing backs Charlotte McDiarmid and McDonald doing sterling work on the right and left flanks respectively.

Holding midfielders Land and Lardelli gave the defence a buffer while setting up play for attacking midfielder Lucy McDiarmid and strikers Schollum and McVey.

From the sidelines, wing backs Madeleine Poulter and Contreras-Rojas, striker Mya Carrington and defender Richardson came on to maintain the team effort.

“It was 1-0 at halftime,” coach Land said. “Whanganui had more chances, but we had a couple in the first half. In the second half they pulled away. They were the better team on the day.

“Our wing backs played really well, and Natalie (Land) and Aliyah (Lardelli) were strong in the middle. Jade (McVey) ran all day and was unlucky not to score. The back three and the goalkeeper were awesome ... but they all had a good day.”

Thistle finished third in the Tairāwhiti women’s championship, behind Wainui Riverina and Smash Palace Shockers Black.

The Federation Cup semifinals have been played. Both were decided in extra time. Napier City Rovers beat Eskview 3-2 (2-2 at the end of regulation time) and New Plymouth Rangers beat Whanganui Athletic 4-1 (1-1).