Football: Northern make strong start to NWL title defence

Northern have a team huddle before their 3-0 win over Central.

Northern started their National Women's League title defence with a 3-0 victory over on Sunday. A resilient Central team defended in a disciplined and organised way throughout, making Northern's task of creating chances exceptionally difficult.

Central started the match well, applying pressure to an experienced Northern backline featuring Women's Knockout Cup hero Tessa Berger and Northland FC's influential Nicole Stratford, who needed to draw on some clever build-up play to progress the ball out of their own half.

Northern's Coach Chris Acott said the back four and keeper all played well which gave them a good springboard to be a threat higher up the field.

After a highly contested first 20 minutes Northern slowly started to gain control of the game and were able to dictate play, forcing Central to defend deep in their own half. Mid-way through the half Northern were able to capitalise on their territorial advantage with a well taken freekick just outside the box from Kate Loye to take the lead.

Central continued to be a threat with regular fast breaks leading to a number of half-chances. However, Northern held their one-goal advantage heading into the break.

The second half saw a more dominant Northern side pin Central into their own half and expose multiple opportunities in and around the home team's penalty area.

Acott said the signs were good given the number of new players they had.

"Considering we had seven players making their Northern debut for us on Sunday the team gelled as well as can be expected and in the second half we able to control large parts of the game," he said.

The ongoing pressure created a chance for Liz Milne who pounced on a loose ball following a driving attack from Katie Rood to slot home the second.

The result was sealed when Katie Rood was brought down in the penalty area and she converted her own penalty to secure a comfortable 3-0 scoreline.

"We have a large number of players in our group who are strong leaders who have experienced world cups and previous National Women's League winning campaigns. It is important that this strength and depth within our squad is utilised in training and in intensive matches as it plays a crucial role in the outcome of the game."

Northern now change their focus to planning for a Friday night fixture, under lights in Albany where they take on Auckland in the "Battle Of The Bridge".

"Now in training we will be looking to fine-tune our player tasks and perfect the playing model in the lead up to an important game against Auckland on Friday night which is a battle I am sure the girls will be looking forward to," Acott said.

NFF 3 (Kate Loye 26', Liz Milne 74', Katie Rood pen 78')
Central 0
HT: 1-0