Rotorua United aim for bright future despite playoff defeat against Northland

Women's Football

Disappointment and frustration was etched all over the faces of Rotorua United women premier players, coaches and fans alike after the final whistle blew at the end of the second leg in the Lotto NRFL playoff series.

United suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Northland FC at Neil Hunt Park on Sunday despite dominating early possession and creating plenty of opportunities in front of goal.

The result saw Northland FC win the playoff series 8-3 on aggregate, after winning 6-3 at home in the first leg - sealing a place in the Northern Women's League for next season.

It was always going to be a tough task for the home side, who played with a changed 4-3-3 formation in the first half, and coach Ron Cane said a lack of clinical finishing and a strong Northland FC attack was the difference on the day.

"A valiant effort but it was a bridge too far for us," he said.

"We had to go out and attack. It's a system that I haven't used before with the players but I felt we needed to.

"We created quite a lot of chances but didn't put them away and once they got the first goal I felt they started to control the game.

"At the end we were eventually caught because they had some very good players up front."

United controlled the opening 15 minutes with the best chance falling to midfielder Ella Fookes, who shot straight at the keeper after a scrabble in the penalty box from a Kim Emmanuelle-Maguire corner.

Soon after, a moment of magic from Northland's Colleen Winstanley broke the deadlock for the away side, as she majestically looped the ball in from 25-yards out after United lost the ball in midfield.

Despite United reverting back to their preferred formation of 4-4-2 in the second half attacking midfielder Trudy Sandle hammered the nail into the coffin with just three minutes to go - calmly slotting home through the legs of the oncoming United keeper.

Northland FC captain Nicole Stratford, who was the stand out player over the two legs, said scoring the first goal in the game was crucial.

"It was a relief, really. We just wanted to get on top so we could relax more into the game," she said.

"We knew they were going to attack but we came out to play our game.

"It feels fantastic to win. We have been working hard all season and our goal right from the beginning was to win this promotion."

Despite the loss it has been a successful season for Rotorua United women and after the match the team celebrated with the official presentation of the 2016 WaiBOP Premier League Division 1 trophy and captain Kim Emmanuelle-Maguire WaiBOP Women' Premiership player of the year award.

Rotorua United women were presented with the official 2016 WaiBOP Premier League Division 1 trophy after their playoff defeat on Sunday. Photo/Ruth Dacey

"We are pretty gutted to end our season on a loss. If we had got a goal early on it would have changed the whole aspect of the game but we were unlucky on finishing," said Maguire.

"But we won the league and we can be proud of that and take that positive into next season."Going forward we can build on this. Our next goal is working on getting the title back-to-back."