North Force women proved they are finding their feet in the Northern Federation's premier league with a inspiring 1-0 win over league leaders Glenfield Rovers.
The young North Force side avenged their 5-0 rout in the opening round of the competition with a steady performance at Kamo on Sunday.
The defeat moved
Rovers off the top spot and into second place on the ladder behind Waitakere United.
The game was played largely in the midfield with neither side dominating the other for any significant period of the match. The breakthrough came after Becky Hawker was moved from the halves into the forward line.
Hawker got the ball on the left side midway through the second spell and drove the ball toward goal from around 20m out. The ball flew off her boot and dropped neatly under the crossbar to break the deadlock.
Glenfield tried to find an equaliser in the closing minutes of the game but North Force's defence only gave up one clear chance - and fortunately the post saved North Force from dropping two points.
"The backline worked really well together and a good defensive effort got us home and my player of the day was Kristin French at right back," coach Dee Tunstall said.
"The win shows that we can really compete against the top teams and we'd like to carry on and pick up more points against some of the other teams during this last round," she said.
The win moves North Force into fourth equal on the table.
They are level with Hibiscus Coast and the teams will meet this Sunday at Kamo in an important match for both teams.
