North Force women beat Glenfield

North Force Women dug deep to surge ahead of Glenfield Reserves in the second half of their Northern Football Federation Premier match at McFetridge Park on the North Shore.
Yesterday's game left North Force coach Dee Tunstall very pleased, with her girls stepping up the pace and putting together some good phases of play to pull ahead of Glenfield in the second half after being level 0-0 at the break.
Becky Hawker found the back of the goal, with Nikki Couling following suit, scoring two of her own to round off a fiery second half.
The 3-0 win leaves North Force first equal on the points table, along with Waitakere and Glenfield.
North Force Men sat out this weekend with a bye, but team members were free to play for their club sides in local matches.
This Saturday, North force will line up against Northern Region Football Federation League Division One cellar dwellers Onehunga Mangere in a must win game at Kamo.
Skipper Scott Burgess said if they did not secure a win, it would make life hard for his team, who currently sit third from bottom in the division.
"We just want to stay out of the relegation zone [the bottom two teams get relegated to the second division] and if we lose it just gets harder from here on in - we are clear of that zone now, so we need to stay there," he said.
North Force did not play this weekend as their scheduled opponents Manurewa were involved in the Chatham Cup, but other teams in their division played with a handy result being produced in the Matamata versus Lynn Avon clash.
"We have games in hand to both of those teams and they drew 1-1 which was a good result for us," Burgess said.
Saturday's game between North Force and Onehunga Mangere (who they beat 5-2 in round 1) kicks off at Kamo Sports Park from 2.45pm.
 
NRFL1 (Men) Ladder After Round 17

Birkenhead Utd 36, Takapuna 32, Manurewa 31, Eastern Suburbs 29, Ellerslie 27, Albany Utd 24, Glenfield Rovers 24, Papatoetoe 21, Lynn Avon 15, North Force 13, Matamata Swifts 10, Onehunga Mangere 9.
While many pitches were closed due to wet weather, the Stafford Choat quarter finals were contested, with Kerikeri beating Marist 0-3, Kaitaia going down to Central Brown 0-1, and Tikipunga thrashing Madhatters Black 2-7. Kerikeri plays Tikipunga and Central Brown play Kamo in the August 6 semifinals.