The shock of playing under blue skies and bright sunshine briefly put the North Force women off their game during their important US1 premier women's soccer league match against Forrest Hill-Milford on Sunday.
With coach Bruce Plunkett rating Forrest Hill as North Force's strongest opposition in the league, the locals needed
nothing less than a win at Kamo, to maintain their momentum and their seven-point lead at the top of the table.
The visitors started well, containing North Force's attack with a well-structured defensive display but, after getting used to the sun's glare, the northern team began to gradually dominate the contest.
Vicki-Jo Hemara was unlucky to hit the upright, before Hannah Wilkinson got in behind the Forrest-Hill defenders to beat the keeper with a typically clinical finish to put North Force ahead.
Seconds before the break, centre back Kelsey Evans' deep throw launched another attack involving Chelsea Webster and Wilkinson, who laid the ball back to Nikki Couling. Couling made no mistake, striking the ball into the top left of the goal giving the locals a 2-0 half-time lead.
In the second half, North Force continued to dominate and added two more goals to complete the win 4-0. Kath Mortimer scored with a 30m speculator that just dropped under the crossbar and into the net. Force's fourth goal came from a classy Webster turn inside the 18-yard box, where she somehow found the space to slot a low shot into the right-hand corner of the Forrest-Hill goal.
In the Northland women's premier league action, Kamo mauled Central Brown 19-0 at the Otaika Domain to maintain their slender one-point advantage over Kerikeri in the league.
Kerikeri had a good 2-0 away win over Bay Cosmos and have played a game less than Kamo, meaning the league winner could be decided when the two clubs meet at the end of the month.
In other league matches, Kerikeri High School and FC Whangarei drew 2-2, while Onerahi beat FC Whangarei Red 1-0 and Hora Hora beat Tikipunga 6-0.
