North Force women's team turned on the talent at halftime against Te Atatu to win their season opener 5-2 on Saturday.
A hat-trick by Hannah Wilkinson and two goals to Katie Rood gave the Blue Revolution-sponsored team a good start to their Federation League title defence but last year's second division
champions gave them a run for their money in the first half at Peninsula Park.
The home side got off to a good start, scoring a good goal to take the lead and it took all of North Force's tenacity to find the net and equalise, coach Adam Hayne said.
"We didn't play very well in the first half, we weren't cohesive enough and they (Te Atatu) were working very hard," he said.
North Force capitalised on their opposition tiring a little just before halftime to find the net a second time and take a narrow advantage into the break.
"At halftime we tried to highlight the difficulties we were having and refocus ourselves for the second spell.
"We made a few changes, moved the ball quicker and our shape was a lot more effective - and then we started tearing them apart," the coach said.
The pace of Wilkinson, Rood and Vicki-Jo Hemara saw the visitors score three goals in quick succession early in the second spell, enough to make sure of the win.
"Once we got into our stride, they didn't really have much to match us but they played very well for a newly promoted team."
Hayne said the new team should continue to surprise their opponents in United Soccer One's Federation League.
"We played them in the Federation Cup (knockout tournament) last year and beat them 5-0 but they've obviously improved since then and have two or three very good players who kept them in the game," Hayne said.
The team play their second match of Easter Weekend today at Kamo against East Coast Bays.
