Gardiner admitted he was disappointed not to have held out for the three points but had no qualms about settling for one.
"I thought everyone played with 100 per cent commitment and there were some really good performances," he said. "We felt reasonably comfortable at 2-1 up but they were dangerous as well so I think a draw was probably a fair result in the end."
WaiBOP have a bye next weekend and Gardiner said his side would utilise the time off.
"We have started working on a few different new systems with the team and I have seen some passages of play that are positive but it is also a work in progress," he said.
"With the break, we have the chance for some productive training sessions and focus on what we are doing well.
"And after the break we aim to kick on from there."
Elsewhere in the National Women's League, defending champions Northern and the side most expected to challenge them, Canterbury United Pride, both underlined their favouritism by claiming a win at the weekend.
Northern showed they have no intention of giving up their crown without a fight in earning a comfortable 3-0 victory over Central in Palmerston North while Canterbury went down early up at Auckland but stormed back to triumph 4-1.
Results
National Women's League Round One
WaiBOP Football 2 (Leah Gubb 24', Serena Murrihy pen 41')
Capital Football 2 (Emily Morison 22', Katie Barrott 70')
HT: 2-1
Central Football 0
Northern Football 3 (Kate Loye 26', Liz Milne 74', Katie Rood pen 78')
HT: 0-1
Auckland Football 1 (Own goal 2')
Canterbury United Pride 4 (Lily Bray 33' 53', 81', Holly Pascoe 57')
HT: 1-1
BYE: Southern United
National Women's League table
Canterbury United Pride 3pts
Northern Football 3
Capital Football 1
WaiBOP 1
Southern United 0
Auckland Football 0
Central Football 0
