Whanganui's Kelly Jones looks to get through against Palmerston North Marist Reserves on Sunday.
Whanganui's Kelly Jones looks to get through against Palmerston North Marist Reserves on Sunday.
The inaugural Football Whanganui season in the GR Engineering Women's Federation League wrapped up on Sunday with a 3-0 loss to PN Marist Women's Reserves at Wembley Park.
Symptomatic of Whanganui's entire campaign, they had enough territory and possession to trouble the visitors, who were determined to win so theywould finish the league in second place, but just lacked for execution at the sharp end.
"The first 20 minutes we started really brightly, moved the ball around well," said coach Symon King.
He felt the side should have received a penalty goal opportunity for an infringement that was missed, and then Marist hit the front after a soft goal from a midfielder when Whanganui's defence was set too deep.
Down 1-0 at the break, Whanganui had a plan to equalise, but had a horror restart when they immediately lost possession.
"Ten seconds later they put the ball in goal, which changed our tactics again," said King.
Feeling it now, Marist scored again quickly to take the game away, so King rushed on four reserves as his team had the better bench depth with a squad of 16 compared to the visitors 12.
The fresh legs meant Whanganui again finished strongly, but just could not find the back of the net.
"We get good creativity, good chances, it's just the decision-making in front of goal, and it's hard to coach," said King.
Looking back on their debut season, King was satisfied with the efforts of the experimental team, who would play for their various local clubs on Saturday's before taking part in Federation matches on Sunday's - often travelling to Hawke's Bay and North Taranaki.
"For a team that's never played together before and been coached at this level, it's fantastic," King said.
"I'd take all 21 players back into the squad."
The team finished with one win and a draw from their 15 matches.
Aimee Ashworth scored three of the team's 12 goals, with Candice Armstrong and Vanya Hodgkinson getting two each.
Five squad members played every game - Ashworth, Hodgkinson, Airini Ross-Spooner, Dana McClelland and Megan O'Connor.
Planning to continue on in 2018, King acknowledged he is likely to lose some younger players to university commitments, but will hold open training sessions in January for any local women interested in joining them.
Key amongst that will be the search for a good striker to increase their chances of victories.
Dana McCelland was one of a handful of players to appear in every Federation League match this season.
