Northern will put their title on the line when they defend the crown against Auckland in another instalment of the battle of the bridge at Fred Taylor Park on Sunday.
The regular season meetings between the finalists finished 2-2 at Fred Taylor Park and 5-2 in favour of Northern at “The Cage” at St Peter’s College.
Northern advanced to the final courtesy of a brace of goals to Hannah Hoeksema on their way to a 2-0 win over Capital while it took extra time to see Auckland overcome Mainland Pride at ASB Football Park in Christchurch.
Chasing their first title since 2009, Auckland defeated the previously unbeaten Pride after going behind early. Talismanic striker Rebecca Tegg brought Auckland level – maintaining her 100 per cent strike record in the ASB Women’s League this season – before extra time goals to Melanie Gooch and Kayla Spyve sealed the victory.
Co-coach Steven Upfold says the Auckland side has reached the final through a blend of passion, pride and on-field ability.
“It was a privilege to watch the team fighting so hard for each other and the federation last week in Christchurch and the reaction from the squad when Kayla scored our third goal showed exactly what this means to everyone involved,” Upfold said.
“Now that we’ve earned our spot in the final, we’ll stick to the same recipe that’s got us here, gradually increasing the quality of the execution of the playing principles we’ve focused on while we’ve been together.”
“If we’re able to raise our standards again as we have throughout the competition, we’ll be in a good position to get the result everyone in the group is hungry for. We can’t wait for Sunday.”
Northern won the title last year with a 3-0 win over WaiBOP courtesy of a brace of goals to Hannah Wilkinson and one to Rebecca Burrows. It was the first time a team other than Auckland or Capital had won the national women’s league, which has featured limited age restrictions for the last three seasons.
The ASB Women’s League final kicks off at Fred Taylor Park on Sunday at 1pm.
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand Football visit www.nzfootball.co.nz

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