Wellington United took a giant stride towards retaining their Central Region Premier Women's League title on June 7, downing nearest rivals Wellington Phoenix 2-1 to open up a five-point lead atop the table as the competition reached the halfway mark. Early goals in each half were key to "The Diamonds"' latest success, Hannah Pilley and Farina Anchico doing the damage for the league leaders, with Bridie Christie bringing about parity halfway through the first spell in this Newtown Park encounter. With Mother Nature dictating terms for Waterside Karori and Petone - Karori Park was waterlogged and unplayable, attention turned to Boyd Wilson Park, where Marist Palmerston North moved into fifth spot thanks to a solid 3-0 win over Victoria University. Second half goals were the order of the day in this match, with Marina Ishimoto and Melissa McKenna scoring within eight minutes of the game's resumption for the visitors, with Charlotte Noakes icing the cake in the dying minutes. It was a good weekend for the Manawatu teams, with Palmerston North United edging Miramar Rangers 1-0 at Memorial Park thanks to Erin Carpenter's goal in the 34th minute. There was drama to come, however, with United's goalkeeper, Natalee Mellish, handling the ball outside her penalty area to thwart a goalscoring opportunity. Carpenter took over twixt the sticks as the ten women repelled Rangers at every turn, and allowed United to climb from tenth place to seventh at day's end, with the round to be completed next Sunday when Moturoa make the long cross-country trek to Taradale Park to take on the Hawkes Bay contenders. That's the only league match scheduled, as next week sees the latest round of Delivereasy Kate Sheppard Cup action taking place. "The Diamonds" kick things off on Friday evening at Newtown Park, this time taking on the Wellington Phoenix reserves - the club's U-18 team competes in the league. And all roads lead to Karori Park on Saturday, with "The Magpies" taking on Miramar at 11am. Details: Palmerston North United 1 (E. Carpenter (34)), Miramar Rangers 0  HT 1-0 Taradale v. Moturoa, postponed Victoria University 0, Marist Palmerston North 3 (M. Ishimoto (49), M. McKenna (53), C. Noakes (88))  HT 0-0 Waterside Karori v. Petone, postponed Wellington United 2 (H. Pilley (7), F. Anchico (46)), Wellington Phoenix 1 (B. Christie (24))  HT 1-1

Dunedin City Royals' impeccable campaign in the South Island Women's League continued on June 8, seeing off reigning champions Cashmere Technical 2-1 at Garrick Memorial Park, where the home team had trouble keeping up with the Joneses! The Jones twins, Kylie and Shelby, struck either side of the half-hour mark for "The Royals", goals which set up an unassailable advantage for the league leaders. Katie Harris halved the deficit early in the second spell, but Tech's hopes of retaining their crown look extremely remote - this was their fourth loss of the season, and even a second-placed finish may be beyond them, despite this being the halfway mark in the campaign. Otago University occupy second spot after nailing Nelson Suburbs 3-0 at Logan Park, where all the goals were scored in a twelve-minute spell after the half-hour mark. Leila Hausia-Haugen, Georgia Nixon and Ruby Brathwaite all chimed in to leave the students line astern of their cross-town rivals. Coastal Spirit remain three points further adrift after scoring a come-from-behind 7-2 victory at Kendall Park over Nomads-Waimakariri United, for whom Emily Brown opened the scoring just two minutes into the contest. Poking the bear is not a wise thing to do when Margi Dias and Britney-Lee Nicholson are in the mood, and they scored twice and thrice respectively in turning things round, with the assistance of second half contributions from Holly Lyon and Laura Newman. Tahlia Herman-Watt chimed in for the home team during a ten-minute spell in which the nets bulged five times. Across town at Halswell Domain, Ella Hartel scored the only goal of the second spell to the delight of "The Hawks". Alas for Halswell United, Canterbury Universities scored five goals inside thirty first half minutes to take the points, their 5-1 victory sparked by Tessa Burns' fifth minute opener, with goals from Lydia Gilbert, Hannah McKenzie, Liv Deane and Kyra Lazor following in swift succession. Selwyn United and Halswell United meet at English Park on Wednesday evening with a Morrison Mitsubishi Reta Fitzpatrick Cup semi-final berth at stake, while places in the Delivereasy Kate Sheppard Cup quarter-finals are on the line next weekend. Cashmere and Nelson meet at English Park on Saturday evening, while Sunday's fare sees the Dunedin derby taking place at Logan Park - it's "The Royals" against the students once again. Details: Cashmere Technical 1 (K. Harris (55)), Dunedin City Royals 2 (K. Jones (26), S. Jones (31))  HT 0-2 Halswell United 1 (E. Hartel (72)), Canterbury Universities 5 (T. Burns (5), L. Gilbert (13), H. McKenzie (23), L. Deane (30), K. Lazor (32))  HT 0-5 Nomads-Waimakariri United 2 (E. Brown (2), T. Herman-Watt (73)), Coastal Spirit 7 (M. Dias (18, 76), B. Nicholson (20, 68, 74), H. Lyon (55), L. Newman (67))  HT 1-2 Otago Universsity 3 (L. Hausia-Haugen (30), G. Nixon (37), R. Brathwaite (42)), Nelson Suburbs 0  HT 3-0