The last day in April 2025 saw one of the greatest unbeaten runs in the history of top-level NZ women's football finally brought to an end, as West Coast Rangers conquered Auckland United 2-0 at Fred Taylor Park in their rearranged top-of-the-table Lotto Northern Premier Women's League encounter. On a night when Rangers' goalkeeper Sophie Campbell produced a string of fine saves to earn their Player of the Match award, Shannon Henson, halfway through the first half, and Minji Yun, just after the half-hour mark, scored the goals which saw United's remarkable run end at 55 matches, a sequence comprising 50 wins and 5 draws dating back to 7 October 2023. In those games, 166 goals were scored and 24 conceded, and five trophies were won. By comparison, the previous best unbeaten run since the introduction of the Kate Sheppard Cup in 1994 was achieved by Lynn-Avon United, who went 34 games without defeat in all competitions between 12 May 1996 and 20 July 1997, winning the league, cup and Auckland Women's Knockout Shield along the way. Looking at the Northern Premier Women's League alone, Mt. Wellington scored a quite staggering 53 consecutive wins from 1983 to 1986, while Three Kings won 29 consecutive matches between 5 July 2015 and 30 April 2017. And Eden went on a 39-match unbeaten run in the league between 13 May 1990 and 12 July 1992 - Auckland's run came to a halt after 34 games without defeat. Wednesday's match was a historic one for United for another reason - the 800th National or Northern League women's fixture played by the club in its various guises as Eden, Three Kings United and now Auckland United, since the NPWL was launched in 1973. Indeed, 2025 marks fifty years of the Keith Hay Park-based club contesting top-flight women's football in the northern region, the first club to achieve this feat. 1988, 2001 and 2002 are the only years when the Northern League wasn't graced by a team representing Eden or TKU in that time. And to top it all off, Auckland is poised to mark this milestone year in their history by becoming the country's first club to play 1000 senior level women's fixtures. Having left you gobsmacked with a plethora of facts and figures, it's time to address the weekend's action, which saw Rangers back up their midweek win by coming from behind to down Eastern Suburbs 2-1 in a torrid affair at Madills Farm, one which had a bit of everything - a really enthralling game for the neutral. Henson fired over an open goal just 65 seconds into the contest, prompting "The Lilywhites" to storm straight down the other end and open the scoring through Zoe Brazier - you instantly got the impression this was going to be a wild ride, and the players of both teams delivered in spades. Chances galore ensued, with Lorna Selby and Emily Lyon going closest for the visitors before the half-hour mark, and Sofia Garcia desperately close to doubling Suburbs' advantage soon afterwards. Five minutes before half-time, Lyon levelled things up with a sumptuous twenty yard free-kick into the top far corner, but the half ended on a concerning note with Suburbs fullback Lucy Hunt slumping to the ground, the result of a medical event - she was assisted from the field with great care during the interval. Selby, too, was to leave the field in distress before the hour mark, a head clash with Brazier resulting in a facial wound which ended the fullback's afternoon prematurely. She did so knowing that Rangers were 2-1 ahead, Henson striking in unerring fashion just 73 seconds after the start of the second spell. Suburbs introduced new signing Cema Nasau to the fray, the Fijian international having been the standout player in Pacific Islands women's football for the past four years - a great signing for both player and club, who changed the game on this occasion. Rangers struggled to cope with the new arrival, who was felled on the edge of the area in the 65th minute in an incident which gave referee Clint Van Eyssen - far from his best game - a decision to make

concerning a professional foul. A free-kick was the only call he settled upon, one Suburbs squandered - they had a strong case for taking it against ten players, not eleven. "The Lilywhites" kept pounding away in search of a leveller, with Sophie Campbell producing some crucial saves to keep the visitors in front, while numerous home team players went close to restoring parity. Rangers held on, however, and could have increased their winning margin five minutes from time, Yun rattling the crossbar with a prodigious strike. Four minutes later, the game was up for Suburbs when Sammi Tawharu got sucked in to committing her second bookable offence, and while they maintained their pursuit of an equaliser right to the end, it was Andrew Clay's table-toppers who were smiling at full-time. They weren't alone in that regard, as Suburbs' defeat allowed Western Springs to leapfrog "The Lilywhites" into third place on the table, although "The Hoops" were made to jump through a couple by Tauranga Moana before prevailing 9-1 over the bottom-placed team at Seddon Fields. Jasmine Griffiths stunned the locals by giving Tauranga a seventh minutes lead, but within five minutes parity was restored, Jessica Benge's best efforts to keep out a Rina Hirano strike seeing the goalkeeper credited with an "oggie". Cue a double-strike from Anna McPhie, while Cleo Carmichael's goal just before half-time ensured there was no way back for Tauranga, who succumbed to Springs' bench strength after the interval. Kitty Jacob bagged a second half brace, while fellow substitutes Ava Lewis and Liz Savage also found the net, their goals sandwiching an Ella Findlay effort as the visitors shipped nine goals on their travels for the second time this season. Ellerslie also benefited from their near-neighbours' loss, as they are now within striking distance of the top four after comfortably accounting for Hibiscus Coast 3-0 on the North Harbour Stadium Tigerturf field, which, incidentally, was officially opened eighteen years ago on May 5, 2007. The game was all over as a contest inside the first twenty minutes, by which time Maddi Ollington had stamped her authority on proceedings with two exquisite chipped goals, the marauding midfielder taking full advantage of Sasha Brett's lack of inches to put "The Ponies" in the driving seat. Abby Wright marked her fiftieth appearance for Ellerslie by adding a third goal on the half-hour, and that's the way things stayed, despite the promise of further goals from Ryan Shiffman's well-structured side, which regularly exploited the "square pegs in round holes" nature of "The Coasters"' combination - seeing Paige Satchell employed as a left fullback certainly came as a surprise, to put it mildly! Auckland's OFC Women's Champions League commitments in Papeete see them taking on AS Pirae on Tuesday morning, Hekari United on Friday morning - a repeat of last year's final - and Pan Sa on Monday morning in round robin play. Next weekend's Premier Women's League action kicks off on Friday night at Seddon Fields, where Springs and Coast lock horns in what is potentially Maia Vink's final game in charge of the home side. Sunday's schedule sees Suburbs travelling to Tauranga - Otumoetai's Fergusson Park home, specifically - while Ellerslie and Fencibles square off in the late kick-off at Michaels Avenue. West Coast Rangers will visit Keith Hay Park next month to conclude eighth round action. Details: West Coast Rangers 2 (S. Henson (22), M. Yun (33)), Auckland United 0  HT 2-0 Eastern Suburbs 1 (Z. Brazier (3)), West Coast Rangers 2 (E. Lyon (40), S. Henson (47))  HT 1-1 Hibiscus Coast 0, Ellerslie 3 (M. Ollington (11, 17), A. Wright (31))  HT 0-3 Western Springs 9 ("oggie" (12), A. McPhie (18, 35), C. Carmichael (43), K. Jacob (65, 72), A. Lewis (69), E. Findlay (84), L. Savage (85)), Tauranga Moana 1 (J. Griffiths (7))  HT 4-1