Coastal Wrap Up Title

Coastal Spirit wrapped up back to back Women's Premier League (WPL) titles with a round to spare when they defeated Halswell 6 – 2 on Saturday. Universities continued their late season rally with a 4 – 2 win over Waimakariri. Cashmere Technical had the bye. Going into the final round Coastal have 25 points, Technical 20, Waimak 17, Universities 14 and Halswell 3.

The champions in waiting started well, Cody Taylor opened the scoring early on. Mel Cameron doubled Coastal's lead soon after and Taylor added her second goal just minutes later. Cheryl McDermid then reduced the margin to make it 3 – 1 to Coastal at halftime. Coastal continued their domination after the break, doubling their score line with further goals to Lauren Dabner, Tahli Herman-Watt and a third for Taylor. Hollie Carlisle-Reeve scored a consolation for Halswell but it was too little too late.  This was Taylor's fourth hat-trick of the campaign and takes her tally in the WPL to 17, seven ahead of her closest rivals. 

Universities put a major dent in Waimak's hopes of finishing in second place when the students claimed their third win on the trot. Waimak now need to defeat Technical by five clear goals in the final round to finish in the runner-up position. A double from Universities Holly Pascoe helped the cause with Ekaterina Lieshout and Rachel Brodie grabbing the other goals. Gabie Rennie and Kayla Thomas replied for Waimak.

Universities Secure Vital Win

Universities hopes of maintaining their Mainland Premier League spot for next season received a major boast when they defeated Selwyn 2 - 1 in the Premier Qualifying League. FC Twenty11 had the bye. FC have 19 points, Selwyn 9 and Universities moving to 6 with the bottom team facing the drop.

Jack Orchard gave Universities the lead midway through the first half after heading home a free kick. Orchard doubled his tally with a strike from outside the box early in the second half to give Universities a 2-0 lead with twenty minutes to play. Dan Ede reduced the margin in the first minute of seven in added time but Universities held on to claim a vital win. 

Western Back On Top

Western moved back to the top of the Canterbury Championship League on goal difference ahead of Halswell. Western racked up the biggest away win of the season rolling Parklands 7 – 0. Halswell dropped points drawing 1 – 1 away at Waimakariri. The final game saw bottom placed Burwood upset Christchurch United 3 - 1. With four rounds remaining both Western and Halswell have 32 points - with Western having a better goal difference of 10. Parklands are on 19, Christchurch United 18, Waimak 17 and Burwood 15.

Results / Scorers

Mainland Women's Premier League - Round 14 of 15

Halswell 2 (Cheryl McDermid, Hollie Carlisle-Reeve) Coastal 6 (Cory Taylor 3, Mel Cameron, Lauren Dabner, Tahlia Herman-Watt) 

Waimak 2 (Gabie Rennie, Kayla Thomas) Universities 4 (Holly Pascoe 2, Ekaterina Lieshout, Rachel Brodie)

Cashmere Technical the bye

Golden Boot

17 Cody Taylor (Coastal Spirit) 
10 Emma Kench (Cashmere Technical), Arna Roberts (Coastal Spirit), Jayda Stewart (Waimakariri)
9 Mel Cameron (Coastal Spirit)
6 Monique Barker (Cashmere Technical)
5 Gabi Rennie (Waimakariri), Holly Pascoe (Universities)

Mainland Premier Qualifying League - Round 4 of 12  

Universities 2 (Jack Orchard 2) Selwyn 1 (Dan Ede)

FC Twenty11 the bye

Canterbury Championship League - Round 16 of 20

Christchurch United 1 Burwood 3

Parklands 0 Western 7

Waimakariri 1 Halswell 1

Article added: Monday 23 July 2018