WaiBOP women finish in highest place in their history, coming second in Futsal National Women's League

WaiBOP's Monique Lowry, centre, battles with Auckland defenders during the 2018 Futsal National Woman's League final. Photo/Photosport

WaiBOP women have finished second in the 2018 Futsal National Women's League held in Wellington last weekend.

It was the region's best result at that level, and only eventual champions, Auckland, proved too difficult to beat. WaiBOP came through pool play with three wins, a draw and a loss to Auckland before having to settle for a meritorious second placing.

Coach Brayden Lissington said his team prepared well and had a good balance of youth and experience in the squad. Western Bay players Emma Cawte, Monique Lowry and Lilly Muspratt all performed well.

"We had a mostly young side with a couple of older players. I actually brought in Amanda Wilshier, who was our goalkeeper and captain. It was her first futsal experience but she has a lot of experience playing national women's league football. She provided the experience for some of our younger players who haven't had that women's national tournament experience," Lissington said.

"We were able to get together and train two to three times a week so there was lots of preparation and lots of good goal setting. Everyone was on the same page. We had some good warm-up games and just implemented what we had learnt from the training down in Wellington and got the results."

Lissington said the outstanding result at the nationals was a reflection of not just the increasing confidence and skill of the region's players but the numbers playing futsal.

"This was underpinned by some really good community leads in Tauranga and Hamilton and a few outreach centres. The movement towards futsal and the growth in the game has provided a bit of a platform to create better local competitions which then create better local players who can go to these national tournaments a bit more experienced and a bit more prepared.

"It is a sign of what has been happening locally. We have a few players being looked at for the New Zealand Under-18 side to go to the Youth Olympics in Argentina at the end of the year."

2018 Futsal National Women's League
WaiBOP results
4-0 v Central. Goals: Grace Wisnewski, Chloe Henderson, Leah Gubb, Emma Cawte.
3-3 v Capital. Goals: Hannah Reid, Wisnewski, Gubb.
4-1 v Northern. Goals: Wisnewski 2, Grace Cox, Henderson.
5-4 v Canterbury. Goals: Kate Williams, Gubb, Wisnewski, Cox, Henderson.
0-4 v Auckland.
0-3 v Auckland (Grand Final).