Northland premier women's football: Kerikeri keep heat on Onerahi

Onerahi goal-scorer, Katie Ralph (right) feels the pressure from Madhatters' Megan van Dyk. Photo / Supplied

Kerikeri have confirmed their second-placed spot in Northland's premier women's football competition with a convincing 6-0 win over Madhatters on Sunday.

Onerahi still sit at the top of the table with 10 wins from as many games, but only lead Kerikeri by five points. Winning against a third-placed Madhatters team, who have recorded six wins, one draw and one loss, was essential if Kerikeri want to stay in contention for first place.

It took 10 minutes at William Fraser Park on Sunday for Kerikeri to take the lead in this important fixture. From there, the game stalled as both teams battled for ascendancy until halftime with the score at 1-nil.

While Madhatters had been right in the contest in the first 45 minutes, Kerikeri came to life in the second with five unanswered goals. Kerikeri striker, Sam Knight, was the star of the second half as she completed her hat trick thanks to some great feeding from her midfield.

Madhatters midfielder, Lara Bennetto (with ball), tries to use the possession in the centre of the park as Onerahi number three, Chelsey Alexander, bears down on her. Photo / Supplied

"The first half was challenging and it took the team a while to resist the pressure and get into their groove," Kerikeri coach Russell McCabe said.

"Madhatters put on a lot of pressure and it broke our passing game down."

McCabe said he wasn't concerned at halftime, only leading by one goal, and told his team they needed to communicate more in order to keep possession.

"From there, the passing improved and we got a lot more momentum going forward, and we made a few changes on the field," he said.

He commended Knight and the other goal scorers, Chelsey Alexander, Amy Wyatt and Katie Ralph, for finishing off some great team moves through the Madhatters defence.

With speed up and down the wings, McCabe said he was hopeful the team could go far in the back end of the competition.

"We always work to a game plan and it's about how well we execute it.

"We are still developing which is good but it's just about maintaining possession and good quality passing, that's the key."

New Madhatters coach Brendon Gray, who had taken over as coach for the last five games, said his team probably had a better share of possession over the 90 minutes, but couldn't keep up with the pace of Kerikeri's forwards.

"We played pretty well but we just couldn't handle their counter-attacks and through-balls, which kept turning us around," he said.

"[Kerikeri] were really accurate and we just didn't have the speed at the back to catch them."

Sitting just one point above Bream Bay United, Gray was optimistic looking to the rest of the season with the structure his team was playing with.

"Our midfield and backline are really strong when we are getting time to hold the ball, but we need to expand our game up front and get that pace."

In the round's other results, Bream Bay beat Tikipunga, 4-1, and Onerahi beat Kaitaia, 19-0.

Northland FC's women's team couldn't fashion a win out of their away trip against Norwest United, settling for a 1-all draw. The team next plays Beachlands Maraetai at Tikipunga Sports Park at 1pm on July 7.