A goal from Kerikeri striker Sophie Fladgate earned the North Force women's team a point from their 1-1 draw against West Auckland in the Northern Football Federation's premier league at Kamo on Sunday.
The young and inexperienced North Force team are still struggling to find their feet in the league but
player-coach Dee Tunstall said the signs are promising in what seems like an even competition.
"We've got a bunch of very young players and we are hopeful that once they get settled in at this level then we might be able to go on and challenge at the top of the table," she said.
That is still a few games off after Tunstall admitted some frustration that the team couldn't go on to win. "The girls did what I asked them at half time and played the ball on the ground, rather than long balls that they were throwing forward in the first half, but we couldn't finish it off, which was very frustrating," she said.
North Force have now won one game, lost one and drawn one, with just four points separating the top and bottom team after three rounds.
After conceding a clumsy free-kick outside the penalty area, West Auckland made North Force pay with a strike that sailed into the net to give the visitors the lead after 15 minutes.
Fladgate, playing in her second game for the North Force side, benefited from a run by Nicci Couling to level the scores.
Couling picked the ball up in defence and then took off upfield, keeping the defence at bay for 50-odd metres, before laying the ball off to the Kerikeri 17-year-old, who went around the keeper to slot the goal.
Hibiscus Coast, who North Force beat 3-2 in their opening game, now lead the competition, with Waitakere City second and Glenfield Rovers Reserves third. North Force are fourth.
