SOCCER - North Force on track for title

A clinical North Force women's performance saw them take apart second-placed Hibiscus Coast 4-0 in the US1 women's premier league on Sunday - a win that virtually guaranteed them the league title for the third successive year.
The standard of his team's play has team coach Bruce Plunkett hoping the team will be promoted into the Northern League next year to play amongst the country's best.
"If we play well, no one can touch us in this league, we're just that much better than everyone else. If we have a bad day we might struggle to get a 1-0 or 2-0 win, but if we're on song nobody can deal with us," Plunkett said.
He said it was still mathematically possible they could lose the title on goal difference, but that would require some unlikely losses - by several goals - in each of their remaining four fixtures.
He has recommended to the North Force board that the team try to gain promotion into the Northern Premier League (NPL) next year.
"If they don't do it for next season then they're mad because we got a young side, with 15 of our team under 20, and they're going to improve in that league a lot quicker than the one they're in ... so hopefully they'll get the chance."
The board has made noises about promotion after winning titles in the past two years, but has been hampered by the loss of players and question marks over the strength of the squad. This year it seems likely they will retain most of their squad because of their relative youth.
Sunday's 4-0 win over Hibiscus Coast underlines that there is little to keep the team in the current league.
Plunkett said the team would struggle in the Northern League initially, but would eventually find their level. An NPL side knocked out North Force in the national knockout cup this year - but only by a single goal.
"We got knocked out by Waitakere 1-0 and they only scored in the last 10 minutes of the game - and okay, they're in the bottom four of the [NPL] league, but we proved we can be competitive if we go up."
The team now turn their attention to the winning the Federation Cup double, with their next game away to first division side Birkenhead on August 3.
In other Northland women's premier league matches, league leaders Kamo were surprising held to a 1-1 draw at home by mid-table Tikipunga, while Northern Wairoa also drew 1-1 with Onerahi at Memorial Park.
Central Brown went down 16-0 when they met Kerikeri at Baysports Park.
Two matches were postponed on Sunday.