Young guns lose but hit league target

North Force Women's coach Dee Tunstall knew before her girls played against Waitakere they had won the 2010 US1 Women's Championship.
"I knew on Friday night that North Shore drew with West Auckland 1-1, which meant we had won the league without having to play our final two games, but I kept it a secret from the girls," she said.
North Shore were the only team close enough in the standings to upset North Force at the tail end of the season and the draw in their final game of the season only earned them one point - not enough to catch North Force.
However, if North Shore had defeated West Auckland, North Force would have needed to win one of their two remaining games - last Sunday's match against Waitakere and/or their game in hand left to play  Hibiscus Coast at Kamo Sports Park.
Not knowing they had won the championship already, the North Force Women entered Sunday's match at West Auckland's Fred Taylor Park hungry for a win and knowing the importance of the match, the coach said.
"Most of the girls had been away on tournament week at the various New Zealand Secondary Schools Football tournaments and we had a lot of tired bodies.
"We went down 2-1 but the girls did as much as they could on the back of a big week of playing up to nine games."
Waitakere got out to an early two point lead and with five minutes to go, Becky Hawker closed the gap to the final score 2-1. Hawker also received player of the day for her efforts.
If the girls had been at 100 per cent, and converted their opportunities at goal, they could have won easily, Tunstall said.
"But their bodies did not seem to do what they wanted them to - they didn't have any power behind them when they kicked the ball."
After playing their hearts out and gutted about the loss, the girls started to talk about how they could win their remaining game in the championship. But then Tunstall informed her side they had already won the league.
"They were so exhausted they were like 'oh yeah' and there was no cheering or anything, but then it sunk in. After their showers they were giggling and very happy to have won that trophy."
North Force is a young team with only one player over 18 - 25-year-old Kelsey Stein from Kerikeri.
"While most teams would have filled the trophy up with alcohol, when we stopped in Wellsford on our way north again, the girls filled it up with icecream, lollies and Coke," she said.
After losing experienced players Hannah Wilkinson and Katie Rood to name a few last year, North Force Women dropped down from playing in the National Bluebird League into the US1 Women's Championship, to develop and grow as a side.