KEY POINTS:
The pressure is on the Auckland men and women in another testing national league double-header.
The Auckland teams both dropped a game in the opening weekend and will need to improve their performances if they are, even at this early stage, to get back into contention.
Their first-up wins, over lowly rated Southern sides, were far from convincing, with the women racing to 3-0 on the back of a Krystal Forgesson hat-trick before getting home 4-0 after a scrappy second-half. That was followed a day later by a 5-1 thumping from Wellington.
In the opening game of the third round, Auckland women are at home to Midlands today in a key encounter. The talent-stacked Aucklanders will find no favours from the Alan Galletly-coached Midlanders who boast a good blend of youth and experience.
Auckland will find tomorrow's second home game of the weekend no easier when they meet competition co-leaders North Harbour who will be brimming with confidence after their 3-1 win over Canterbury.
The Auckland men face the same two teams. First-up they play Midlands, who pressed Wellington all the way in a game which ended 2-2.
In the same mood, Midlands, who beat Central 4-1 in their second game of the opening weekend, will make life difficult for Auckland who scrambled to a 3-2 win over Southern before going down 2-1 to Wellington.
In today's game of the round, the North Harbour women are home to co-leader Northland who surprised some with their deserved opening wins over Canterbury and Southern.
Most interest tomorrow will centre on Lloyd Elsmore Park when the Auckland men tackle top of the table North Harbour.
