Tough finish for Central women

Not much has gone the Central women’s way this season and it was the same old story in their final match of the national football league.

Central lost 3-2 to Canterbury at Memorial Park on Sunday, leaving them bottom of the table, while Canterbury clinched the minor premiership and qualify for the grand final.

Auckland will host Southern in the preliminary final.

Central scored first through Rose Morton where she latched onto a through ball and beat the keeper, but then they let Canterbury back in, much to the disappointment of coach Simon Lees.

‘‘We were just a little bit unlucky to be fair,’’ he said. ‘‘Luck doesn’t determine where we finish on the table.

‘‘We let in two sloppy goals, one on the stroke of halftime. At 2-1 in the sheds, we came out quite well, but got caught on the counter.’’

Lees said the first half of the game against Northern (5-1 loss) and the game against Auckland (4-2) loss are the only times they have been outplayed this season.

‘‘Otherwise we’ve been very, very competitive in every single game ... I said to the girls if you make the mistakes you have to pay the price. On the flip side you’ve got to make sure you make other teams pay the price.’’

He said they have been competitive all year, they just haven’t gelled.

Central had one win and six losses.

In Sunday’s game, Canterbury were direct and put the ball in behind Central. Cody Taylor scored a double, and Rebecca Lake scored to give Canterbury a 3-1 lead.

Aleesha Heywood scored Central’s second goal after a goalmouth scramble, hitting the ball well with her left foot onto the inside of the post, for a consolation goal.

Morton was outstanding in the middle of the park and sister Sarah was strong at right back.

Mackenzie Barry was shifted to centre back and had a good game. That pushed Molly Woodhead out wide and she created havoc running at the Canterbury defence.

In the other final-round games, Auckland beat Northern 3-2 and Capital beat Southern 6-2.

Final standings: 1 Canterbury 13, 2 Auckland 12, 3 Northern 10, 4 Southern 10, 5 Capital 9, 6 WAIBOP 4, 7 Central 3.