Premier football returns

New Plymouth Rangers will have one more team to fend off if they hope to retain the Taranaki premier football league title this season, with Woodleigh back in the fold to make it a 10-team league.

On the back of a strong Duff Rosebowl campaign in 2016 that saw them topple a number of premier teams on their way to the final, Woodleigh have come back to the premier competition after spending three years in the wilderness.

The team make the leap up from playing division one football last season, and were set to open their account against 2016 strugglers Inglewood.

In the feature game of the round, Eltham travel to New Plymouth to take on a Boys’ High team who will be looking to improve on their seventh-placed finish of a year ago.

For Eltham, a good start against the High School team will be important to fuel their title charge, being in the mix until late last season, eventually finishing in third place.

Rangers begin their title defence down in Hawera, a trip that often proves to be a tough one to win.

Last season, Rangers took out the title by just one point from Moturoa.

Elsewhere, Moturoa host Francis Douglas Memorial College and a rejuvenated Peringa side host FC Western.

Peringa struggled mightily last season and were only able to muster two wins as they finished at the foot of the table.

All matches kick off at 2.45pm today.

❚ This weekend also signals the start of the Taranaki women’s competition, with none of the firstround matches being played in New Plymouth.

Inglewood will play host to New Plymouth Rangers, Waitara will host Moturoa and Hawera host Peringa.

Moturoa will be looking to carry the momentum from their win in last year’s Duchess Cup as they look to go one place better than their second-placed finish in the women’s league in 2016.

All women’s matches begin at 10am tomorrow.