Canterbury too classy for Central
Central had another hard-fought National Women’s League battle when they played Canterbury United Pride at English Park in Christchurch.
The young team eventually succumbed 8-0 to the Pride, who are the league’s reigning champions and one of the bestresourced sides in the competition.
The Pride were already up by three goals at halftime, after Central conceded a penalty in the dying minutes of the half.
Canterbury had a stunning second half, which included scoring three goals in a nine-minute period.
Cody Taylor was Canterbury’s standout player, managing to produce a hat-trick.
Central manager Donald Piper gave credit to Canterbury for their clinical performance, saying their second half was ‘‘tremendous’’.
Despite the large scoreline, he is proud of his team’s attitude and resilience.
‘‘There is absolutely no way we will drop our heads or be embarrassed.’’
He said his team were aiming to reduce the margins of defeat in the return fixtures, but the difference in experience between Central and the other teams was showing.
It was always going to be a challenge for Central to get a result, having lost 7-0 when they hosted the Pride in the third round of the competition.
Piper said the team’s final fixtures of the competition against Auckland, Northern Lights and and Southern United would yield some results.
These teams will be depleted due to players being away at the Fifa U17 Women’s World Cup and the Football Ferns assembling for their OFC Women’s Nations Cup.
‘‘We have three games coming up that we believe we can get points out of.’’
Central remain on the bottom of the table, behind Waikato Bay of Plenty on goal difference. Their next fixture is against Auckland at Mclennan Park, Auckland, on Sunday at 1pm.