Two years of heartbreak have ended for Auckland after victory in the Futsal National Women’s League, which took place at ASB Sports Centre in Wellington over the weekend.

The Nic Downes-coached side were unbeaten finalists in the two previous tournaments and were determined to finally go one better this time, reaching the final as the only team to post a perfect record of five wins from as many matches in the round-robin phase.

That presented them with a winner-takes-all clash against second-placed WaiBOP and their class continued to tell as goals from Emily Gillion, Maxine Cooper and Dayna Manak earned a well-deserved 3-0 victory.

Captain Hannah Kraakman, who also leads the Futsal Ferns national team, was delighted to get her hands on the trophy at the third attempt.

“We came here with a goal and we achieved that,” she said.

“We’ve been waiting three years for this so all the girls are really happy. We have put a lot of work in and that’s finally shown so I’m really proud.”

While not managing to get the better of Auckland, the other stand-out side was clearly WaiBOP, who were beaten by only the eventual champions on their way to the final.

The Canterbury United Pride were the best of the rest in third while Central and Capital followed closely behind and Northern finished bottom after losing their five matches. 

The individual awards were also dominated by Auckland as Jess Verdon was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, as well as sharing the Golden Boot with team mate Dayna Manak and WaiBOP’s Grace Wisnewski. Auckland goalkeepers Danielle Bradley and Rivalina Fuimaono were named joint winners of the Golden Gloves award for the best goalkeeper.

The futsal victory continues a memorable period for the Auckland Football Federation in the female space after the National Women’s League football title was also claimed at the backend of last year. One player in particular has had plenty to celebrate as Erinna Wong was a member of both squads.

Futsal National Women’s League Results

Capital 3 (Emma Main, Libby Boobyer, Francesca Grange)
Canterbury United 3 (Hannah Robert, Macey Fraser, Serena Patel)

Northern 3 (Bernadette Goulding, Hannah Reddy, Jane Barnett)
Auckland 8 (Maxine Cooper, Annie Byrne, Jess Verdon 3, Dayna Manak, Tessa Leong 2)

WaiBOP 4 (Grace Wisnewski, Chloe Henderson, Leah Gubb, Emma Cawte)
Central 0

Canterbury United 2 (Macey Fraser, Gabrielle Rennie)
Auckland 3 (Jess Verdon, Milly McWhirter, Hannah Kraakman)

Capital 3 (Sarah Alder, Maya Hahn, own goal)
WaiBOP 3 (Hannah Reid, Grace Wisnewski, Leah Gubb)

Central 4 (Aimee Atkins 2, Torijan Lyne-Lewis, Larissa Cable)
Northern 0

Capital 2 (Emma Main, Maya Hahn)
Auckland 5 (Jess Verdon, Dayna Manak, Tessa Leong, Emily Gillion, Jenna Dodd)

Canterbury United 4 (Own goal, Sophie Vos, Serena Patel, Maggie Anderson)
Central 3 (Torijan Lyne-Lewis, Larissa Cable, Aleesha Heywood)

WaiBOP 4 (Grace Wisnewski 2, Grace Cox, Chloe Henderson)
Northern 1 (Anya Gross)

Auckland 2 (Dayna Manak, Emily Gillion)
Central 0

Canterbury United 4 (Serena Patel, Olivia Knight, Britney-Lee Nicholson, Emma Clarke)
WaiBOP 5 (Kate Williams, Leah Gubb, Grace Wisnewski, Grace Cox, Chloe Henderson)

Capital 4 (Francesca Grange, Emma Main, Katie Barrott, Kelsi Rutene)
Northern 2 (Casey Klyn, Jane Barnett)

Auckland 4 (Tessa Leong, Emily Gillion, Nadia Pearl, Dayna Manak)
WaiBOP 0

Central 3 (Molly Woodhead, Torijan Lyne-Lewis 2)
Capital 1 (Jenna Reddy)

Northern 1 (Hannah Reddy)
Canterbury 5 (Maggie Anderson, Serena Patel, Tahlia Herman-Watt 2, Emma Clarke)

Final:

Auckland 3 (Emily Gillion, Maxine Cooper, Dayna Manak)
WaiBOP 0