The second round of the Otago Daily Times Women’s Premier League saw every team in action apart from last season’s champions, Dunedin Tech. Last season’s third place finishers Roslyn Wakari took on the previous season’s runners-up, Otago Uni Premiers, with Queenstown hosting Mosgiel and Green Island away to Otago Uni Seconds.  

Roslyn Wakari 2 – 4 Otago Uni Premiers 

Premiers bounced back from their defeat to Tech in the opening weekend with a 4-2 victory away at Ellis Park. Roslyn opened the scoring with Renee Bacon getting on the scoresheet after just two minutes with a carbon copy of her opening goal against Mosgiel. It wasn’t long before Premiers responded, with last season’s golden boot winner Amy Hislop getting Varsity’s equaliser ten minutes later. Varsity led 2-1 at half-time thanks to an effort from Tyler Wood.  

Roslyn managed to close the gap early in the second half with the on-form Bacon scoring her second of the match on 57 minutes. Hislop doubled her tally on 77 minutes with substitute Molly Senior responsible for Uni’s final goal that sealed the 4-2 victory.

Varsity coach Stuart Moffatt was impressed with side's win at Roslyn Wakari, "It's always difficult to go to Ellis park and come away with a result, they're a good young side with a positive vibe, they're definitely rivals with us and Tech for the title." He was especially chuffed to see Tyler Woods score her first goal for the club, Tyler being a fresher that has played for Central Football for the past few seasons.

Roslyn’s coach Hamish Philip rued some missed opportunities from his side, “Our own silly mistakes cost us but if you can come away from a loss and you’ve learnt something, that’s massive.” He was full of praise for goalkeeper Hayley Julian, “She kept us in the game with some world class saves and is truly stepping up to her role as first team keeper.” 

Queenstown 8 – 0 Mosgiel 

Queenstown got their campaign off to a flying start with a resounding 8-0 victory over Mosgiel. On her debut, Dana Mclleland scored Queenstown’s opening goal after just 13 minutes of play. Carmen Sealey was next on the scoresheet, doubling the home side’s lead on 24 minutes. Dana Mclleland doubled her goalscoring tally just after half an hour of play with fellow debutant Lauren Murray grabbing her first of the game just before the half-time whistle, leaving Mosgiel trailing 4-0.  

The goals kept coming in the second half with Murray securing a hat-trick mid-way through the half. Youngster Peyton Robertson came off the bench and made an impressive impact, scoring her first goal for the club, a scorcher from outside the box. Murray rounded off the result, landing her fourth goal with 9 minutes remaining. Queenstown boss Mark Ford was delighted with his team’s opening runout of the season, “We’re over the moon, it’s been a challenging off-season and that was our first run out as a squad, really happy with the 4 debutants, it’s really promising.” 

Mosgiel coach Malcolm Roberts was again impressed with the effort and endeavour of his team, “It’s a little bit of reality as to where we’re at in comparison to the top half of the table teams.” He was full of praise for the home side, “Queenstown were a notch better, always great to be learning what his level of football is about. Lauren Murray just exploited gaps and is a lovely finisher, it’s good to learn from that calibre of player!” He praised his team’s spirit, “We’re all fighting for each other and doing our best to get that result.” 

Otago Uni Seconds 2 – 5 Green Island 

With both sides getting their campaigns underway, it was a balanced fixture for much of the match that was played on the Turf.  Seconds took the lead with 9 minutes played with Jasmine Prince opening the scoring. It was a quick response from the Island who responded just two minutes later through Kaitlyn Michelle. Two more goals came in quick succession with Prince grabbing her second on 20 minutes before Jess Fuller retaliated four minutes to bring the score to 2-2. Kaitlyn Michelle pushed GI into the lead late into the second half after a long throw from keeper Tessa Nicol, with Fuller adding her third and fourth in the latter stages of the game.  

Seconds had plenty of players making their competitive debuts on Saturday with 6 new faces in the form of Jasmine Prince, Izzy Fisher, Kate Spring, Rebecca Hill, Bethany Stewart and Chloe Hamilton. Coach Arnan Tapp was impressed with his new players with striker Jasmine Prince scoring both of his team’s goals. Tapp felt his team performed well and there were plenty of positives to take from the match with the teams level at 2-2 until the 74th minute. Late goals from the prolific Jess Fuller sealed her hat-trick Seconds’ fate, “She was just too good at the end, we managed to shut her out for the majority of the game.”  

GI coach Matthew Holdridge was pleased with the resilience his team showed, coming from behind to get the win. He reflected that he believed in his team’s ability to create more opportunities, “the win was a team effort and a result of their commitment to the preseason.”

Article added: Tuesday 30 March 2021