It has been a historic weekend for our region as Southern United claimed their first ever title! Graeme Smaill’s squad have impressed throughout the season, winning 5 of their 6 matches including doing the double over 2018,2019 and 2020 league winners Canterbury Pride. 

Head Coach Graeme Smaill has been delighted with the effort his team has shown throughout the campaign and puts their title down to several factors, “I believe the team’s success was built around the team culture, a cohesive aggressive press, an ability to transition quickly to counter-attack and good old-fashioned grit and determination shown by the girls.” He continues, “Each and every member of the staff had a massive input into the final outcome and personally, I couldn’t feel more proud of them all.”  

What is most remarkable about Southern’s season is the sense of togetherness the side has shown in the campaign. The team have looked out for each other every step of the way and they have also received brilliant guidance from Graeme and the coaching staff, Jess, Tom, Patrina, Helen and Jacky. They started the season in sensational fashion coming from behind to beat Pride 2-1 at English Park thanks to goals from Emily Morison and Amy Hislop.  

Their first home game of the season saw them fall behind to Central but some tenacious play saw them turn things around with the game finishing 3-1, thanks to pressure that led to a Central own goal and spectacular goals from Margi Dias and Shontelle Smith.

Up next stood one of their biggest challenges of the season, a trip to face last year’s finalists Capital. They showed resilience to hold on to a 1-0 lead with the dynamic midfielder Kirsty Hayr the sole goal scorer of the game. The win over Capital placed Southern top of the table at the halfway point of the league.

 

There was one tiny blip in Round 4, with Southern succumbing to a 3-0 loss in back-to-back matches against Capital. Despite some excellent passages of play Southern were valiantly beaten, with all credit to Capital, who deserved the three points. One of the stories of Southern’s season has been the team possessing the strength to come back from behind, which they did again in another 3-1 win over Central in Round 5. Amy Hislop netted a brace with Margi Dias getting her second of the season to cement Southern’s ascent back to the top of the table. 

It's the nature of football to highlight the achievements of the goalscorers but credit has to be given to every member of the Southern squad. Captain Rose Morton and centre-back Hannah Mackay-Wright played every single minute of every game, which is a feat in itself, and they were strong and dynamic throughout the season.

Several other players were a constant presence in the team, with Kelsey Kennard, Chelsea Whittaker, Kirsty Hayr, Toni Power and Amy Simmers each playing over 475 minutes over the campaign and playing their hearts out, week in, week out. Both Simmers and Margi Dias made their debuts in blue this season and both players impressed immensely, Dias seeming to run a half marathon each match and Amy being dependable between the sticks. Experienced players like Amy Hislop, Emily Morison, Shontelle Smith and Renee Bacon were always a threat on the field and their workrate was outstanding.

Lena de Ronde, Ruby Anderson and Juliete Lucas were influential with Lena starting in the win against Capital and all 3 players coming on in every match and making an impact off the bench. Emma Andrew played an important part with a great performance in the final half hour of the match against Capital at Logan Park. It truly has been a team effort this season!

Credit also to other members of the squad including Saffron Hare, Georgia Kennedy, Megan Walker and Isabel Parry who attended training regularly and were always there to support the team at home matches, with Georgia making an appearance against Capital away in Wellington. 

It all came down to a final round showdown with closest rivals Canterbury Pride. Southern stepped up to the occasion and played some incredible football, scoring 4 goals in 21 minutes with the game ending 5-3 to Southern. As mentioned, Southern did things in their usual style, tenaciously coming from a goal down to thump the reigning champions Pride. The pace and composure the team showed was exceptional, with the omnipresent Hannah Mackay-Wright starting the counter-attack that led to Chelsea Whittaker’s first goal of the season.

The hard to handle Amy Hislop grabbed Southern’s second after her perfectly timed run and pinpoint accuracy combined to give Pride’s keeper Una Foyle no hope. Whittaker slotted home her second soon after as she ran onto a perfectly weighted through ball from Margi Dias to increase Southern’s lead. Not content with a 2 goal lead, Southern piled relentless pressure on Pride and some excellent attacking play from Amy Hislop and Margi Dias led to Lara Wall turning the ball into her own net.

Pride struck back on the stroke of half time but Southern had the composure to continue to break down the Pride defence, with Chelsea Whittaker securing her hat-trick from the penalty spot after Amy Hislop was brought down in the box. The scenes at full time were of joy and jubilation and it was a truly momentous occasion for Southern United. Southern finished 3 points clear at the top of the table, ahead of Capital who perch in second spot on 12 points.

Huge thanks to all our supporters, and also to our sponsors McDonald’s Dunedin, Night ‘n Day, Platinum Recruitment and the Otago Daily Times.