Melville registered their first point in women's northern league football in 21 years when they drew 1-1 with Northern Rovers at Gower Park.

In their first home game in the 2024 Northern Women's Championship, Melville fought back from a goal down to level in the 73rd minute with a goal from Afghanistan-born Fatima Hussain Ali, six minutes after Northern had gone ahead.

It was a tight contest with Northern threatening most and several times going close to securing a second goal.

But an under-strength Melville - with numerous players unavailable - battled resolutely and were rewarded when nice play through the middle third allowed Hussain Ali to go one-on-one with the keeper and slot the ball in the corner.

"We could have won it, we could have lost it," said Melville coach Tarena Ranui. "To escape with a point is a start. We certainly didn't want to lose but we are doing it tough with numerous players away at this time of year."

Up front 14-year-old Mia Humphrey was one of the stand-outs for Melville. However she is unavailable next week because of commitments with the New Zealand Secondary Schoolgirls U16 team.

At the other end of the spectrum 30-year-old Rebecca Brown had her first game back after childbirth and did the full 90, as did 53-year-old Andrea Rogers at left back.

Laura Bennett, Melville's national U16 representative, was among those unavailable through overseas commitments.

Melville women are due to play Birkenhead at 5pm under lights at Gower on Saturday April 20, but efforts were in train to change this when this copy went to press, with Melville U14 and U16 girls teams in Auckland that day.

On Saturday Melville U14s registered a remarkable 5-5 draw at home to Auckland United to sit second on the table, a point behind Ellerslie.

# It was a case of all hands on deck as Melville went down 1-2 at home to Auckland United in the men's northern premier league at Gower Park on Saturday night.

Melville were missing a host of players, including injured captain Erik Panzer, but did level at 1-1 through a stunning 67th-minute strike from centreback Ryan Noon, which is being touted as a contender for goal of the season. 

However Auckland scored the winner three minutes later with a header from Josh Tollervey.

For Melville, Torhan Kurnaz made his first start, Lemuel Le Hane made his debut, and 15-year-old Max Mitchell made his first appearance of the season off the bench.

Melville Reserves were beaten 5-1, with Ethan Blakely scoring for Melville.

Melville are away to Auckland City at Kiwitea St at 3pm on Saturday April 20. Next home game is Saturday April 27 at 5pm against Eastern Suburbs.

Article added: Monday 15 April 2024