There was no question who the favourite was in this year’s Kate Sheppard Cup final. Auckland United bossed their way to the NRFL Premiership title going undefeated through the entire campaign and that sort of form wins trophies. Western Springs, meanwhile, spent half the season looking like they might not even qualify for the National League until some timely big results earned their top four status after all. That alone set Auckland United on a pedestal even before you consider that they beat Western Springs on all three occasions that they met during the league season. Granted, there were close margins each time with all three fixtures ending in a 1-0 results. Twice it was Charlotte Roche with the winning goals, the other time as Chloe Knott – the most recent of those meetings was just one week before this final.

Form goes out the window in finals sometimes. Big game experience is often far more valuable, hence it’s gotta be noted that the 2024 Kate Sheppard Cup final pitted the two most recent victors against each other. Auckland United beat Northern Rovers to lift the trophy two years ago while last year it was Western Springs defeating Wellington United. Although, player turnover being what it is at this level, there were actually only a handful of returning players between those finals and this.

Western Springs had three players in common between this year’s starting eleven and last year’s starting eleven, though a few more were on the bench (plus Kitty Jacob started this time having been a substitute a year ago). They also had Alosi Bloomfield in midfield who’d been part of that Auckland United side two years ago... which is one more member of that 2022 AU squad than the 2024 AU side had. One versus zero. However, five of the Northern Rovers players they beat that day are now Auckland United players, having followed coach Ben Bate over to AU at the start of last year. Funny how these things happen.

Speaking of the coaches... neither were here. Bate is assisting with the NZ team at the Oceania Women’s U16s while Springs coach Maia Vink is the main assistant for the kiwis the U20 Women’s World Cup. As such it was Jo Dawkins (AU) and Andrew Vernon (WS) calling the shots from the sideline for the two sides. Quite an unusual situation to have a national cup final with neither head coach available.

Auckland United’s starting line-up began with American goalkeeper Hannah Mitchell between the sticks. In defence they had the experienced quartet with Talisha Green, Greer MacIntosh, Chelsea Elliott, and Saskia Vosper. Three of them were instrumental in their National League title last year while Vosper is of course an ex-Wellington Phoenix rep with 25 A-League games to her name. Not quite as many games as Chloe Knott (38 games, 5 goals). She’s been the engine room in the AU midfield since leaving the Nix. Joining her were Japanese pivot Yume Harashima and NZ age rep Danielle Canham (who was probably one of the more unlucky ones to miss out on the U20 World Cup squad). Out wide up front were the speedsters Alexis Cook and Rene Wasi, with ex-Canterbury forward Charlotte Roche doing the striker stuff. No crossover between this and their last KSC title but seven of these starters also started the 2023 National League final (which was at Mt Smart Stadium).

As for Western Springs, they had Amberley Hollis in goal who, coincidentally, started the season with Auckland United. She even won the Golden Gloves at the OFC Champions League (yes, Auckland United won that trophy too). Tiana Hill and Arisa Takeda gave them great energy and experience at fullback, while Megan Lee and Charli Dunn made for a funky central defensive pairing. Lee is 29yo and got a few caps for the Football Ferns a decade ago. In contrast, Dunn is probably going to the U17 World Cup later this year. Along with Bloomfield, an NZ futsal rep, in midfield was Rebecca Burrows who played a bit for Newcastle Jets last ALW season before having a stint in China. Rina Hirano was there as an attacking midfielder, always a class act. Then up top were Kitty Jacob, Liz Savage, and Maia Lythe. Savage has 5 Football Ferns caps and also had a couple of ALW seasons earlier in her career. Jacob and Lythe are both still U20s eligible.

The North Harbour Stadium pitch is pretty massive and that always seems to take time to adjust to. Making matters even wobblier was a sturdy breeze on Saturday arvo. Chuck in the pressure of the occasion and both teams seemed keen to make sure they started the game carefully with deliberate passing. Springs got a little too careful with it when Rene Wasi charged down a Hollis clearance which ricocheted wide of the goal. One of those ‘could have gone anywhere’ moments... and they didn’t learn the lesson because soon afterwards Roche pounced on a heavy touch but smashed her attempt over the bar with only the keeper to beat. A little more composure and it could easily have been 1-0 after ten minutes. Easy come, easy go.

The action was mostly happening down that end but Springs eventually managed to find a few outlets. Alosi Bloomfield was always good for retaining the ball and moving possession upwards and soon they began sparking a few transitional attacks too. That levelled the game out. Both teams wanted to access the space in behind the defensive lines and out wide on this large field, yet getting the right weight of pass proved a tricky task. Both teams were also keen to be direct when it came to hurling the ball into the penalty area, yet the keepers had that covered. Nothing doing. Dani Canham was booked after a couple of fouls. 0-0 was the score at the break. Even stevens.

AU’s main issue was hastiness in attack. For whatever reason, they just didn’t have the patience required to turn good chances into great chances. Nevertheless, a huge one fell their way on 52’ when Wasi slipped Roche into the area – those through balls to Roche were Plan A all day and here was one that finally caught up with her - but Roche shot early and drilled it wide of the post. There was that hastiness again.

The midfield battles were fun but the game was too stretched for many big scoring opportunities. Neither team could get numbers forward quickly enough and both defences were winning their duels. Charli Dunn had an excellent game despite her youth. Megan Lee was going really well too, showing off her big left boot and also stepping into midfield a few times, until her game came to an end after an hour when she suffered a knee injury and had to be stretched off. Always a sad sight. Lee was on crutches after the match, here’s hoping it’s not a three-lettered diagnosis.

Anyway, Springs had long since stopped giving that AU press anything to do so, with AU looking surprisingly one-dimensional in attack, the favourites/underdog dynamic disappeared out the window. This was a bang even game that only needed someone to break it open with a little magic. Or possibly a mistake – since fatigue was becoming a serious factor in the latter stages with several players needing the ol’ hamstring stretches.

Chelsea Elliott had a crack from a long-range free kick. No distance is too deep for CE but, despite the swerve and power, Hollis managed to get rid of the danger. However, that was the start of a spell of terror from United. Alexis Cook was showing off her dribbling skills with stepovers and chops and even a Maradona turn. Wasi flipped a snapshot wide after a Roche attempt was blocked. United seemed to find another gear in the last fifteen... leading to Charlotte Roche supplying the decisive moment of the match. Yeah she did. Wonderful strike from outside the area, an absolute rocket shot that Hollis couldn’t react to quickly enough. Auckland United’s whole attacking plan seemed to be about setting Roche up. It was a simple strategy and in the end it worked.

But this game was not yet done. There were twists remaining in the tale. For one thing, Liz Savage thought she’d equalised in the third minute of stoppage time (the third of ten minutes – lots of injury breaks), following up on a corner kick scramble. Problem was there’d been a foul on the keeper. Goal disallowed. Still Western Springs kept surging and in the eighth additional minute Arisa Takeda liked the look of a long free kick. The strike was fantastic but it cannoned back off the crossbar. That was close but even closer was Rebecca Burrows heading the rebound back onto the bar again before it had even stopped rattling from the first one. Those rebounds are tougher than they look, it’s mostly pure instinct with no time to assess the situation... but when you’re 1-0 down in a cup final with seconds left then a chance like that’s simply got to hit the back of the net. It didn’t. And thus Auckland United are the Kate Sheppard Cup champions for 2024.

Add that one to the trophy pile. Oceania Champions League, NRFL Premiership, and Kate Sheppard Cup champions this year and they’ve still got the National League to follow where they’ll again be hot favourites. Auckland United are defending champions of that competition too, after all. Still undefeated in the calendar year. They were far from infallible at North Harbour and yet they found a way to win as the best teams tend to do. Charlotte Roche was awarded the Maia Jackman Trophy – more for her one shining moment rather than the overall picture but that’s fair enough in a grand final where those shining moments are what decides the whole story. Talisha Green and Saskia Vosper were also huge at fullback while Yume Harashima got more and more influential at the base of AU’s midfield as the game went on, bucking the trend of everyone else’s growing fatigue.

The other thing this means is that this Auckland United vs Western Springs fixture has ended 1-0 to AU on all four occasions this year... and Charlotte Roche has scored the winner in three of the four. They’ll meet again in the National League before the year is through. Anyone want to bet on what that scoreline will be?

This was a game that never reached top gear. Conditions and the occasion didn’t allow it... for a while there it looked like extra time (and possibly penalties) would be necessary. But tired legs influenced things just enough for each team to muster up one massive opportunity towards the end. United scored theirs and Springs couldn’t convert. That’s how it goes. Last year Ela Jerez came off the bench to score an 89th minute winner for Western Springs. This year they were the team who conceded right at the end of the ninety. They played well though. Bloomfield and Dunn have already had shout outs. Takeda and Hill were full of quality (Hill even slipped into CB after Lee had to be replaced). Anya Stephan gave them some energy off the bench. This club lost a chunk of their best players this year, with a bunch of them moving across to Eastern Suburbs (while the likes of Emma Pijnenburg, Ela Jerez, and Lara Colpi have moved on to professional opportunities), and they still made the KSC final and qualified for National League. No dramas there.

But this was Auckland United’s day, just like most days seem to be Auckland United’s day. It’ll be fascinating to see what happens next year if Auckland FC go scooping up the best local talent the way that they’ve done for their men’s team. If so that might drag AUFC down a peg or two but otherwise it’s hard to envisage an end to this reign any time soon. This is the best women’s club team in Aotearoa right now and they’ll get the chance to prove that again when the National League kicks off in a few weeks.

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