Two teams have opened up a small gap on the rest of the W-League field after three rounds of action.

Wellington United kept their perfect winning start to the season going with a 3-0 victory over Palmerston North Marist. A Jemma Robertson brace in the five minutes either side of halftime setup the win, before Kirsty Hayr put the icing on the cake with 20 minutes to play.

Wairarapa United are two points back in second after they kept their unbeaten start going thanks to a 4-1 win over Seatoun in Masterton. Molly Woodhead got them off to the perfect start with a goal in the second minute, but Natalie Johnstone answered for the visitors seven minutes before halftime. Meisha Boone scored in first-half stoppage time, while second-half goals to Amber Phillips and Anna McPhie secured the three points for the home side.

Upper Hutt City got their season back on track with their first win of the season, a 6-1 triumph over Western Suburbs at Endeavour Park. Eva Blake had put Wests up 1-0 in the 18th minute, but Kennedy Bryant found an equaliser six minutes before halftime. It was one-way traffic in the second half as Upper Hutt scored five goals in the first 28 minutes, including two to returning Football Fern Sarah Gregorius, to ensure they walked away with the win.

In the Ultra Football Central League, Western Suburbs remain the only unbeaten team after defeating Napier City Rovers 2-1 at Park Island. Matt Garbett had given them a 1-0 halftime lead, but Jamie Wilkinson found an equaliser 18 minutes from time. Eli Just then popped up with the winner with 11 minutes to go to move Wests to eight points after four games, one behind the leading trio of Napier, Stop Out and Wellington Olympic.

Stop Out moved joint-top after a 2-1 win over strugglers Waterside Karori, while Olympic edged past rivals Miramar Rangers with a 3-2 win.

Wairarapa United lurk just behind those teams on seven points after an important 3-2 win over Wellington United. Aaron Spierling got what turned out to be the winner in the 52nd minute, while Calvin Harris bagged his sixth goal in three games for Wellington.

The other match saw Lower Hutt City hammer Havelock North Wanderers 5-2 thanks to a hat-trick from Samuel Johnson. Of note for Havelock North was the identity of their second goalscorer, Solomon Islands international Gagame Feni.

The action continues on Anzac Day on Wednesday with a full round of matches. The two bottom teams in Karori and Havelock North battle it out in Wellington, while at the other end of the table Stop Out and Olympic meet at Wakefield Park. Park Island hosts another blockbuster clash when Napier and Wellington United tussle for supremacy, while Wairarapa take on Lower Hutt and Wests meet Miramar.

In the Capital Premier division, North Wellington maintained their three-point lead with a 4-1 win over bottom-placed Kapiti Coast United as former Wellington Phoenix legend Ben Sigmund chipped in with a goal.

The chasing pack remains tightly bunched, with just three points from second to ninth.

Petone continued their recovery from the early-season yips with a 2-0 win over Upper Hutt City to move to seven points, while Island Bay United kept pace with them thanks to a 4-1 win over Western Suburbs’ reserves.

Miramar’s reserves joined those two teams on seven with a 6-1 win over Lower Hutt’s reserves. Olympic’s reserves beat Tawa 1-0 in the other match of the round.

Capital Premier also has a round on Anzac Day, highlighted by North Wellington’s clash with Petone at Alex Moore Park.

In the Women's Premier grade, the top three teams kept their unbeaten records in tact although Victoria University had a stiff contest on their hands against Brooklyn Northern United, winning 2-1.

The tough season for Stop Out continued at the hands of Petone, who scored their first win of the season in emphatic fashion, scoring 8 goals and conceding none.

W-League round three

Wellington United 3 (Jemma Robertson 44’ 50’, Kirsty Hayr 70’) Palmerston North Marist 0. HT: 1-0
Wairarapa United 4 (Molly Woodhead 2’, Meisha Boone 45+1’, Amber Phillips 48’, Anna McPhie 63’) Seatoun 1 (Natalie Johnstone 38’). HT: 2-1
Upper Hutt City 6 (Kennedy Bryant 39’ 52’, Sarah Gregorius 62’ 73’, Melissa Ridall 55’, Grace McRobie 68’) Western Suburbs 1 (Eva Blake 18’)

Standings: Wellington 9, Wairarapa 7, Upper Hutt 4, Palmerston North 4, Wests 1, Seatoun 0

Ultra Football Central League round four

Western Suburbs 2 (Matt Garbett 18’, Elijah Just 79’) Napier City Rovers 1 (Jamie Wilkinson 72’). HT: 1-0
Stop Out 2 (Jordan Martens 4’, Steven Gulley 65’) Waterside Karori 1 (own goal). HT: 1-0
Lower Hutt City 5 (Samuel Johnson 16’ 57’ 84’, Jack Imray 18’, Jared Cuniff 88’) Havelock North Wanderers 2 (Liam Shackleton 54’, Gagame Feni 87’). HT: 2-0
Wairarapa United 3 (Paul Ifill 15’, Shakille Belle 29’, Aaron Spierling 52’) Wellington United 2 (Calvin Harris 41’, Ben Waine 72’). HT: 2-1
Wellington Olympic 3 (Seth Ward 18’, Birhanu Taye 42’, Gavin Hoy 90’) Miramar Rangers 1 (Dom Rowe 27’). HT: 2-1

Standings: Napier 9, Stop Out 9, Olympic 9, Wests 8, Wairarapa 7, Wellington 6*, Lower Hutt 4*, Miramar 3, Waterside Karori 0, Havelock North 0. *game in hand

Capital Premier round four

North Wellington 4 (Sam Gillespie 9’ 52’, Callum Goodwin 27’, Ben Sigmund 33‘) Kapiti Coast United 1 (Magno Vieira 53’). HT: 3-0
Miramar Rangers 6 (Thomas Schuyt 24’ 41’, Alexander Povey 28’, Matthew Harland 66’, Charles Atkinson-Kos 82’, Thomas Viles 90+2’) Lower Hutt City 1 (Caleb Carrasco 52’). HT: 3-0
Wellington Olympic 1 (Sam Staunton 34’) Tawa 0. HT: 1-0
Island Bay United 4 (Luciano Colucci 20’, Jesse Randall 45’, Bryn Hickson-Rowden 48’, Simon Gatward-Smith 86’) Western Suburbs 2 (Jamie O’Conner 50’ 79’). HT: 2-0
Petone 2 (Alexander Shepherd-Reynolds 6’, Hamiora Paranihi-Nuku 86’) Upper Hutt City 0. HT: 1-0

Standings: North Wellington 10, Island Bay 7, Petone 7, Miramar 7, Wests 6, Lower Hutt 6, Tawa 5, Olympic 4, Upper Hutt 4, Kapiti 0 

Women's Premier round three

Stop Out 0 Petone 8
Island Bay United Flames 1 Waterside Karori 5 (Lynskey 2, Carter, Gotlieb, Newton-Smith)
Kapiti Coast United 3 Wellington United Sapphires 5 
Victoria University 2 Brooklyn Northern United 1

Standings: Wellington United 9, Waterside Karori 9, Victoria University 9, Petone 3, Brooklyn Northern United 3, Kapiti Coast United 3, Island Bay United Flames 0, Stop Out 0

Photo: action between Havelock North and Lower Hutt by Hamish Wareham