Nobody quite knew what to expect from Onestaff Palmerston North Marist as they headed into the opening game of the Women’s Federation League 2021.  It was Marist’s first year back in the league, they had a completely new squad and even newly appointed Head Coach Richard Nielsen’s original focus was a mid-table finish.  As each match progressed Marist got stronger and stronger, the team started to work together and really believe they could achieve something special.

“Preseason was just to get a squad that I could rely on to front up week in week out. Our squad's target was Mid Table.  After round 1, this changed a bit. As a Unit we realized that we would compete here, and that was the self-belief that the Ladies needed to push on”.

It took every result, every point to get crowned Champions with the league coming down to the final game of the season.  Nielsen and his team needed a single point heading into their last match against Football Whanganui – Final score 3-1.

“My job was simple for this game, I simply put the correct information in front of the team and gave them the game plan that I believed would give us the best chance of winning. The players knew what we needed to do. I just made sure they were as ready as they could be”. 

The season didn’t come without its challenges including a Covid-19 lockdown which can sometimes cause a shift in momentum;

“I'm not sure we overcame the Covid Factor. The first game we had after the Covid break we lost. Covid halted any chance of momentum we had. It took a bit of training and mental toughness from my Ladies to push on”.

Nielsen had many highs over the season but couldn’t look past the dedicated players he had recruited for his squad and couldn’t single out any player as a stand out.

“Winning the federation League with a team scratched together in the beginning has to be up there. Seeing the commitment, the Ladies put in, week in and week out for trainings and game days were a big highlight for me. Putting a team together of players who had never played together and watching them turn into the quality team, rates up there".

"I think our key this year was, we were playing for each other, we all had our jobs to do and we just gave it our best shot”.

“Overall, very happy with my team and the support from our club. Winning the league is amazing, as I found all games and teams very competitive, and on any given day any team could have won, I think this showed in the results”.

“I would like to say that I am impressed with the quality of football that the Federation Ladies in all teams have produced this year”.

On behalf of Central Football, Congratulations to Onestaff Palmerston North Marist, Federation League Champions for 2021.

Article added: Wednesday 06 October 2021