After an emotional pre-match ceremony, the Highlanders shot out of the blocks as — who else? — Tessa Jopp deflected home from an early penalty corner to put her side into the lead.
That was a lead they never really looked like surrendering, despite plenty of industry from the Huskies.
The Huskies responded by forcing a few penalty corners, but they failed to really test Caitlin Tier in the Highlanders goal.
There was a lot of control for the women in orange, as they saw the game through to halftime with the lead firmly intact.
Honor Barry doubled the lead midway through the third quarter with another penalty corner goal, and that was all she wrote. City saw the contest out, keeping hold of the ball and testing India Harvey on several occasions. The Huskies did well to keep it tight, but they were comfortably defeated.
The usual suspects were excellent for City. Jopp was a class above in midfield, while Ava Beens and Lucy Pottinger were busy.
For the Huskies, Greer Tremain was strong in the losing effort.
Elsewhere, the in-form Kings United Royals eased past the Taieri Tigers 6-0.
The goals were nicely spread around with Maia Houkamau a real surprise on the scoresheet. It was a tough outing for the Tigers, who were missing several key players, but they ultimately slipped further away from the top four.
Earlier, Momona easily defended the shield against the University Stingrays, winning 2-0. Sorrell Shand was their best, grabbing yet another goal.
In the premier men’s competition, the University Whales bounced back from their heavy shield defeat last week to stun the Kings United Cobras 1-0.
They opened the scoring early when Kurt Ward slipped one past Lachlan Colquhoun, and that was all they needed.
Hugh Nixon made some great saves for the Whales, but Kings will feel they lacked a bit of composure and did not quite get the rub of the green.
Ward thought he had doubled the lead late on, but it was ruled out after it clearly struck his foot on the way in, much to the ire of the Kings bench.
The Albany Alligators kept themselves at the top of the table with an easy win over the University Panthers.
They were 7-0 up at the break, after four first-half goals from Jack Cotton. They slowed down significantly in the second half, finishing with a 9-2 win.
Down south, the Taieri Tuataras eased home 12-0 over the Southland Barbarians on the back of five from Oliver Battrick. - Nicholas Friedlander
