After a weekend off during round one of the Kate Sheppard Cup, the leading lights of the W-League will be back in action on Saturday.

Wellington United look to keep their perfect four-from-four record intact when they travel to Maidstone Park to play last year’s champions Upper Hutt City.

United got the better of their rivals in round one with a 4-0 triumph, but Upper Hutt have won their last two on the trot in impressive fashion, led by six goals in those two games from Football Fern Sarah Gregorius.

Wairarapa United will look to keep pace with Wellington after losing 1-0 to them two weeks ago. They face Western Suburbs at Endeavour Park on Saturday, a team which has impressed with a win and a draw in their first four games at this level. Wairarapa got the better of Wests in their first meeting of the season when winning 4-0 in round one.

The final match of the round sees Seatoun search for their first win, against Palmerston North Marist at Memorial Park. Two of Seatoun’s four losses have come by a solitary goal, although they lost 4-1 to PNM in round one.

In the women’s Premier League, Victoria University and Waterside Karori finally meet for the first time this season. Both teams have manufactured four-from-four records this season. University will need to find a way through Karori’s stingy defence, which has conceded just once in four league games.

The Wellington United Saphires are three points back in second and will look to maintain their early-season form when they meet Brooklyn Northern United at Wakefield Park on Sunday. The other games see Kapiti Coast United host Stop Out and Petone travel to Wakefield Park to take on Island Bay United.

In the men’s Ultra Football Central League, the game of the round was initially shaping up as the clash between Western Suburbs and Wellington United at Endeavour Park on Sunday.

Wests sit fourth on 12 points after seven games, three points behind second-placed United, but the latter will be without a slew of frontline players as they travel with parent club, the Wellington Phoenix, to the Hong Kong Sevens tournament.

Sunday also sees a matchup between leaders Napier City Rovers and fifth-placed Lower Hutt City. Lower Hutt lost their catchup match against Wellington on May 9, but remain an outside title chance, seven points behind Napier on 11 points. A win would do themselves, and the rest of the chasing pack, a big favour against a team threatening to run away with the league.

That pack includes third-placed Stop Out, who host Miramar Rangers on Saturday. Rangers are still without their Team Wellington players and have been up and down this season with two wins, a draw and four losses, while Stop Out have been far more consistent on the back of the second-best defensive record in the league (eight goals conceded).

Battlers Waterside Karori and Havelock North Wanderers face tough challenges against Wairarapa United and Wellington Olympic respectively.

In the Capital Premier division, North Wellington continue to await a title challenger as they sit eight points clear of second-placed Miramar Rangers reserves after just seven games.

They take on Upper Hutt City on Saturday, who have been the model of inconsistency this season with two wins, three draws and two losses.

Miramar play Western Suburbs’ reserves on Sunday.

Island Bay United, Petone and Lower Hutt City reserves (10 points) all have the chance to step clear of the chasing pack when they play Kapiti Coast United, Wellington Olympic reserves and Tawa respectively.

Fixtures

Women’s

W-League round five
Saturday
Upper Hutt City v Wellington United, Maidstone Park, 1pm
Palmerston North Marist v Seatoun, Memorial Park (PN), 2.30pm
Western Suburbs v Wairarapa United, Endeavour Park 2, 2.30pm

Premier League

Sunday
Island Bay United v Petone, Wakefield 1, 1pm
Kapiti Coast United v Stop Out, Weka Park, 1pm
Victoria University v Waterside Karori, Boyd Wilson, 1pm
Brooklyn Northern United v Wellington United Saphires, Wakefield 2, 1pm

Men’s

Ultra Football Central League round eight
Saturday
Wellington Olympic v Havelock North Wanderers, Wakefield 2, 1.30pm
Waterside Karori v Wairarapa United, Karori Park, 2.30pm
Stop Out v Miramar Rangers, Hutt Park, 2.30pm

Sunday
Napier City Rovers v Lower Hutt City, Park Island, 2pm
Western Suburbs v Wellington United, Endeavour Park, 2pm

Capital Premier round eight
Saturday
North Wellington v Upper Hutt City, Alex Moore, 2.30pm
Tawa v Lower Hutt City, Redwood Park, 2.30pm
Kapiti Coast United v Island Bay United, Weka Park, 2.30pm
Wellington Olympic v Petone, Wakefield 2, 3.30pm
Island Bay United v Wellington Olympic, Wakefield Park at 3.30pm

Sunday
Miramar Rangers v Western Suburbs, David Farrington Park, 1pm