Bond’s Brace Wins PHL Opener — Alpiners Women Beat Falcons 3-2 in Napier
New Zealand’s Premier Hockey League is back, and it opened with a cracker.
The Alpiners beat the Central Falcons 3-2 in Napier on Saturday, in the first game of the 2026 PHL season. Katie Bond scored twice, including the winner in the 49th minute, and the late goal settled a game that swung back and forth all afternoon.
Both sides fielded nine Black Sticks each, so this was a proper curtain-raiser, not a warm-up. Falcons captain Kaitlin Cotter opened the scoring from a penalty corner in the 19th minute. Before the Falcons could settle, Nina Murphy levelled for the Alpiners in the same minute. Bond put the Alpiners ahead from another penalty corner in the 23rd, Hope Ralph dragged the Falcons level again from a corner in the 27th, and that’s how it stayed until Bond struck the winner with 11 minutes left.
Two goals in a minute, then two more inside eight minutes. The first half had everything, and the second half had the one moment that mattered. Bond’s second penalty corner was the difference between two sides that look very evenly matched.
The win puts the Alpiners top of the early table on four points. For our money, the bigger story is the standard. Eighteen internationals on the pitch for a domestic opener is exactly what this league is supposed to deliver, and the PHL has never had a stronger launch. Napier got the game it deserved.
The league continues on Sunday in Auckland, where the Mavericks meet the Tridents at Lloyd Elsmore Park. The Grand Final is in Christchurch on Saturday, December 12. And the Black Sticks men are back in Auckland soon after, hosting India in the centenary series on November 19, 21 and 22.
The result and scorers are per the official match sheet.
