Hislop fired in a hat-trick as Southern United followed their gutsy loss to Eastern Suburbs in the opening round with a 5-0 shellacking of the A-League Club’s second-stringers at Upper Hutt.
This really was as one-sided as it gets in the national league.
Southern were all over the home team from the opening whistle and could possibly have scored more than five goals.
Still, it was not an afternoon to lament what might have been.
This was a good confidence boost for Southern as they seek to at least match last season’s creditable fourth placing.
Hislop did not get the bounce of the ball in the opening round but it seemed to find her yesterday.
The willowy striker opened and finished the scoring and deservedly got the match ball for her triple treat.
She gave Southern the lead with a pinpoint header in the seventh minute.
The wind had held up the cross, and it appeared a Nix defender also caused a deflection as the ball bounced, before Hislop powered the ball across and into the goal.
A feisty start featured Southern forward Margarida Dias getting involved in plenty of one-on-one tussles.
Hislop went close in the 26th minute but Nix goalie Charlotte Eagle made a tidy save.
The second goal arrived almost out of nowhere.
A loose ball drifted outside the box, where Kendrah Smith was waiting to almost caress the ball into the top right corner of the net for her first goal in blue.
Sixty second later, Southern United went 3-0 up when Hislop again headed home from a cross.
Hislop came up with the first real chance of the second half, but the busy Eagle again saved well, while Freya Partridge-Moore probably should have made the keeper work harder when she was clear on goal.
Hislop turned provider in the 59th minute, cutting the ball back for Dias to strike a nice goal, and Hislop completed her hat-trick afternoon from the penalty spot in the 66th minute.
Southern are at home to Kate Sheppard Cup champions Western Springs this weekend.
Western Springs made it two from two with a 3-0 win over Ellerslie on Friday.
Eastern Suburbs beat Auckland United 3-2, and Waterside Karori beat Canterbury United Pride 4-1.
National league
The scores
Southern United 5
Amy Hislop 7’, 38’, 66’ pen, Kendrah Smith 37’, Margarida Dias 59’
Phoenix Reserves 0
Halftime: Southern 3-0
