An administrative error nearly cost Onehunga Sports dearly in the latest round of Lotto Northern Women's Championship action, as they brought to an end FC Tauranga Moana's unbeaten start to the campaign by prevailing 5-3 in a rip-roaring affair at Waikaraka Park on the first Sunday in May. "The Green Machine" started like a house on fire, Pip Meo having already squandered two great chances to break the deadlock before the former Football Fern finally got the recipe right in the thirteenth minute, only for Tauranga defender Niamh Carter to be credited with an "oggie" as a result of her despairing attempt to clear off the line. (It would have gone in anyway - your goal, "Pocket Rocket"!) Tauranga responded instantly, the lethal Kerri-Ann Jones being thwarted by Claire Alderton - the first of six saves the 'keeper would make to deny the league's leading markswoman in this contest - before Emma Phelps cleared off the line to deny Ella Golding an equaliser. Sports responded through Holly Patterson, who rattled the bar, then through Robyn Fisher, whose corners were a constant source of menace. Hayley Bilk was the beneficiary of one such delivery just shy of the half-hour mark to double Sports' lead. On that time mark Kate Inwood made it 3-0 with a steepling 35-yarder which left goalkeeper Anahi Hartert - an exchange student who boasts Werder Bremen credentials on her football CV - powerless to prevent it from dipping under the bar. Golding potted a penalty earned by Jones seven minutes before the interval, but right on half-time another Fisher corner found its way into Tauranga's net via friendly fire, Evaline Bruce this time credited with the "oggie". The goalfest continued in the second half, with both teams scoring before the hour mark through Grace Duncan - to make it 4-2 - and Fisher, who netted an "Olympico" - direct from a corner - to restore "The Green Machine"'s three-goal advantage. Sivitha Boyce's superb header was matched by Hartert's splendid save twenty minutes from time, while Jones' brilliant run past four defenders from halfway deserved better reward than to be denied by Alderton five minutes later. The 'keeper was beaten again by Duncan's fine free-kick four minutes from time, but Sports held on to prevail 5-3 in what was by far the best contest this writer has witnessed so far this season. There was a footnote to the affair, however. Referee Andrew Stacey was having to confirm Sports' goalscorers and substitutions by name rather than by shirt number, as while all the players involved in

the match were properly registered, the line-up submitted on Comet saw no fewer than six players wearing different shirt numbers compared to those recorded online. Attention to detail is a critical part of the game these days, and not just on the pitch. To all team administrators, in this and every other league, make sure you abide by the old saying, "dot your I's and cross your T's" before every match. You don't want to be the one responsible for losing your team hard-earned points due to a clerical error, believe me. Sports' win saw them join Tauranga atop the table, and making it a three-way tie at the top was Franklin United, whose 4-0 win over Birkenhead United at the Drury Sports Complex owed much to a late Britney Cunningham-Lee double strike, after Sarah Carpenter's fourth minute opener had been supplemented by a Rosie Grant "oggie" on the stroke of half-time. Northern Rovers scored their first on-field win of the season at Walter Massey Park, goals early in the second half from Ivy Calonne and Gigi Cliffe supplementing the latter's ninth minute strike as the former Premier League team saw off Manukau United 3-0. Central United also recorded their maiden win of the campaign, a Sylvia McDougall double either side of the half-time whistle sandwiching Laura Bennett's goal for Melville United, who went down 2-1 at Kiwitea Street. Kate Sheppard Cup action takes centre stage this week, with Birkenhead visiting Papakura City's McLennan Park home on Saturday evening. The other ties take place on the Sabbath, with Tauranga travelling to Tamarahi Reserve to take on Lakes, while Franklin make the long trek to Trigg Arena, where Northland lie in wait. Three non-league ties are scheduled, with Tauranga Blue Rovers and Greenhithe squaring off at Pemberton Park, while Waikato Unicol welcome Onehunga-Mangere United to Waikato University on a day Uni-Mount Bohemian Celtic and Greenhithe lock horns at Bill McKinlay Park. Details: Central United 2 (S. McDougall (34, 58)), Melville United 1 (L. Bennett (53))  HT 1-0 Franklin United 4 (S. Carpenter (4), "oggie" (43), B. Cunningham-Lee (86, 87)), Birkenhead United 0  HT 2-0 Manukau Rovers 0, Northern Rovers 3 (G. Cliffe (9, 54), I. Calonne (52))  HT 0-1 Onehunga Sports 5 (P. Meo (13), H. Bilk (27), K. Inwood (30), "oggie" (45), R. Fisher (58)), FC Tauranga Moana 3 (E. Golding (38 pen), G. Duncan (53, 86))  HT 4-1