Onehunga Sports and FC Tauranga Moana are knuckling down to a two-horse war in the Lotto Northern Women's Championship after both scored convincing victories on the weekend which put daylight between them and the chasing pack. "The Green Machine" ran riot at Walter Massey Park, blitzing Manukau United 10-1 - the second time this season that the locals have lost by this scoreline on home turf. This time round, Annie Byrne helped herself to an early birthday present of a five-goal haul just hours before she blew out an extra candle on her cake. Former Football Fern Pip Meo also chimed in with a first half hat-trick as the speed merchants made United suffer on the scoreboard, with Hayley Bilk and substitute Kelsey Elliot also netting for the visitors on a day Dilaisana Drodrolagi drew Manukau level on the quarter hour, her goal the first conceded by Sports' new goalkeeper, former Fencibles United benchwarmer Luye Murphy. Tauranga remain a point adrift of their rivals after thumping a Marlies James-less Franklin United 4-1 at Links Avenue, the home team taking full advantage of the former Football Fern's absence from the heart of United's rearguard, which was further weakened by regular goalkeeper Keely Taylor playing outfield on this occasion. A brace of Briana Osborne goals sandwiched Sarah Carpenter's equaliser for the visitors, with further strikes either side of half-time from Niamh Carter and Sinead Doherty sealing the deal for the Bay of Plenty combination, who surged five points clear of Franklin with this win. The South Auckland outfit have a game in hand, however, against Northern Rovers, who suffered a shock 1-0 loss at home to Central United on Friday evening at McFetridge Park. The game was decided deep in stoppage time when referee Johnno Smith awarded the visitors a penalty, prompting Rovers captain Michele Hogg to let the official know what she thought of his decision in a manner which will earn her a stint on the sidelines for her sins. As Hogg headed off to test the temperature of the shower water, Central's Sylvia McDougall kept her cool to slot home the spot-kick and secure back-to-back wins for the visitors - not a feat they get to celebrate too often in the women's game. The spoils were shared at Shepherds Park as Birkenhead United and Melville United fought out a 2-2 draw, Neve Simpson's double for the home team being matched by second half strikes from Mia Humphrey and substitute Freya Douglas, who made an instant impact off the bench, scoring within two minutes of entering the fray. The competition reaches the halfway mark this Sunday, with Sports welcoming Northern to Waikaraka Park while Tauranga take on Central at Kiwitea Street. Franklin and Melville meet at the Drury Sports Complex, while Birkenhead will be confident of claiming three points from their trip to Manukau's Walter Massey Park home. Details: Birkenhead United 2 (N. Simpson (10, 65)), Melville United 2 (M. Humphrey (55), F. Douglas (69))  HT 1-0 FC Tauranga Moana 4 (B. Osborne (19, 29), N. Carter (44), S. Doherty (50)), Franklin United 1 (S. Carpenter (24))  HT 3-1 Manukau United 1 (D. Drodrolagi (16)), Onehunga Sports 10 (A. Byrne (8, 36, 59, 71, 84), P. Meo (18, 38, 42), H. Bilk (62), K. Elliot (90))  HT 1-5 Northern Rovers 0, Central United 1 (S. McDougall (90 pen))  HT 0-0