FC Tauranga Moana have stormed six points clear in the Lotto Northern Women's Championship after nearest rivals Onehunga Sports and Franklin United shared eight goals in a breathless battle which went every which way at the Drury Sports Complex. Robyn Fisher gave "The Green Machine" the ideal start when netting in the fourth minute, but Sarah Carpenter restored parity three minutes later. It wasn't long before Hayley Bilk restored Sports' advantage, and that's the way things stayed until just before the hour mark, when two goals in three minutes from Chloe Marthe and Nikita Lieshout put Franklin in the driving seat. With thirteen minutes remaining, Taylor Bell dragged Sports back on level terms, only for Bilk to put through her own net three minutes later - 4-3 Franklin. But with four minutes remaining, former Football Fern Pip Meo popped up with another equaliser to ensure the spoils were shared, even though neither side could afford the drawn outcome. That's because of the form Tauranga are in, form they maintained at Links Avenue as they dished out an 8-3 thrashing to Northern Rovers in a wild encounter which saw the teams on level terms after eighteen minutes, Michele Hogg having equalised for the visitors. Her goal cancelled out Briana Osborne's opener for the home team, but she was far from finished, eventually scoring five in this goal-laden affair, with Grace Duncan chiming in with two goals and Kate Mori one as Tauranga maintained their perfect home record.

Ivy Calonne and Esther Caldwell pulled a couple of goals back for Northern in the early stages of the second spell, but the horse had long since bolted, and it's beginning to look that way where the promotion race is concerned, so dominant are Tauranga proving to be in their first campaign as a united Bay of Plenty entry. The goal-laden affairs in the top half of the table contrasted starkly with the outcomes in the matches between teams in the lower half. Melville United won by default over Manukau United, who are struggling to field the bare eleven players each week. Meanwhile, Birkenhead United and Central United battled out a scoreless draw at Shepherds Park - an encouraging result for the visiting team. This Sunday's fare sees Tauranga taking on Birkenhead at Links Avenue, while Franklin welcome Manukau to Drury on a day Melville and Northern square off at Gower Park, and Kiwitea Street hosts the Central Auckland derby twixt Central and Onehunga. Before then, Birkenhead and Franklin meet in a rescheduled Wednesday night encounter at Shepherds Park. Details: Birkenhead United 0, Central United 0 FC Tauranga Moana 8 (B. Osborne (16, 24, 45, 46, 73), K. Mori (37), G. Duncan (39, 59)), Northern Rovers 3 (M. Hogg (18), I. Calonne (49), E. Caldwell (52))  HT 6-1 Franklin United 4 (S. Carpenter (7), C. Marthe (56), N. Lieshout (59), "oggie" (80)), Onehunga Sports 4 (R. Fisher (4), H. Bilk (19), T. Bell (77), P. Meo (86))  HT 1-2 Melville United 3 ("oggies"), Manukau United 0