A staggering 37 goals were scored in the penultimate round of the Lotto Northern Women's Championship as August moved into September, with eighteen of them coming in one match alone! That match was a significant one, however, as it saw FC Tauranga Moana take out the title in style, thrashing Manukau United 17-1 as Briana Osborne made a concerted effort to win the Golden Boot, scoring a startling seven times to bring her competition tally for the season to 25. Grace Duncan netted five times - she now has 21 goals for the campaign - while Isla Ganley and Taryn Holloway both struck twice on a day Abi Witney-Collins also chimed in, and Georgia Butler netted a consolation goal for the travelling team. Fair play to Manukau for making the effort to head over the Kaimais to play this fixture, knowing they were on a hiding to nothing given the respective form of both teams. It would have been an easy game for them to default, although I'm sure nobody was expecting quite the size of the blow-out which materialised on the scoreboard! I say this in light of events this weekend in the Football South Premier League, where bottom-placed Queenstown Rovers defaulted their match with champions Mosgiel, thus denying one of the Mosgiel boys his 100th appearance for the club in their last game of the season, and a number of other players their last chance to play for the first team before they had to pastures new both at home and abroad … suffice to say, Queenstown aren't in Mosgiel's good books!! The newly crowned champions weren't alone in hitting double figures this week. Franklin United came from behind to thrash Central United 10-1, after Anita Gross had given the visitors to the Drury Sports Complex a third minute lead. Chloe Marthe once again emphasised why she is one of the stand-out players in this competition by scoring half Franklin's goals, catapulting her into the top six on the Golden Boot chart, which is headed by Britney Cunningham-Lee. Her brace in this match brought her season's tally to

27, two ahead of Osborne. Nikita Lieshout, Renin Yousif and Sarah Carpenter also struck for the victors, who have been gifted another three points after Northern Rovers defaulted their rescheduled match, which had been set down for Wednesday evening. North Harbour bragging rights were at stake at Shepherds Park last Friday night, with Birkenhead United taking out the local derby 1-0 thanks to Charlotte England's second half free-kick, which, combined with the default to Franklin, condemned Northern to a sixth-placed finish this season. That win allowed "Birko" to move into fourth place on the table heading into the weekend, but Melville United leapfrogged them on Sunday when edging out Onehunga Sports 4-3 at Gower Park thanks to Stella-Rose Bahr's stoppage time winner, after Laura Bennett and "The Green Machine"'s Robyn Fisher had netted a hat-trick apiece in a battle royal which saw Sports draw level having been three-down after 25 minutes. After the rescheduled fixture takes place on Wednesday night, Sunday sees the final round of action for the season. Tauranga sign off with a visit to McFetridge Park to take on Northern, while third plays second as Onehunga and Franklin renew their rich rivalry at Waikaraka Park. Central and Birkenhead grace Kiwitea Street, while Manukau's final game of a campaign best forgotten sees them heading to Gower Park to take on Melville. Details: Birkenhead United 1 (C. England), Northern Rovers 0  HT 0-0 FC Tauranga Moana 17 (G. Duncan (7, 36, 41, 47, 50), B. Osborne (25, 29, 45, 54, 67, 77, 88), I. Ganley (40, 73), A. Witney-Collins (44), T. Holloway (87, 89)), Manukau United 1 (G. Butler (34))  HT 8-1 Franklin United 10 (C. Marthe (6, 8, 35, 49, 73), B. Cunningham-Lee (15, 90), N. Lieshout (20), R. Yousif (31), S. Carpenter (80)), Central United 1 (A. Gross (3))  HT 6-1 Melville United 4 (L. Bennett (4, 8, 25), S. Bahr (90)), Onehunga Sports 3 (R. Fisher 58, 72, 82))  HT 3-0 Franklin United 3 ("oggies"), Northern Rovers 0