Franklin, Manukau and Central all gain ground in NRF Women’s Championship

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Franklin United, Manukau United and Central United all gain ground on NRF Women’s Championship’s leading pair with wins in the latest round of games.

Leaders Hibiscus Coast and Onehunga Sports were without fixtures, giving the chasing pack of teams chance to capitalise — and they did.

Third-placed Franklin beat mid-table Te Atatu 2-1 thanks to goals in the last 10 minutes from Chloe Marthe and Marlies James.

Manukau United claimed six points from two games at the weekend, winning 1-0 at Fencibles United on Friday, and backing up with a 3-2 win at Metro on Sunday.

In Sunday’s game, Manukau went to a 3-0 lead through Ashley Porter (2) and Renin Yousef but had to hang on after Metro responded with second half goals from Alexandra Ragg and Laura Maclean.

Central United beat Bay Olympic 2-0 with second-half goals from Viktoriia Varava and Steph Trowill.

But one of the weekend’s most overdue wins went to Birkenhead United who recorded their first victory of the season, a 1-0 result against Beachlands Maraetai.

Dariah Parkinson-Irwin scored the game’s only goal in the 35th minute.

Main photo: Parkinson-Irwin … helped United claim their season’s first victory. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.

A feature of the weekend’s games was the closeness of the scores — four of the games were decided by a one-goal margin and no side won by more than two goals.