One of the more compelling story lines in The Soccer Shop WaiBOP Premiership this season has been the number of goals scored in matches involving 2018 champions Taupō.
Prior to Saturday's visit of Te Awamutu, Taupō's three previous matches (two in the league and one in the ISPS Handa Chatham Cup) had seen the ball hit the back of the net 25 times.
While that was impressive, the Lakesiders chose the Te Awamutu match to double down on this ongoing campaign of manic fan engagement.
Taupō came close to hitting double figures as they rolled over the top of their Waikato visitors, running out 9-4 victors in a match that was one long highlight real.
Jordan Lamb scored twice in the opening 10 minutes, but after each goal the visitors levelled the score, through Hamon McKay and Tawhiri Ball, before Lamb completed his hat-trick inside 20 minutes. Matthew Lewis extended Taupō's lead before 30 minutes had passed.
After more than half an hour of relative calm, either side of half time, Rowan Beaumont Bell hauled the visitors back into the match, before Lamb hit back twice more to effectively seal the win.
But, at 6-3 heading into the final minutes, that was far from the end of the scoring.
Scott Voorend scored Te Awamutu's fourth in the 89th minute before Taupō iced the cake with three more goals in added time, including a sixth for Lamb.
The win drew Taupō level on points with Premiership leaders Waikato Unicol but remarkably, after all their goals, they still sit second on goal difference.
While they've scored 10 more times than anyone else in the league, only one side has let in more than Taupō's 15.
Unicol would have expected to take three points from the visit of Ngaruawahia but, for the second consecutive home game, they dropped points as the match finished 1-all.
A week after their first defeat Flying Mullet Pāpāmoa ended Matamata Swifts' unbeaten run with a 1-0 win on the road.
Pāpāmoa, who welcomed back ex-All White Cole Peverley for that match, stay third - one point ahead of an Ōtūmoetai side who dispatched visitors Melville United 4-1 for their third win in five.
In other games, Tauranga Boys' College brushed past West Hamilton United 3-0 thanks to goals from Liam Knight, Stan Rust and Mathew Schoonderwoerd, while Tauranga Blue Rovers won 3-1 at bottom side Safer Te Puke United.
Claudelands Rovers won the first big three battle of The Soccer Shop W-League season on Sunday, maintaining their 100 per cent start to the season with a 2-0 win over Pāpāmoa at Galloway Park.
Rachel Porteous and Stacey Palmer scored the goals, one in each half, which kept Claudelands level with Tauranga City at the top of the table, but in first on goals scored, ahead of their first clash of the season in a fortnight.
Tauranga eased past bottom side Ōtūmoetai 5-1 thanks to double doubles, from Annaliese Heuvel and Danaya McKenzie.
Whakatāne Town stayed fourth after a 3-0 win at Tauranga Blue Rovers. Goals from Sinead Doherty, twice, and Naomi Courtney-Tennant helped them to their second win in four matches.
The weekend's Hamilton derby ended up being a comfortable victory for Melville United.
Shannen Perry, Emma Sizer, Johnelle Wereta and Katie Marshall all found the back of the net for a 4-0 win, their first of the season.
Waikato Unicol's reserves continue to lead The Soccer Shop WaiBOP Championship table after Saturday's opponents, Hamilton Wanderers, gifted them three points by defaulting.
Ōtūmoetai's reserves moved into second after a 4-2 home win over early season pacesetters Otorohanga thanks to goals from Richard O'Regan, Ben McLean, with two, and Liam Duncanson.
Cambridge moved into the top five after a 7-2 home win over Tauranga Blue Rovers' reserves, due largely to a five-goal haul from Adam Brady, while Tauranga City replicated that score line in winning at Taupō's reserves.
Ash Gower-Rudman's hat-trick couldn't prevent Claudelands Rovers from dropping points after being held to a 3-all draw at Tokoroa, while Pāpāmoa's reserves picked up their second win of the season with a 5-3 victory at Waharoa Transport Matamata reserves.
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