Manchester led from the start and Izzy Howe and Rosie Huck both finished with four goals. Molly Boniface replied with four for the Lizards.
Coventry's bid to qualify for the Champions Cup suffered a setback when they went down 14-13 to Hucknall.
Hucknall led 11-6 at one stage but, in a nerve-racking final period, Coventry fought back to score five times - but just failed to snatch a point. Cynthia Mulder (4) and Dafne Garcia (4) were the leading Hucknall scorers while Vicki Hawkins contributed five for Coventry.