NETBALL
GISBORNE Girls’ High School Senior A have a lot to play for when they take on Waikohu in premier grade netball at the YMCA tomorrow.
And so do their opponents.
Both teams need to win this Pak’nSave competition match.
The students head into the match tied on six points with Ritana Senior A and Champers Horouta Gold at the bottom of the points table.
The match is just as important for Claydens Waikohu, who are third on the table — equal on 17 points with Taste One High School Old Girls but behind on goal difference. Both those teams trail YMP, who have 24 points.
Waikohu get the chance to close the gap on YMP, and four points for the win would take them to 21 and open a gap to HSOG and, a point further back, Whangara Old Girls.
Girls’ High have gone within a whisker of beating Waikohu this season.
“It was a close game when those two teams last met, and Waikohu sneaked through by just one goal,” netball commentator Sherrill Beale said.
“I am expecting a similar close encounter this weekend.”
Girls’ High coach Irene Takao said her team needed to change up from their performance on Wednesday night, when Horouta Gold beat them by six goals.
“The girls really didn’t get their heads around that match,” she said.
“They knew how important it was to win and they let it slide.”
Takao believes her team can lift tomorrow.
“You can never underestimate what the girls will do on the day. They know they have to deliver.
“They are a capable team when they get all their ducks in a row. I’m hoping they will be able to do that tomorrow.
“It’s all about their mental attitude on the day.”
Waikohu coach Cheryl Te Rito vividly remembers the last time they played Girls’ High, in early May, when they just held on to win 51-50.
“They will come at us tomorrow and they will keep coming,” Te Rito said.
“I watched Girls’ High play Whangara and they could have won that game, too. They have improved immensely.
“Despite their loss to Horouta the other night, we will not be taking them for granted.”
In their last outing, Waikohu lost to HSOG by just three goals, and in the game before that they were well beaten by YMP.
“It is an important game for us to stay in that top four.
“I know the girls will be determined to get back some consistency.”
It will be the only premier-grade match at the YMCA tomorrow.
It starts at 10am.
All the other grades will be in action on the Victoria Domaion courts from 9am to 2.30pm.