Clubmates could be rivals in the playoffs

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

AFTER a season of upset results in A Grade netball this year, the odds are growing that two teams from the same club could end up contesting the title. High School Old Girls have two teams in the A Grade competition, and after fifth-placed Lone Star HSOG beat clubmates McLeod’s Concrete HSOG last week, just two points separate them.

With McLeod’s HSOG sitting in fourth place on 23 points and Tatapouri Sportsfit just two points higher in third place, both HSOG teams have a good chance of making the top-four playoffs.

Gisborne Netball Centre manager Allisa Hall said nothing could be taken for granted in such a close-fought competition.

“There is some great rivalry in the A Grade and there have been plenty of close games and upsets all through the round.”

Hall said she expected another batch of close calls on Saturday.

Top among those would be the clash between school rivals Lytton Snr A and Campion Snr A. Campion won the fixture in Round 2, but tomorrow’s game could go either way.

On paper the game between Lone Star HSOG and Gisborne Glass Ngatapa should be a walkover for HSOG against the bottom-placed team, but Ngatapa will be looking to repeat the upset win they pulled off against HSOG in the earlier round, when they edged a two-goal thriller. Meanwhile, Lone Star will want to break into the top four with a win.

With three straight wins this round, Whalis seem to be sitting pretty in first place, seven points ahead of second-placed Taiki, but they will not take anything for granted against Tatapouri on Saturday. Tatapouri, in their first year in A Grade, after being promoted, were the only team to beat Whalis in Round 2.

The game between Taiki and McLeods Concrete HSOG promises to be another classic encounter, after Taiki edged the corresponding Round 2 fixture by a single goal.

In their second game of the day, Whalis will take on Lone Star HSOG, who will be buoyed by last week’s win against McLeods HSOG and have a shot at getting into the top four with a win.