Slow start, big finish as Whangara roll on

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

It was another slow start but a strong finish as Whangara Old Girls overpowered Ngatapa 60-38 in premier grade netball at the YMCA last night.

Farmlands Ngatapa trailed by just two goals after 15 minutes, three at halftime and seven at the three-quarter mark.

But competition leaders Whangara upped the tempo to outscore them 21-6 in the final period and record their 11th win from as many games in rounds 2 and 3.

“It was another slow start for us but a very good finish,” said Whangara coach Ronnie Martin.

“In the last quarter, the girls played with way more control and the ball flowed more smoothly. It was a good, solid win in the end, despite our shooting being hit and miss early on. We are on the pathway we want to be on.”

Martin said wing attack Annaleigh Stills, who came on in the final period, had “a nice, controlled game.”

Tania Hill (goal defence) and Tiara Weir (goal keep) were ever-present on defence, and Sandee Porter and Nadia Taare produced delightful interplay on attack.

Ngatapa coach Kate Faulks said her team’s first half effort was “fantastic.”

”But Whangara put the pedal down in the second half. Their through-court defence was hard, which led to poor passes and some bad decisions by my girls.”

Livewire goal defence and captain Arna Majstrovic was Ngatapa’s player of the day.

“She always leads by example,” said Faulks.

“Katie Kirkpatrick at centre played great, so too did Jo Rickard at goal keep, and we had Phoebe Wesche playing at goal shoot in her first game of the season.She has beautiful elevation.”

YMP (1) almost doubled Horouta Gold’s score in the other premier game last night.

The 53-27 result was testament to an emphatic performance.

Second-placed YMP jumped out to a 13-6 lead in the first quarter, were 26-10 ahead by halftime and 39-16 clear by the third-quarter break.

“The girls produced good passages of attacking play and did well on defence,” said YMP coach Ingrid Brown.

“Centre Te Awa Clendon was good defensively and with her attacking feeds. Paku-Jane Brown-White stood up well in the shooting circle. Bronya McMenamin (goal defence) had her usual game and showed good direction in defence.”

Horouta coach Charnelle Rutene said YMP were just too strong.

“You cannot expect to win a game when you have only scored 16 goals in 45 minutes.

“For the past two-to-three weeks we have been scrambling for players, which has made it hard to settle combinations.

“We cannot think too much about the result tonight. We just have to keep moving forward and look towards our next game.”

Her picks of the team were goal attack Challise Rutene, who she said “added a bit of spark to the team’s play”, and goal keep Lucretia Taitapanui.

In premier action tonight, Taste One High School Old Girls play a Lytton Senior A team missing a few players, including ace shooter Manaia Hutana, at 6pm.

Claydens Waikohu play Gisborne Girls’ High School Senior A at 7.45pm, and the students could cop the backlash of Waikohu’s surprise loss to Horouta Gold last weekend.