Whangara keen to develop bench strength

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

WHANGARA Old Girls and Horouta Gold clash in Pak’nSave premier-grade netball in the YMCA tomorrow morning and it could be a lot closer than the points table would suggest.

Whangara top the table and Horouta are fourth. They meet at 10.45am.

Whangara coach Ronnie Martin said her team would be without two of their usual starting line-up.

“Some of the bench players will get more court time,” she said.

“But we are taking each game as it comes these days, because we already have the points we need heading towards the playoffs.

“We do have some other players who can fill in as cover for us.

“That has been the theme we have tried to develop through the whole season — to grow our bench.”

Martin predicts a good game tomorrow.

Horouta will look to bounce back from their last outing, where they felt the sting of YMP (1).

Coach Charnelle Rutene will look for an improved display from her shooters, after they managed only 16 goals in 45 minutes of play against YMP.

Horouta have struggled for players in the past few weeks, but if they get the numbers tomorrow they could have a decent crack at Whangara.

YMP (1) will be fizzing from their drama-charged draw with Claydens Waikohu on Wednesday night, and they will be stiff opposition for Gisborne Girls’ High School Senior A at 9am.

They mustered only seven players midweek, and coach Ingrid Brown said they might be in a similar situation tomorrow.

“We should be all right for numbers, though, and we look forward to working further on building combinations with our bench players,” she said.

“We will not take the students lightly and will go after plenty of goals to maintain our goal percentage, if not improve it.”

Goal percentage may become a factor in deciding who plays who in the playoffs, with YMP level on points with Waikohu.

The 12.30pm match between Farmlands Ngatapa and Lytton Senior A completes the premier programme for the day and it could be close.

Lytton coach Ronnie Martin expects to have most of her players back this week, including their No.1 shooter Manaia Hutana.

“We have had several players involved in representative netball, and having them back will make a difference,” she said.

“I hope to see them cope with Ngatapa a lot better than they have in the past.”

The last time they met, Ngatapa won 61-42.

“Three of the girls — Manaia, Honey Mokomoko and Ruby Westrupp — were in the under-17s in Auckland this week, and tournament play will have helped them.”

Since their top-four chances disappeared this month, the Ngatapa focus has been on finishing the season as strongly as possible.

They will want to win well tomorrow so it should be a cracking game.