Hawke's Bay netball: Another Ōtane title an early wedding gift for coach

Pania Rowe soars high to haul in the ball but couldn't prevent her side going down in the Super 8 premier netball title on Friday night. Photo / Paul Taylor

Ōtane's supreme netballers have continued their dynasty of Hawke's Bay titles, just in time to give their coach an early wedding present.

Hawke's Bay's Super 8 premier club netball competition came to a head on Friday night as Ōtane Sports Club: Thirsty Whale beat challengers All In: Elusive 58-46 in a skill-laden and bruising final at Pettigrew.Green Arena.

Ōtane flew out to an early lead in the first quarter and despite All In fighting back, the gap was too much to overhaul.

Ōtane co-coach Tammy Kupa said the milestone title was a tribute to the aunties in the small Central Hawke's Bay town who had laid the groundwork for their continued success.

It was also a relief for fellow coach, Tammy's sister Annemarie Kupa, who's had a bit on her mind this week.

"Who does that, organising a wedding the day after the final?" Tammy said with a laugh, noting the celebrations had been a little bit curtailed on Friday as a result of Annemarie's need for a good night's sleep.

"We'll celebrate properly tonight."

Ōtane's best on the night were their defensive trio of Valen Kahukura, Stacey Chandler and captain Briar Chalmers, who were mostly able to keep quiet All In's key player, shooter Pania Rowe.

The final was Ōtane's 19th on the bounce, the majority of them wins.

Tammy said it was a special one, especially because it had been in front of a "sea of purple and black", with a few green patches too, a stark contrast to last year's lockdown final.

"It was so good to have the crowd back.

"All In, they're a tough team, they always come back fighting and they did in the second quarter.

" We'd clicked away in the first quarter, and then they came back at us, but that experience and that crowd helped us to really dig deep."

* An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the win was Ōtane's 15th title in a row