Netball: Toki Toa capture inaugural title

The Toki Toa men's netball team which beat All In 60-30 in Sunday's final. Photo/Supplied

Hawke's Bay will be represented at next year's national men's netball tournament in August.

Hawke's Bay Netball general manager Tina Arlidge made this promise after Toki Toa beat All In 60-30 in Sunday's final of the province's inaugural men's league at Taradale's Pettigrew-Green Arena.

"This competition has showed us we have the players with the skills and experience, we will just need to put the other parts of a men's campaign together," Arlidge said.

Next year's men's league will be played on Tuesday evenings. It will involve six teams and end on with an August 4 final so players selected for the national tournament will be well prepared.

As the score suggests Sunday's final was a spectacle dominated by Toki Toa. They stormed to an early 8-0 lead.

Jason Hellyers and Jason Morton scored eight goals each as Toki Toa established a 16-5 lead during the first quarter. All In made some changes with Martyl Winterburn coming in to freshen up the midcourt and George Watson was handed the goal shoot bib.

Watson had 100 per cent efficiency in the second quarter. All In's combinations started to show more of an impact but it wasn't until midway through the quarter that they clicked.

The Arama Jackson captained All In side, scored five consecutive goals to give the crowd hope of an entertaining comeback, but it wasn't to last as Toki clawed back control and took the quarter 19-11.

The regular season game between these sides saw All In lose 50-34. With a similar losing margin possible All In came out with renewed enthusiasm in the third quarter.

They led 6-5 with five minutes left on the clock but their efforts to restrict the space their opposition operated in took its toll and Toki Toa finished the quarter with eight unanswered goals to put the final out of All In's reach.

The final quarter saw some of the best play of the match. With the result already determined both teams played with more freedom and expressed themselves with some impressive plays keeping the crowd entertained. It was appropriate Morton, the competition's highest scorer, should have the last say in the final.

His shot was sunk less than a second before the buzzer to ensure they doubled All In's score. Morton converted 35 of his 48 attempts for a 73 per cent success rate.

Hellyers sunk 17 of his 21 attempts for an 81 per cent success rate while Troy Skipworth had an 89 per cent success rate after sinking eight of his nine attempts.

Watson was the best of the All In shooters with 81 per cent from 18 successes from 22 attempts. Jackson converted 11 of his 16 attempts for a 69 per cent success rate.

Arlidge pointed out her organisation had a focus on male participation this year and considered the introduction of the men's league a huge bonus.

"We look forward to the further opportunities 2020 will bring," she added.

The winning Toki Toa team was: Sam Mirangaorangi, Jeisharn Manaena, Jason Morton, Jahvaughn Manaena, Troy Skipworth, Roman Wilcox, Tyson Leutele, Jason Hellyer, Jacob Nahora.