Netball: Fideliter Gold, Manawanui take out tight tussles

Whangaruru's Sian Telfer looks for support. PHOTO/JOHN STONE

Fideliter Gold and Manawanui White were on the right side of two close matches in the latest round of premier netball action.

The two younger teams in the top grade, Whangarei Girls' High School and Fideliter Gold, were evenly matched throughout with it being 13-all at the first break.

No changes were made from WGHS but changes were made from Fideliter as they searched for victory.

WGHS' Sherron Dods at goal shoot had a strong shooting performance with 91 per cent and paired up with Saphire Connelly-Parry combined well and rewarded their defenders' efforts of turnover ball.

The second quarter is where the students took a good enough lead at the half time break 29-23.

With the new combinations placed on court took time to adjust. Fideliter however were able to take advantage of the changes and applied pressure throughout enabling them to reverse the scoreline to be ahead by two with one more quarter to go.

Fideliter played smart netball, utilising their players to good effect.

Asa Morrison in the mid court worked tirelessly on attack and connected well with both her shooters Emerina Marsh and Taylar Riini.

Fideliter built on their slight lead in the final quarter it was the defence of Danielle Dephoff that picked up a number of turnovers for them for their shooter to convert.

With minutes to the final whistle WGHS goal keep Jessie Taylor got some much needed turnover ball but time was against them, ultimately going down 54-51.

Meanwhile Manawanui White were fast out of the block in their 45-40 victory over Whangaruru Premier 1.

Although there were a number of turnover ball from both teams it was Manawanui that took the lead.

The second quarter was where Manawanui went into another gear with strong man-on pressure from the defence and great conversion from goal shooter Sherryn Lefever and goal attack Leihana Shelford-Tito gave them a commanding 32-17 halftime lead.

However, Whangaruru were not about to lie low with the 15-goal deficit.

Goal shoot Sophy Tua added another dimension with great positioning and linking well with Jess Cole and day registered player Alexis Chapman both at goal attack.

Whangaruru performed well in the second half with Sian Telfer moving into wing defence adding height over her opposition Kahli Reihana.

Unforced errors slowly crept into Manawanui's game in the last quarter allowing Whangaruru to convert nine in a row and getting to within three goals.

This was also helped with some great circle pressure from Liahona Hebden at goal keep and Paris Isaacs-Dunn.

In the last match Fideliter Blue were dominant in their game against Wahine Toa from start to finish with a comprehensive win 51-24.