Netball: Manawanui clinch Premier title

The victorious Manawanui White side after their 45-42 win over Fideliter.

Manawanui White put together their game of the season to win the Premier Final on Saturday night against Active Refrigeration Fideliter 1.

Prior to the game the Fideliter side were the undeniable favourites, having gone through the season unbeaten.

However Manawanui left their best until last and put together four solid quarters effectively strangling the free flowing style of the Fideliter game.

They stuck to their game plan with a dedication that has not been seen thus far this season, keeping their passes short, and treasuring possession. Tyler Nankivell and Kahli-Anne Reihana were instrumental in calming the game and slowing the ball.

While Kaea Robinson at GK turned over ball that was ably brought through the court by Kimberly Ruth and Larissa Hona, to be converted at the other end. Jaelyn Walker came on in the third quarter, and made an impact in the goal circle, running the baseline and holding her position well.

In the first quarter, Manawanui scored a run of seven goals in a row which set up their lead, and restricted Fideliter to only eight in the first quarter.

Fideliter have a history of starting slowly, and while they were able to restrict Manawanui from continuing to extend their lead significantly, they couldn't pull back that initial lead, and played catch up for the entire match.

The Fideliter coaches made a number of positional changes to inject some flair and energy into the game, but at each turn, Manawanui continued to keep control.

In the final quarter of the match, Manawanui had a lead of ten with five minutes to go, and finally Fideliter found some of their magic and started a come back.

Unfortunately it was all a little too late, and despite winning the last quarter, Manawanui won the final 45-42, ending a five year Fideliter winning streak.

The Premier Reserve final didn't disappoint either.

Whangaruru 1 had to dig deep to come away with the win against Wahine Toa Combined, the match having to go into extra time for a result.

Whangaruru started the game strongly and took a lead into the second quarter.

Changes for Wahine Toa, including bringing Maria Dick on changed the dynamics of the game and things improved for Wahine Toa, bringing them within one at half time.

Te Aroha Palmer was outstanding throughout the game both on defence and attack and in particular this combination with Dick was powerful as they drove onto the ball and it was finished by shooters with confidence and accuracy.

The tussle between Harmony Kingi and her opponent Geneva Edmonds was a great encounter with fitness and speed equalled. Whangaruru almost saw the game slip away from them, but in the final quarter pulled back the slim lead that Wahine Toa had managed to gain and forced the game into extra time when the score was tied at 40 all at the end of full time.

The extra few minutes enabled Whangaruru to come away with the win, finishing 47-45.

Despite the loss, Wahine Toa coach, Ivy TeNana was very happy with her teams performance and said that the battle between the two teams will be one she will always remember.