A direct route to the grand final will be at stake when first seeds Celtic and second seeds Gladstone All Blacks meet in a Wairarapa premier one netball play-off match at the Genesis Recreation Centre in Masterton on Friday night. The winner of this particular game will go straight through tothe competition decider but it won't necessarily mean the end of the road for the loser either. Rather, they will get a second chance to make the grand final when they meet the winner of tomorrow night's fixture - also at the Rec Centre - between third seeds Kuranui College and fourth seeds Wairarapa College. Celtic's unbeaten record in preliminary round play would suggest a victory over Gladstone All Blacks should be little more than a matter of course but anybody who watched their most recent clash, just last week, certainly won't see it that way. Yes, Celtic did win but the scoreline of 42-39 showed it was anything but a walkover, and would probably have boosted Gladstone All Blacks's confidence more than it did that of Celtic. The strength of Celtic through most of the season has been their accuracy in the shooting department and, interestingly enough, it is the decisiveness of their defensive play which is seen as being Gladstone All Blacks' main attribute. A thrilling game is in prospect and while Celtic will start favourite there is no certainty about the result. Kuranui College were runners-up to Harcourts for the premier one title last season and considering they lost a number of those players for their 2009 campaign they have done well to again be in contention for the title. Wairarapa College, for their part, have been the big improvers from 12 months ago they are being seen as the "dark horses" going into the play-offs. They should compete strongly with Kuranui right through the court and there should be precious little between them when the fulltime whistle is sounded.
