A 'flu-hit Harcourts produced their best performance in division one of the regional netball league when they lost 73-62 to PIC 2 at Walter Nash Stadium, Taita on Saturday.
The final margin between the two teams did not tell the whole story of a match which saw Harcourts make a slowish
start and trail by 12 goals at the end of the first quarter and by 15 goals at halftime.
However, by the end of the third quarter PIC's lead had been reduced to seven and when Harcourts got to within four goals of them early in the fourth quarter an upset victory looked on.
It was then though that a mixture of some very physical play by PIC 2 and some indifferent refereeing conspired to take the wind out of Harcourt's sails and the closing stanzas saw PIC's advantage increased to double figures.
Harcourts coach Kelly Sargent was delighted with the gutsiness shown by her players, particularly in the last quarter when they were the victims of what she called some "pretty ugly" tactics by their opposition.
"There was a lot of pushing and elbowing and even some foot tripping," she said. "And unfortunately for us most of it seemed to go undetected ... it was bloody frustrating I can tell you."
Kuranui College youngster Waimarama Phillips was one of the standouts for Harcourts.
She started at goal attack and maintained accuracy in her shooting despite the pressure placed on her by the PIC defence. Sargent also had an impressive percentage at goal shoot with her and Phillips benefiting immensely from the service provided them by Geraldine Carroll at wing attack and Katie Wyeth at centre.
"Everybody did their bit, it was a really good team effort," Sargent said, adding that it was made even better by the fact more than half the squad were struggling with 'flu.
Feature match in the Wairarapa premier one competition played at the Genesis Recreation Centre on Thursday and Friday nights was the match between Celtic and Gladstone All Blacks with the winner going straight to the grand final.
In what was a physical encounter Celtic justified their favouritism with a hard-fought 51-43 success.
The loss does not mean the end of the road for Gladstone All Blacks though.
They will now play a semi-final against Kuranui College who beat Wairarapa College 46-38 in the match between the third and fourth seeds.
In other premier one games Pioneer Blue beat St Matthews Collegiate 46-41 and Carterton Sports Arena edged out Fagan Motors Hot Shots 40-38.
LOWER GRADE RESULTS:-
Premier two:
Carterton Legends 32, Wairarapa College B1 27; Gladstone Powershop 26, Trevs 1 25.
Premier three top four:
Carterton White 23, St Matthews B 21; Trevs 2 24, Eketahuna 18.
Premier three bottom four:
Hiona 25, Wairarapa College B2 21; Carterton Mama Mia 24, Wairarapa College Intermediate A 23.
Premier four top four:
St Matthews Junior A 24, Pioneer Red 18; Na Iwi 35, Greytown Red 20.
Premier four bottom four:
Kuranui Blue 22, Wairarapa College B3 9.
Senior A top four:
Wairarapa College Junior A 26, Chanel Senior A 12; Solway 1 28. Featherston 18.
Senior A bottom four:
Makoura Red 20, Kuranui Junior B 14; St Matthews Intermediate A 21, St Matthews Sapphires 20.
Senior reserve top four:
Mangan Graphics Hot Shots 25, Carterton Blue 13; Chanel Junior A 16, Masterton Flames 14.
Senior reserve bottom four:
Makoura White 23, St Matthews Junior B 19; Wairarapa College Intermediate B 30, Wairarapa College Senior Reserve 1 17.
Senior B top four:
Wairarapa College Senior Reserve 3 21, St Matthew's Diamonds 19; Wairarapa College Senior Reserve 2 23, Greytown Black 22.
Senior B bottom four:
Wairarapa College Junior B 26, Kuranui Red 12.
Senior C:
Solway 2 17, Wairarapa College Ihugz 11; Chanel Senior B 29, St Matthews Intermediate B 14; Chanel Junior B 13, Wairarapa College Jewelz 8.
PRIMARY RESULTS:-
Grade one:
MIS Year 8A 23, Opaki Jets 13; Lakeview Flames 36, St Matthews A 9.
Grade two:
Hadlow Ferns 16, MIS Matariki 14; St Matthews B 12, MIS Galaxy 8; Chanel Gold 30, MIS Year 7B 13; Greytown Gold Ferns 15, MIS Year 8B 9.
Grade three:
Lakeview Tactics 22, MIS Sapphires 15; Featherston Flyers 25 Alfredton 23; Te Kura 16, Chanel Silver 11; Solway Intermediate 18, Carterton Gold 9.
Grade four:
MIS Comets 17, St Matthews Silver 9; Lakeview Rebels 14, MIS Gems 7; Solway Magic 8, Hadlow Pixies 6; St Matthews Bronze 23, Opaki Aces 13.
Grade five:
DPS Pulse 11, St Pats Saints 3; Carterton Silver 25, MPS Sting 10 Carterton Bronze 3, St Pats Shakers 1.
Grade six:
Lakeview Pulse 11, Wainuioru Wildcats 7; DPS Steel 9, Lakeview Magic 2; DPS Tactics 16, MPS Wasps 0; Greytown B 8, Tuhirangi 3.
Grade seven:
Solway Rockets 16, Carterton Yellow 1; Opaki Stars 15, Hadlow Rockers 2; Featherston Shooters 13, Featherston Ferns 3; Greytown C 18, Fernridge 0.
Future ferns:
St Pats Shimmers 5, Lakeview Ferns 3; DPS Mystics 9, DPS Magic 5; Solway Ferns 9, Carterton Pink 5; St Pats Stars 22, Wainuioru Junior Wildcats 0.