Harcourts all the rage to take title

Harcourts will be the hottest of favourites to win the grand final of Netball Wairarapa's premier one netball competition at the Genesis Recreation Centre tomorrow night.
Opposing them there will be either St Matthew's Collegiate or Gladstone All Blacks who will meet, also at the recreation centre, in tonight's semi-final encounter, a match which St Matthew's is seen as the likely winner.
The college team goes into the game on the back of a 56-38 victory over defending champions Wairarapa College last weekend while Gladstone All Blacks are recovering from a 66-23 thumping at the hands of unbeaten Harcourts.
The latter result gave Harcourts automatic qualifaction into tomorrow's grand final while under the competition format Gladstone All Blacks, who were second on the points table at the end of the preliminary rounds, were allowed a second bite of the cherry.
That comes tonight against St Matthew's with the victor there going on to play Harcourts for the premier one title some 24 hours later.
St Matthew's will fancy their chances of outstaying Gladstone All Blacks and to this end they will looking to use their superior fitness to telling effect.
In the likes of Ella Biggs, Rosie Broughton, Pip Lynch, Sophie Ross, Jesse Smith and Harriet Somerville they have a group of very talented youngsters who have not only starred on the club scene, but also at representative level.
Gladstone All Blacks, for their part, will be keen to slow the tempo of the game down and rely on the experience of players such as Celia Donaldson, Lisa Manihera, Jo, Booth and Katie Anderson to force St Matthew's into errors.
They are sure to make a competitive game of it, but whether they can upset the rhythm of the college side enough to beat them is debatable, to say the least
Whichever of the two teams qualifies for the grand final though their chances of beating Harcourts are slim.
With talented players like Hope Phillips, Emma Foote, Kelly Sargent. Katie Wyeth, Lisa Butler and Geraldine Carroll to call on, Harcourts are well served at both the defensive and attacking ends of the court, and their midcourt work is generally impressive as well.
They have racked up something like 900 goals in 15 unbeaten matches this season and it would take an effort of immense proportions for either St Matthew's or Gladstone All Blacks to make a close game of it, let alone win.
Indeed their only hope is that Harcourts will suffer from the complacency which might well come from such a lengthy winning streak, but the knowledge that all their good work could be undone by one average effort should be enough to ensure that doesn't happen.