Harcourts' final fling given jolt by College

Wairarapa College came within a whisker of pulling off one of the biggest boilovers in Netball Wairarapa history on Saturday at the Colombo Road courts.
In a pulsating match which had the good-sized crowd entertained, Harcourts emerged 45-42 victors.
But the win was not achieved before the hot favourites to take the title had experienced some jittery moments at the hands of younger and determined opponents.
If the Wairarapa College game plan included nullifying the mid-court threat of Harcourts by quickly closing them down and generally hassling them at every opportunity, then that plan appeared to work a treat in the first quarter.
Centre Emma Foote found she had a real battle on her hands.
Harcourts reached the end of that quarter leading 13-8 but had the composure of goal shoot Geraldine Carroll to thank.
Meanwhile the College had lost the services of wing attack Beka Atkinson to injury, which upset their rhythm.
She did not reappear for the second quarter, which provided good end-to-end play and finished with Harcourts maintaining their advantage to lead 26-19.
Wairarapa College coach Jacqui Southey was upbeat during the break and seemed unfazed by the deficit. Her team talk centred around the need to wisely choose attacking options, keep on shutting down Harcourts in all areas and getting the ball up to shooters Grace Southey and Judy Brown.
"No letting up. If we lose possession in mid-court it's as good as giving them another goal," she told them.
Atkinson returned for the third quarter and was joined by Raewyn Cavubati at wing defence. And Harcourts lost the services of experienced duo Geraldine Carroll and Carleen Karaitiana to injury.
Southey's introduction of Cavubati proved an inspired move. Aided by sound option-taking in attack and stout defence, coupled with shooters Southey and Brown combining well in the circle, Wairarapa came storming back and really took the game to the more experienced Harcourts.
Harcourts took a narrow 34-29 lead into the final quarter with the stern message from coach Kelly Sargent ringing in their ears: "Play your own game, stop being dominated by the college girls, go for every intercept and chase every loose ball."
The experienced Karaitiana and Carroll rejoined the fray for the final 15 minutes, which steadied the wobbling Harcourts, while the college stayed focused.
Urged on by the vocal crowd who were beginning to sense an upset, the College closed the gap to a single point with just three minutes remaining. . But a final flurry of goals from Carroll saw Harcourts emerge triumphant.
Coach Sargent was perhaps the most relieved person in the whole netball complex.
"Boy, I've just about split the plaster cast and rebroken my arm with the stress," Sargent joked.
"This is by far the closest winning margin we've had all season," Sargent said. "Credit to the college girls for that. They came out and did what they needed to do to upset our rhythm and style of play and it very nearly succeeded.
"And when we had our experienced players off court, there was a gap which the others couldn't quite fill. But in the end the girls came to the party, coped with the pressure and that was possibly the difference."
Sargent singled out the effort of Karaitiana for special mention. "She's played defence before and this is her first year in the shooting circle. She did an absolutely superb job for us."
College coach Southey was all smiles at the end, despite being on the wrong end of the score line.
"Wow, I'm just so happy" she said. "My girls gave absolutely everything. I'm just so proud of them all. We feel like we're winners even though we aren't."
Southey was pleased with the way her team had settled into the game. "We went out there to deny them space defensively, force errors, play short passes to minimise intercepts and, above all, to support the ball carrier. We stuck to it all the way through and nearly pulled it off."
Southey was loath to single out individuals but when pressed she conceded Courtney Hamilton had played another outstanding game. "Courtney's just brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Raewyn Cavubati also played very well, sticking with her partner all the time and gave us options."
"This is my swansong as a coach and this is the last game for seven of my team. But what a way to go," Southey said.