Netball coach frustrated

Wairarapa netball player-coach Kelly Sargent readily concedes being frustrated at her team's ineffectiveness in their regional super league match with Hutt Valley 2 at the Genesis Recreation Centre on last Friday night.
A win to the hitherto unbeaten Wairarapa side would have made them hot favourites to win this inaugural competition but the unthinkable happened.
Instead of turning on the firepower in front of a crowd of almost 500 they produced their worst display of the season and Hutt Valley 2 capitalised, scoring by a handsome
55-43.
"We just didn't play well?? none of us," Sargent said. "We couldn't get anything going, it was pretty average stuff."
Sargent believes Wairarapa fell into the trap of allowing Hutt Valley to dictate the trend of the game, especially in the second quarter in which they were outscored by 15-8.
"They mixed up their tactics and, quite frankly, we couldn't cope," she said. "We got frustrated and started making silly mistakes and they got away on us."
Personnel and positional changes were made by Wairarapa after halftime in an attempt to bridge the gap but they made little, or no, difference to the end result with Hutt Valley 2 always looking the better side.
"They were just too good on the night,noone could argue that,"Sargent said. "We didn't deserve any more than what we got."
Sargent is optimistic, however, that the loss will be a blessing in disguise as Wairarapa heads into their penultimate super league match against Hutt Valley 1 in Wellington this coming Sunday. Win that and they cannot do worse than share the title.
"Every player was disappointed after Friday and I know they will be dead keen to bounce back quickly from that loss,"Sargent said. "We've all had a good kick in the butt and none of us want to go through that again."
The possibility of a heavy work load counting against Wairarapa in their next assignment has not been lost on Sargent.
They will play the Capital Shakers development squad in Wellington on Friday night as a curtain-raiser to the Capital Shakers v Otago Rebels national league gameand then have club matches on the Saturday before heading to Wellington again on Sunday for their super league encounter.
Sargent hopes to alleviate some of the pressure by giving her younger squad members considerable match time on Friday.
"I think it's the right game to showcase our younger players, to give them the chance to play against those in their own age group," she said. "If they play well it could be the start of something big for them."
There will also be a Wairarapa connection in the Capital Shakes development squad with Wairarapa College defence player Rosie Mahpney part of that team.