The Somerville sisters were standouts when St Matthew's Collegiate beat St Oran's College 24-19 in the playoff for 11th and 12th placings at the national secondary sachoolgirls netball finals in Timaru. Ashleigh Somerville at goal attack was in dominant form, driving strongly on to the ball and shooting with accuracy closeto the goal. Sistrer Harriet Somerville forced a number of intercepts on defence and she and wing attack Renee Scarlett worked hard around the circle, feeding quality ball to the shooters. Goal shoot Haley Ross's safe hands pulled in long passes fired in from the midcourt by Rosie Mahoney who, despite being hampered by a recurrent niggle, turned in a fine performance. She and goal keep Julie Biggs dominated the St Orans shooters, picking up numerous rebounds, and clearing the ball quickly to wing defence Jacqui Sharp. St Matthew's led throughout the game and even though St Oran's tried desperately to make up the leeway they couldn't do so. As St Matthew's and St Oran's were the only teams from the Wellington area to qualify for the national finals St Matthew's must now be regarded as the top secondary school netball team in the Wellington region. Pl.aying off in the grand final were Massey High and Auckland Girls Grammar with the latter winning a tense and exciting game 25-24.
