All In goal attack Rhandell Sharrock looks for a way out but knows centre/coach Candis Timms has her back against Kauri at the PG Arena, Napier. Photo/Paul Taylor
All In goal attack Rhandell Sharrock looks for a way out but knows centre/coach Candis Timms has her back against Kauri at the PG Arena, Napier. Photo/Paul Taylor
All In have created history in bagging their first piece of silverware in elite Hawke's Bay netball but as far as they are concerned it's just the entree to the main course before enjoying the season's desserts, as it were.
"It just means we're on the right track," saidplayer/coach Candis Timms after All In Tremains Elusive comfortably beat Havelock North House of Travel Kauri 59-42 last Friday night to claim the bragging rights to the seven-round shield phase of the Karamu Holden Super 8 competition.
Timms said it wasn't lost on All In that the championship component of the Super 8, starting this Friday, wouldn't be won until the final two rounds.
"So winning this shield is, like, irrelevant," she said, after All In amassed 24 points and lost just one match, 50-48, so far to Hastings High School Old Girls' Huia in the previous round.
"Even with winning the shield we can't get too ahead of ourselves because the championship is a completely new round."
Huia ground down Hasting Girls' High School Seniors 46-30 at the Pettigrew-Green Arena, Taradale, last Friday to send the schoolgirls back to the premier 1 (non-championship) grade staged on Saturdays.
Toki Incoporated Mana will enter the Super 8 competition for the first time after beating Taradale Phoenix 52-43 in the defining premier 1 match last Saturday.
Contentment is player/coach Candis Timms (kneeling 2nd from left) and All In team claiming their first piece of silverware in the Super 8 netball competition in Hawke's Bay. Photo/supplied
Timms said All In's club values were an integral part of their unity, on and off the court.
She is the owner/director of Weston Sports along Omahu Rd in Hastings, that offers indoor netball and two touch facilities.
The club is named after the 8-week-old newborn son she and husband Nathan Timms lost to a rare illness in late 2015.
Timms, who had started the venture with Levi Armstrong as a touch club in 2011, had revealed the Super 8 team were sporting the Weston logo on their dresses.
All In, who go by the motto of "One in, All In", have functioned with just 10 players so far this season although they have lost wing defence Tia Lewis to a suspected ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of the knee last Friday night and another youngster, GK Zoe Baker to an ankle injury against Huia.
Timms said they had adhered to a philosophy of 10 players with no starting sevens.
"That meant they could be utilised any time of the game so everyone has to be on their toes."
However, training with their second team ensures they can bring up players accustomed to Super 8 intensity.
Timms said Toki, who they play this Friday night, would add some excitement after having watched them compete against their All In Mavericks on Saturdays.
"They're very physical and I congratulate them for making Super 8 so they have nothing to lose."
All In goal shoot Pania Rowe is the top shooter after the Super 8 shield round. Photo/Paul Taylor
GS Pania Rowe, who was the top Super shooter to date this winter, found the net 42 times from 48 attempts for All In with the support of GA Rhandell Sharrock (17/21) while Kauri GS Tania Laking scored 33 from 51 attempts with the backing of GA Michelle Bazalo (9/13).
The victors led 14-8, 18-6, 17-13 before Kauri fought back to claim the last quarter 15-10.
Central Sports Vet Services had to work hard to overcome Outkast Optimise Physio for a 29-26 victory.
It was a ding-dong with Central's first quarter, 8-3, defining the clash. Outkast claimed the second 8-7 (to trail 15-11) and the third 9-8 (23-20) but Central made sure it was too little, too late with a final spell of 6-all.
Otane Thirsty Whale had a similar tit-for-tat battle with Napier Girls' High School Seniors before eking out a 47-45 win.
GS Sarona Fruean shot 98 per cent with Melissa Te Huki chiming in at 88 for Otane while GS Janayah Lewis, who had slipped on the GA bib in the third quarter, managed 77 per cent for the defending champion schoolgirls for an overall team success rate of 69 per cent compared with the winners' 92.
Huia started slow, drawing 11-all in the first quarter before warming up to the task with 12-8 (23-19), 8-5 (31-24) and 15-6 (46-30) for a don't-argue finish.
Judy Brown posted an 80 per cent record in the shooting circle (36/45) while Laike Baker (9/10) and Hannah O'Keefe (1/3) backed her up for a 79 per cent collective rate.
HGHS got traction from Liana Mikaele Tu'u (61 per cent) despite slipping on a GD bib with a GA one in the third spell with GS Galilee Hiko (57) backing up with an overall team percentage of 57.
HB Netball operations manager Tina Arlidge was delighted with the shield section of Super 8, one of the closest they had encountered.
Arlidge said they were looking forward to see newly promoted Toki for the first time.
"It will be a big step first up against the shield round winners All In in the championship round," she said.
HGHS goal attack Liana Mikaele Tu'u tries to regather possession with Huia goal defence Jade Waldin breathing down her neck at the Pettigrew Green Arena, Napier. Photo/Paul Taylor
■ Final shield standings: All In 24pts, Otane 21, Huia 20, Outkast 16, Central 14, Kauri 12, NGHS 9, HGHS 0.
■ Super shooters (played/goals): 1st Pania Rowe (All In, 7/256) 87 per cent; 2nd Judy Brown (Huia, 7/212) 81; 3rd Tania Laking (Kauri, 7/200) 73; 4th Rakei Sa'ena (Outkast, 6/189) 86; 5th Janayah Lewis (NGHS, 6/173) 83; 6th Melissa Te Huki (Otane, 7/149) 84; 7th Kirby Beach (Central, 5/129) 73; 8th Caitlin Smith (NGHS, 7/123) 69.
