Netball: Sting secure fourth consecutive championship

9:59pm By COLIN KENNEDY

The Southern Sting secured their fourth consecutive National Bank Cup Netball league title in Invercargill on Saturday night when they beat arch-rivals the Canterbury Flames 54-48 in a rough encounter.

The defending champions held a slim lead at the end of each quarter throughout the match as they outmuscled the Flames. The Christchurch team missed their opportunities.

Intense rivalry and some particularly bruising play – The Flames' Belinda Colling had to be treated for a bruised face and the Sting's Donna Loffhagen received a warning for some rough play on Ana Veronese – proved too much for the visitors who were disrupted by frequent injury stoppages.

Mistakes crept into the Flames game and the Sting were quick to punish the visitors, particularly in the fourth quarter when they pulled ahead to beat the Flames for the ninth time running.