Netball: Auckland knock wind out of Otago

Cathrine Latu and her Auckland Waitakere teammates blitzed Otago. Photo / Dean Purcell

After a string of patchy performances, Auckland Waitakere have reignited their title defence, blitzing past Otago in their final round match-up at the national netball championships last night.

Auckland and Otago were battling it out for the final spot in the top four after Southland secured their place earlier in the day with a 49-40 win over Western.

While Auckland went in to their home tournament at Trusts Stadium on the back of some indifferent form, their semifinal credentials never looked in doubt last night as they outclassed the young Otago side 66-49.

The defending champions will meet the second-placed Wellington in today's semifinals, while the in-form Canterbury side will take on Southland in the other match-up.

Auckland Waitakere were upstaged by Wellington in their round robin match-up two weeks ago but coach Kiri Wills is confident they have learnt from that experience.

"[Wellington] are quite a vocal team and they're quite in-your-face, and I think we took a step back from that. Now that they know what they're up against I think they'll be more composed," said Wills.

Canterbury underlined their favourites status for the 2010 title, finishing top of the table with a dominant 50-32 win over the previously unbeaten Wellington.

Despite the ease with which Canterbury won, it was still a tough tussle for the red and blacks, with Wellington extremely aggressive defensively.

The Wellington defence at times struggled to cope with the speed and athleticism of the Canterbury attack, and resorted to cynical measures to try to disrupt their flow. Shooters Anna Thompson and Ellen Halpenny copped a battering in the circle from Wellington's formidable defensive pairing of Bessie Manu and Cushla Lichtwark.

Canterbury captain Maree Bowden believes the intensity of the match will serve her side well heading into the finals.

"We knew they were going to be physical, it was just about absorbing that pressure and settling into our own game and I think we were able to do that really well," the former Silver Fern said.

"We didn't have the greatest game against [Southland] last time we played them. I think we let them back into the game and that's something we've really been working on - when we've got a lead to keep on building it."

Southland secured their place in the semifinals with a convincing win over Western, who are now fighting for their lives in the first division. The winless Western side will play-off with Otago for ranking today. Both teams go on to meet the top two sides from the second grade - Waikato and Bay of Plenty - in tomorrow's promotion-relegation matches.

Western put up a good fight early on, with their unheralded defensive pairing of Sam Burkhart and Katarina Cooper upsetting the rhythm of the Southland attack to pick up some good turnover ball.

With the scores locked at 22-all at halftime, Southland kicked into gear in the third period, outscoring Western 15-9 for the period to set up a handy advantage heading into the final quarter, which they continued to build on.

FIRST GRADE SEMIFINALS
3pm: Canterbury v Southland
5pm: Wellington v Auckland Waitakere