By JULIE ASH
Cool, calm heads is what Auckland Waitakere coach Judy Weston believes won her side the match against hometown favourites Waikato on the second day of the national provincial championships.
Auckland Waitakere edged Waikato 53-47 at Mystery Creek last night, causing the first real upset of the tournament.
Yesterday's other
results went as expected, with Netball North hammering Wellington 62-42 and Canterbury beating Otago 59-51.
With Silver Fern super-shooter Irene van Dyk, defender Leana Du Plooy and racy midcourters Jenny-May Coffin and Amigene Metcalfe, Waikato were expected to cast aside the Auckland side.
But with Coffin absent again with a calf strain and the same injury plaguing captain Metcalfe, who made an appearance only in the last quarter, the Auckland side clinched the win.
Although little separated the sides throughout the match, Weston was always confident her side had it in the bag.
Up 14-13 at the first break, Auckland extended their lead to 28-24 at halftime, but had it reduced to 3 at three-quarter time.
"I felt we were always in control. Even though it was tight and close they just kept their composure through the whole game," Weston said. Defensively her team had combined well and Moana Clark and Rachel Rasmussen did a great job of containing van Dyk, who shot 32 goals from 35 attempts.
The Auckland shooters also had a pretty good day at the office. Goalshoot Shelley Norris landed 28 of her 32 attempts; Julie Kelman-Poto, who replaced Norris for the third quarter, landed 5 from 7 attempts before Norris was reinstated; and goal attack Juanita Nilsen secured 20 from 29.
"It is a good win. We have still got Otago, Wellington and Netball North but every win counts and takes you one step closer to the semis." Weston said.
Today Auckland Waitakere face Otago, a team they beat 56-52 in the preliminary round after recovering from an 11-goal deficit.
Yvonne Willering's Netball North continued their unbeaten run yesterday, trouncing Wellington 62-42.
The North Harbour side led 22-10 in the first quarter, 37-18 at halftime and 49-27 at the three-quarter break.
Willering used all of her players but said she was unhappy with the number of unforced errors made by her side.
In today's matches, Netball North line up against Canterbury, Auckland Waitakere meet Otago and Waikato play Wellington.
In the bottom six, Western play Bay of Plenty, Tasman face Counties and Manukau, and Eastern square off against Southland.
