Netball: Waikato step closer to the perfect game

By JULIE ASH


Waikato coach Nicole Dryden says her side is ready for anything North throw at them in the final of the national provincial championships tonight in Palmerston North.

Waikato stormed into the final last night with a comfortable win over Otago and North were just as dominant against neighbours Auckland Waitakere.

Waikato trounced North 64-45 in the final match of the round-robin competition, but North Harbour made an unusually high number of substitutions and appeared to ease off in the second quarter.

Such tactics do not faze Dryden.

"I am confident in my team, there is no doubt about that," she said.

"It is always going to be interesting what we see that is different from the first time we played.

"But we know the individuals and they know us.

"There will be some new things, but can we deal with that? Yes, absolutely."

Waikato, who have won the national title three times in the last five years, beat North 67-61 in the final last year.

This week in Palmerston North they have been unstoppable. In their six games they have beaten their opposition by 15 or more goals.

Last night's semifinal was no different.

Unforced errors from Otago early on allowed Waikato to storm out to an unassailable 15-6 lead.

Ahead 30-13 at halftime, Waikato's speed through the court and the accuracy of Irene van Dyk under the hoop proved too much for their rivals.

Otago were missing the experience of goal attack Angela Mitchell who sprained her ankle during the week.

Dryden found little fault with her side's performance.

"Once again we turned over a heck of a lot of ball.

"The defence was solid, shooting-wise we put up the shots, got into good shot range, and there was continual work through the midcourt.

"I was really interested watching our players because they were very fired up.

"They are aiming for perfection and when there is an unforced error or a turnover they look so dissatisfied you have to remind them they are doing so well.

"They are just looking for that perfect game."

North also clinched their match in the first quarter, creaming Auckland Waitakere 13-6.

Auckland Waitakere simply forgot to fire. In an effort to revive her team, Auckland coach Judy Weston changed her shooting line-up, bringing Shelly Norris into goal shoot and moving Maria Tutaia from goal shoot to goal attack.

But the changes had little effect as Auckland Waitakere's horror run of unforced errors continued, allowing North to go to 28-11 at halftime.

Once again a standout performer for North was young shooter Catherine Latu, who at 1.95m had significant height advantage over the Auckland defenders.

Latu has been impressive all week, but unfortunately is not available for any of the New Zealand squads.

It is understood she is eyeing a place in the Samoan under-21 side for next year's youth World Cup.

North were dealt a blow midway through the quarter when experienced goal attack Teresa Tairi was forced off with an ankle sprain.


* Tonight's final starts at 7.30pm.