Netball: Waitakere overpower BoP team

By JULIE ASH

Auckland Waitakere coach Judy Weston had few complaints following her side's 75-42 demolition of Bay of Plenty in the opening round of netball's national provincial championships in Auckland yesterday.

Although the match was a little scratchy, being the first of the championship, Auckland Waitakere had far too much power for the Bay side, who looked short on court time.

Also racking up big wins in the opening round of the preliminary games were defending champions Waikato, who blew Tasman away 70-22; Netball North, who trounced Counties Manukau 80-34; Otago, who ran away with a 65-35 win over Western; and Canterbury, who beat Eastern 49-37.

The closest match of the round was in Invercargill, where Wellington claimed a vital 49-42 win over Southland, who were without shooting ace Donna Loffhagen who has just returned from Athens with the Tall Ferns.

In Auckland, where the match was played at West Auckland's impressive new Trusts Stadium, the home side made their mark early, extending their 19-12 first-quarter lead to 42-20 at half time.

The Bay were unable to match Auckland's speed through the court and trailed 56-29 at three-quarter time before bowing out 75-42.

"A lot of the work we have done in the last week we put out there today which was good," Weston said.

"We got a bit of a head rush every so often but it was good to see them pull back, let the head rush go and off they went again.

"Overall I am very pleased."

Weston was particularly satisfied with her side's accuracy under the hoop, which they will need to sustain if are to advance further than last year's third placing.

Goal shoot Shelly Norris landed an impressive 38 goals from 44 attempts.

Juanita Nilsen, who played the first half at goal attack, scored 20 from 23 and Brigette Tapene landed 5 from 10 when she came on in the third quarter and Maria Tutaia 12 from 14 in the last quarter.

Auckland Waitakere defenders Rachel Rasmussen and Vanessa Banbrook also combined well. Rasmussen, in particular, secured her side plenty of ball.

For the Bay of Plenty it is back to the drawing board. They finished 10th in last year's competition and are expected to improve on that this year with the inclusion of Magic players Anna Senio, Liezel Wium and Katrina Anderson.

"We just have to go away and analyse our own game and try and move forward," said Bay of Plenty coach Hikitia Gallagher.

"We need to work on our through-court game and trying to slow our opposition down."

Both Auckland Waitakere and the Bay of Plenty head to Tauranga this weekend, where they will square off against Canterbury and Eastern in the final of the preliminary matches.

The top two teams in each of the three pools then advance to the top six playoffs in the week-long championship tournament in Palmerston North, which starts on September 20. The bottom six play off for seedings for next year's championship.