Netball: Young Aucklanders give Muir jitters

By Suzanne McFadden

The teenagers were turning Lois Muir's famous grey hair white at the national netball championships in Palmerston North last night.

Muir's Wellington side held on - just - for a 48-46 victory over the fast-closing Aucklanders.

Eighteen-year-old Jodi Te Huna and Kimberley Horton, who turned 17 last month, shot the Wellington team to an eight-goal lead at halftime. But Auckland fought back in the final quarter to scare last year's national runners-up.

"The young people are cool, but it's nerve- racking for us old coaches," Muir said. "I didn't want Auckland to get a point out of this. But we went off the boil a bit and got a little tired."

While most games in first grade went with the seedings yesterday, newcomers Manukau provided the first upset of the tournament, flipping third seeds Southland 64-55.

Former Silver Fern Temepara George turned the game on its head as Manukau came from behind in the final 10 minutes.

In a physical encounter in which players were warned by the umpires, the young Southlanders had an eight-goal advantage at halftime.

Karen Wilson, a former Auckland shooter, was devastating at goal-keep for the Manukau side in the second half.

But it was George, moving from centre to wing-attack in the last quarter, who inspired a fightback which turned a two-goal deficit into a nine-goal victory.

The pre-tournament favourites, Waikato, have had more than their share of hard luck in the past week - the worst of it losing attacker Rachel Hotene on the weekend after a rugby injury.

Dropped Silver Fern Jenny-May Coffin has reinjured the shoulder she dislocated in a test against Jamaica earlier this year. Yet with her arm heavily bandaged, Coffin led the Waikato side to a 60-52 win over Manawatu in their first game yesterday.

Waikato coach Ruth Aitken praised Coffin's leadership and the defence duo of Leigh Price and Koren Pickard.

"Leigh and Koren are so mobile and aerial, but they lack height. There are a lot of very, very tall shooters here, so it's great to watch them grab so much ball," Aitken said.

Manawatu made a feisty comeback in the last quarter, closing the gap from 15, thanks to one of those very tall shooters, Colleen Gatenby.

North Harbour let a huge chance slip against defending champions Otago, losing 48-57.

Harbour were within one goal in the final spell, but some missed shots cost them a chance of upsetting the very young Otago line-up.

Champions of yesteryear Canterbury crushed Counties 86-39 in their attempt to break back into first grade.