Casey Kopua at GD for Verdettes Marist OG takes a rebound ball.
Premier Netball Report Champ Week 3
Trust Waikato Hamilton City Netball Centre Indoor Premier Championship Round Results.
Uni Premier 57 vs Verdettes Marist Old Girls 31.
FTNC Premier 52 vs FTNC Premier Reserve 35
New World Rototuna Suburbs Premier 103 vs New World Rototuna Suburbs Premier Reserves 23
In the third week of the Trust Waikato Hamilton City Netball Centre indoor open premier grade championship round there was a great spectacle in the game between Uni Premier and Verdettes Marist Old Girls with a number of renowned players on court.
While not a close game this was overall a more competitive game for the unbeaten Uni team particularly the second quarter with only two goals the difference.
Uni Premier won every quarter and increased their advantage quarter by quarter. The half time score was 28 to 18 goals and the fulltime score 57 goals to 31.
For Uni Premier coach Rebecca Gabel was happy with the intensity that the team played at. It was great to have Laura Langman back in the side at centre and she combined well with Ngawai Eyles and Sydney Fraser both playing half a game each at wing attack.
Amy Christophers at goal keep had an outstanding game and took out a number of intercepts. Goal attack, Jessie Taane and 18 year old Fiesola Puamau at goal shoot, both shot at high percentages up against Casey Kopua in the opposition.
For Verdettes Marist Old Girls it was an improvement on their last encounter against Uni and overall it was a great team effort. A reasonable first half but too many errors and missed shooting opportunities in the second half.
The remaining two games were both interclub games with FTNC Premier playing FTNC Premier Reserve and New World Rototuna Suburbs Premier playing New World Rototuna Suburbs Premier Reserve.
This says a lot about the depth of the clubs to have two teams each in the premier competition.
In the all FTNC game the Premier team took the opportunity to play the whole team and a number of combinations. They led from start to finish winning the first three quarters but the Premier Reserve team only lost the third quarter by three goals and won the final quarter by two goals.
Half time score was 31 to 15 and fulltime score was 52 goals to 35. For FTNC Premier the stand out player was Grace Namana at goal shoot and shooting at 90 per cent.
Namana offered the feeders a number of choices to deliver the ball and was strong on holding and movement within the circle.
For FTNC Premier Reserve they started well then faltered only to have a great second half. There was a big effort from Shariann Rangitaawa playing at wing defence and goal defence.
Rangitaawa combined well with Natalie Walford at goal defence and goal keep to put pressure on the opposition attacking end creating some good turnover ball.
Special note also to the youngest player for Premier Reserve team, Chelsea Whittaker who came on and had a strong final quarter at goal attack.
In the all New World Rototuna Suburbs game the Premier team were absolutely ruthless in their execution of the game winning boldly by a whopping 103 goals to 23.
Rototuna Suburbs Premier rotated their 10 players throughout the game but Suburbs Premier Reserve stayed with the same positional seven all game.
For Rototuna Suburbs Premier hitting 30 goals in two quarters showed the immense defensive pressure and high conversion rate.
This is the first time the team and management have achieved a score over 100 so a special night. For Rototuna Suburbs Premier Reserve the team includes four school girls and overall they performed well against what was slick competition and they can only improve and grow from the experience.
Coming to the end of the competition we are having the privilege of seeing a mixture of Silver Ferns, ex Silver Ferns, NNZ U21's, WBOP Magic and Beko players take the court for the premier teams.
The region has real depth in terms of some outstanding players and it is great to see these players mix in with other players enabling opportunities, learnings and development.