Samantha Sinclair at C for NW Suburbs Premier. Photo / Alex Woods.
Tommo's Bakery Indoor Premier Championship round results - August 18
Uni Premier 32 vs New World Rototuna Suburbs Premier 45
First Credit Union Verdettes Marist 61 vs St Paul's College Open A 38
FTNC Premier 70 vs New World Rototuna Suburbs Prem Res 39
In the fifth and final week of the Tommo's Bakery indoor open premier grade championship round New World Rototuna Suburbs Premier with a full complement of players including their NZ A players achieved a win over the previously unbeaten Uni Premier team giving them top ranking. They are also unbeaten at the end of the competition round.
This was a highly contested game between two standout teams so reasonably low scoring as a result. There was nothing in the first quarter with this a draw.
By half time Suburbs Premier led by three goals. Suburbs Premier were dominant in the third quarter and they extended their lead to be ahead by 13 goals but the final quarter was again very close.
The final score was 45 goals to 32. Suburbs Premier were elated with the win and it is a bit ironic that for the final next week, which will be a repeat of this game, will see them without their NZ A players so for those players this game was their final.
For Suburbs Premier Kelly Jury at goal keep and Emily Patterson at goal defence combined well to force numerous errors and they gained a huge amount of turnover ball.
Shannon O'Donnell at wing defence and Samantha Sinclair at centre assisted with the defensive effort through the mid court.
The flow on attack throughout most of the game was a credit to the players and saw them letting the ball go with confidence. They were ably led by Simmon Howe at wing attack.
In the shooting circle Sarah Hayman and Monica Falkner kept the defence guessing moving well and shot at above 85%.
For Uni Premier this game was an opportunity to try a number of combinations leading into the final and only one player remained in the same position for the duration of the game. Rachael Fabling at goal defence and then goal keep was a stand out as was school girl Courtney Elliott at wing defence. Both put up a strong defensive effort.
First Credit Union Verdettes Marist had an expected win over St Paul's Collegiate Open A, but the college did have a good first quarter and were competitive with only six goals the difference.
Verdettes Marist were dominant in the second quarter and by half time led by 19 goals. However, the second half saw the St Paul's team again more competitive only losing this half by four goals. The final score was 61 goals to 38.
For Verdettes Marist Jess Shed at goal attack came to the forefront playing a good game. All the players got court time with younger players stepping up.
Rhianna Wheadon coming on at centre was solid at reading and letting the ball go into space. For St Paul's it was great to see an overall improvement in their performance with some patches of brilliance.
Similarly FTNC Premier also had a win over New World Suburbs Premier Reserve.
FTNC Premier led from start to finish but again the lower ranked team had a good first quarter to only be behind four goals. They also had a good third quarter but the damage was done in the second and final quarters. The final score was 70 goals to 39.
For FTNC Premier Katie Damsteegt came on at goal shoot in the second half to play a strong holding game and provided a good target for the feeders shooting at 87%.
Damsteegt moved well and her timing was impeccable. Hannah Ridling at goal defence and Taylor Greening at wing defence in the second half applied good pressure picking up a lot of turnover ball.
For Suburbs Premier Reserve Sonya Noble at goal attack had a solid game shooting at 88%. She was ably assisted by Colein Swift at goal shoot who again played well.
Teenagers Tori Van Der Heyden and Danielle Coffin shared the wing defence duties and gained valuable experience marking the more experienced FTNC mid court players.
Carissa Te Wharau at centre and Georgia Eldridge at wing attack played with patience against a strong defensive effort.
St Paul's Collegiate Open A and New World Rototuna Suburbs Prem Reserve play their last round robin game during the week (this is a catch up game from the beginning of the round) and the final between New World Rototuna Suburbs Premier and Uni Premier is being held on August 25 at the Te Awamutu Sports Complex.