Kaierau and Kaiwhaiki netball teams secure wins in Premier 1 clashes

Whanganui High School's Ella Campbell shoots for goal in her side's win over Whanganui Collegiate.

Kaierau Mitre 10 Mega A1 overcame an early deficit to beat Marist Mint A1 in Monday night Premier 1 netball.

After trailing 6-7 at the first quarter break, reigning champs Kaierau came out strong to win the second 11-5.

The return of former captain and shooter Rebekah Alabaster was no surprise, having been spotted courtside with the team a couple of weeks back.

While Marist were able to keep pace with the reigning champs in the second half (going down by only one goal 9-8 in both the third and fourth quarters), the damage had been done in the second, the final score 35-28 to Kaierau.

A similar fate met HP Pirates A1 in their top of the table clash against Kaiwhaiki A1, drawing the first quarter 8-all, winning the second 9-8 and drawing the last 9-all but as with the first match, Pirates were not able to recover from a dominating third quarter performance from the defensively adept Kaiwhaiki side.

Despite the outcome, coach Casey McDougall was happy with her team’s performance and coming off the back of a six goal win against reigning champs Kaierau A1 two weeks ago, she was pleased with how the team are tracking this season.

Kaiwhaiki coach De-ann Tyrell was happy with her team’s performance, highlighting goal keep Kelera Kuruyabaki - who delighted the crowd with her renowned defence of the shot tips - and goal shoot Te Reo Paki, whose volume and accuracy when injected into the third quarter settled the attack end.

In the final Premier 1 game of the night, Phillips Electrical WHS A1 took the win 48-43 against Whanganui Collegiate Senior A1.

After going into the first quarter break 14-all, WHS put their foot down in the second quarter winning 14-6.

Collegiate fought back hard in the last two quarters winning those 13-11 and 10-9, but the WHS side managed to hold them off.

WHS coach Lisa Murphy was ecstatic with her team.

“The girls all did their part - it was a real team effort,” she said.

The win puts Phillips Electrical WHS A1 into fourth place on the points table, equal on points but ahead on goal average with Marist Mint A1.

This sets things up for an exciting clash between the two sides next week as they fight to keep their top four hopes alive.

In Premier 2 games, Kaierau Air Whanganui A2 continued their winning streak with a 38-34 win over last year’s Premier 2 champs Kaiwhaki Gold A2.

Waimarino A1 picked up a comfortable win against Gemini Pepper Kaierau A3 38-16 while Mt View Marist A2 clinched a three goal win against Tech A1 30-27.