Cullinane beat Ruapehu in strong finish

ON TARGET: Te Manawanui Ranginui (right) helped Cullinane finish strongly to beat Ruapehu on Monday night.PHOTO/MERRILYN GEORGE

THERE was plenty of excitement in the Wanganui premier one netball on Monday night with Cullinane College finishing strongly to beat Ruapehu Sports Club 56-47.

Cullinane started well to lead at the first quarter break 13-11.

With a focus on improving communication, Ruapehu was able to force a number of turnovers in the second quarter and, with goal attack Chaana Morgan's dazzling movement, Ruapehu led 30-25 at the half-time break.

Cullinane coach Raven Steel injected Jaedyn Thompson into wing defence in the second half, moving Ella Duxfield across to goal defence and Lyric Pikimaui back to goal keep. Thompson made an immediate impact.

The whole side applied great defensive pressure right throughout the court, something coach Steel was wanting to see from her side and was nicely finished at the shooting end to see Cullinane back in the lead 40-39 at the three quarter break and go on to win 56-47, retaining for the time being, the fourth spot on the points table.

And doing all they can to keep themselves in the running for the top four is Mint Cafe Marist A1 who were even 11-11 with Wanganui Collegiate at the first break in a game that could have gone either way were it not for a possible season-ending injury to Collegiate goal shoot Kelly Teki-Clarke in the opening minutes of the second quarter.

It was a tenacious effort from the Collegiate side to stay in touch but the third quarter burst from Marist in which they strung together three four-goal runs to lead by seven at the break sealed the game.

Marist coach Sharon Kaua was pleased with her team's performance with Cara Dickinson at centre bringing the ball through court strongly and a solid performance from goal keep Briar Lourie just fresh off the plane from her overseas trip.

In the other game of the night, Phillips Electrical Wanganui High School showed why they are still the top contenders of the competition.

Kaiwhaiki had a clear game plan on defence but were unable to shut down the feeding machine of their mid-court with wing attack Diana Taha Williams-Cribb impressive on attack and defence. She combined well with centre De-ann Tryell to work the ball into the circle in the first half rather than opting for the traditional bomb to their captain, Sam Murphy, shooting 50 from 57 for another solid performance.

Leading 18-10 and 34-20 at halftime, coach Lisa Murphy was able to run her bench in the third quarter while changes to the mid-court for Kaiwhaiki with Teremai Potaka-Osborne coming on to wing attack and Leearna Nepia moving across to centre saw Kaiwhaiki virtually match High School for goals.

But the school side found their rhythm in the fourth and stormed home to win the quarter 17-5 and the game 64-36.

Netball takes a break with the school holidays and representative fixtures that will see a total of 15 premier one competition players from across the teams represent Wanganui teams at the Under-15 North Island Regional champs in New Plymouth and the Under-17 National Age Group champs in Tauranga.

Also in action will be Wanganui High's Sam Murphy and Renee Butler, along with Kaierau's Kelera Kuruyabaki and EC Sports' Victoria Anstis, who play for the Manawatu Under-19 team and will be at age group champs in Auckland.

Premier one netball will reconvene on Monday, July 20, with a much anticipated match-up between Wanganui High and EC Sports.