EVEN a mediocre game failed to stop the Wanganui High School A1 train rolling over the top of Marist A1 in the Wanganui premier netball competition at Springvale Stadium on Monday night.
Phillips Electrical Wanganui High School won the match 57-35, but the performance did not impress coach Lisa Murphy.
Like all good coaches Murphy expects 100 per cent from her girls week in, week out and until Monday that's just what the unbeaten side have given.
"It wasn't their best performance and in fact, it was mediocre really. But I guess they are allowed at least one ordinary game now and again. The important thing is that we remain unbeaten and are still top of the table," Murphy said yesterday.
Daughter Sammy Murphy, normally an accurate straight shooter, had an off night and was subbed off at half time with sister Ashlee moving into goal shoot from her traditional goal attack position.
"Sammy wasn't feeling 100 per cent, so she came off at half time and I put Ashlee into goal shoot and brought Renee Butler into goal attack,' Murphy said.
"That combination seemed to work okay. The girls had their moments on-court, but not throughout the entire game."
Meanwhile, Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau also failed to impress their coach, yet still managed a 41-36 victory over Nga Tawa on Monday.
Coach Marie Kinloch said while a win is a win, there was plenty of room for improvement now the competition was well into its second round.
"We are still sitting third on the table and remain in the top four, but we really do need to keep performing to make the semifinals and then the finals," Kinloch said yesterday.
"Suzanne Guilford had a good game at goal shoot and has been a standout over recent weeks, stepping up each game. She came from a defensive background until I talked her into shooting and she has been a rock really."
With no netball next week because of the school holidays, Kaierau will have to wait a fortnight to continue their quest to defend their title won last season. Kaierau take on Marist in two weeks.
The upset of the night was Collegiate beating second-placed East Club Sports Edge 38-32.
Unfortunately, Collegiate coach Nicole Dryden was not available for comment yesterday, but no doubt would have been pleased with the end result on the night.
A tad disappointed, however, was East Club Sports Edge coach Trish Anstis who once again pointed to poor shooting stats as a major factor.
"Goal attacks shot 40 per cent, while the goal shoots reached just 60 per cent and it's really hard to win games with those sort of stats," Anstis said.
"Collegiate played a patient game and I thought Grace McMurray played well for Collegiate and Sarah Teki-Clark (GS) shot well. Both teams have very similar colours and usually we play with different coloured bibs, but didn't on Monday night.
"I don't know if our performance was partly because of that or not, but it certainly makes life harder on court in a quick game," Anstis said.
There are just three matches of round two to play before the semifinals, with the next premier night scheduled for July 20.