Young reps finish well up the table in annual tournament

Whanganui Year 7 and U15 both placed in the Molly Dorne Tournament

The Whanganui Year 7 and U15 netball representative sides ended the annual Molly Dorne Tournament in the placings at the weekend.

Playing in cold, wet conditions in Levin the Year 7 girls had a stunning start beating Hutt Valley Gold 19-13.

The second match against Taranaki proved a somewhat harder game where they fought back after in the last two quarters after a slow start to gain a crucial bonus point.

The Whanganui girls, however, could not catch them and lost 17-14.

In last pool game against Motu Kairangi, who had earlier beaten Taranaki, Wanganui needed a win.

They secured an 18-14 win and on countback crossed over for a final against Northern Suburbs.

A strong start and continuous pressure through the court saw the score see-saw for three quarters of the game.

In the last couple of minutes Northern Suburbs forged ahead to win 19-16 leaving Whanganui second overall.

Coach Rochelle Howard was extremely proud of the girls' grit and determination. "They are improving with each tournament, and showing that they can brave the elements, and overcome any challenge."

The U15 girls also started brilliantly notching up two early wins against Horowhenua (27-13) and Coastlands Kapiti (33-17).

Wellington Gold was not as easy as the two previous games with Wellington leading 10-9 at the halftime break. An injury to centre Mikayla Heka at the start of third quarter caused disruption and Whanganui struggled to adapt to the changes early allowing Wellington to get a five goal advantage going into the final quarter where they extended that to eventually win 29-20.

After the loss to Wellington, Whanganui faced Hutt Valley in the cross overs for third and fourth placing. A slow start allowed Hutt Valley to take the lead in the first quarter but with a solid three quarters from all 10 players Whanganui was able to take the win 32-19 and finish third in the B Grade competition.

Coach Janine Plumridge was thrilled with newcomer Maggie O'Connor, a goal defender who had an outstanding tournament. She was also thrilled with the team's efforts throughout the day and came away with lots of positives to work towards heading into the U15 nationals, New Plymouth in a couple of weeks.