Netball: Manawanui Red scrape by

Manawanui White goal keep Kaea Robinson (left) clears the ball during her team's preliminary fixture against Whangarei Girls' High School. Photo / John Stone

The preliminary round for premiers, in its fifth and final week, saw a very close game between YHPJ Marist and Manawanui Red with both teams looking for their first win.

Manawanui Red took out the match and therefore avoid promotion/relegation play next week, but the game could have gone either way in the final minutes.

Manawanui Red started strongly to lead by six goals at the end of the first quarter.

Marist 1 won the next quarter but only by a goal, narrowing the gap to five goals.

Marist 1 put in a gutsy effort to win the last quarter by six goals, only to narrowly lose the game by two goals - with the final score at 40-38.

For Manawanui Red, Ari Ihaka at goal defence combined well with Hayley Thompson at goal keep, working tirelessly and making it hard for the Marist shooters.

Jemma Bicknell had a solid game at goal shoot.

For Marist 1, Bella Drinnan and Erin Gunson at defence worked hard the whole game and were also effective in bringing the ball through the court.

Casey Williamson was strong driving on to the ball, feeding good ball to the shooters.

Active Refrigeration Fideliter 1 had a low-scoring match against Whangaruru Premiers.

The first quarter was drawn 10-all, but by halftime Whangaruru taken the lead by two goals.

Fideliter 1 won the next quarter to lead by four goals at three-quarter time but really stepped it up in the final quarter to win 47-32.

For Fideliter 1, Kacey Potae at goal keep again showed her skill and discipline by getting a lot of turnover ball and rebounds.

Lara Cooper and Jo Davis-Cooper in midcourt combined well, with Davis Cooper showing good leadership.

For Whangaruru, Liahona Hebden at goal keep was strong on defence against the tall Fideliter shooter and Jamie Lee Tito contested well at centre in the second half.

Sophie Tua at goal attack was the best of the shooters, scoring at over 80 per cent.

Manawanui White had a comfortable win over Whangarei Girls' High School Snr 1 (WGHS) and led their game from start to finish.

Manawanui White led by seven goals at the end of the first quarter and 12 at halftime.

They were only able to increase their lead by five goals in the second half, however, to win 62-45.

For Manawanui White, Kahli Li Reihana at wing defence had a great game.

In the second half Larissa Hona in the midcourt fed some good ball into Jaelyn Walker at goal shoot. Walker showed good movement and placement in the goal circle.

Kaea Robinson at goal defence got some good turnover ball.

For WGHS, Jasmine Milton at goal keep worked hard, earning some good turnover ball.

Premier results:

Manawanui White 62 Whangarei Girls' High School 45

Manawanui Red 40 YHPJ Marist 1 38

Fideliter 1 47 Whangaruru Premier 32