Whangārei premier netball: Whangaruru survive Whangārei Girls' High School fightback

Whangaruru goal-attack Nicole Manning (right) has eyes only for the hoop as she tries to shoot over the outstretched arm of Whangārei Girls' High School goal-keep Bridget Fijma. Photo / Adam Pearse

A valiant comeback from Whangārei Girls' High School (WGHS) ended in demise for the school team, which narrowly lost 48-44 to Whangaruru on Friday night at ASB Stadium.

This was the first game of the Whangārei premier netball championship round and was always going to be a tight game with WGHS sitting in fourth, only one point behind their opponent after five games in the preliminary round.

Whangaruru came out of the blocks early after a frantic start from both teams. Once Whangaruru had settled in their play, they looked assured in the first two quarters thanks in part to some great defensive work by their goal-keep, Eyvette Branson.

Despite some inspired play from WGHS defensive duo Jessie Taylor and Hazel Stolz, Whangaruru had stretched their lead to 12 goals midway through the second quarter, only to be brought back to a four-goal lead at three-quarter time, 36-32.

Whangārei Girls' High School goal-defence Hazel Stolz (right) had a strong presence through the court, seen here marked by Whangaruru wing-attack Renee Monk. Photo / Adam Pearse

WGHS certainly had the potential to make a heroic comeback in the final quarter but after goal-shoot Grace Nikora went down with an injury with seven minutes to go, Whangaruru were able to hold on for the four-goal win.

"We did well but we dropped a little bit in the middle of the game and made it hard for ourselves," Whangaruru coach Tawhi Tua said.

Tawhi said it was a good sign to see her team playing well as a unit in the second quarter, but she knew issues around transition through the mid-court needed to be fixed going into the remaining four games of the championship round.

"In that second quarter is actually how we want to stay because we played well," she said.

"Hopefully, that'll be something we can work on during the week at training, maintaining that intensity through the whole game and not having patches."

WGHS coach Sophie Tua said if her team had started better, they might have been able to clinch the game at the end. However, she was happy the girls were able to finish within five goals of Whangaruru to secure a bonus point.

"Whangaruru started really well which was a bit of a worry for my girls, but we've got a bonus point so that's good and they closed down an 12-goal lead."

Sophie said it was good to see a competitive game between the two sides, but knew WGHS needed to work on securing the ball in the game's middle stages.

"We lost a lot of ball towards the end of the first quarter and the second quarter where we couldn't get enough possession off our centre passes, and when we did get it, we threw it away."

In the round's other games, The Bubz beat Naumai 59-42 and Manawanui White beat Wahine Toa, 59-41.