Fideliter 2 start too well for Onerahi 2

Victory for premier grade netball side Fideliter 2 was never in doubt in their match against Onerahi 2, after dominating the courts at Kamo High School from the outset.
Although Onerahi 2 did some good work in Friday night's game and played an excellent third quarter they never looked like threatening the Fideliter lead. Fideliter shooter Rochelle van Iersel and defender Taleesha Nimmo were the outstanding players in their side's comfortable 53-30 victory, with Cherith Schraag having a good game for Onerahi 2.
The match between Marist Old Girls and Whangarei Girls High School 1 at Kensington Stadium on Friday, lived up to expectations in that it was a tightly-fought, fast-paced close encounter. That is, until the last quarter when the experience and level heads of Marist Old Girls finally allowed them to pull ahead and dominate. Tracey Bradley's return to the mid court, with her confident and patient delivery on attack and her through court defensive pressure,
revitalised the Marist team  and helped her side to a 58-49 win.
 
 It was the cliche game of two halves, when Takahiwai 1 fought it out on the courts at Kensington Stadium with Fideliter 1. Fideliter 1 won the first half and Takahiwai,  the second half. Fideliter 1 had a strong start and in particular, goal attack Emma Semenoff shot well.
However, the move of Reanon Sadler from defence to attack for Takahiwai turned the result with Reanon working tirelessly and feeding some good ball through court to the circle. Takahiwai won 46-40.
Despite being a game where the umpires were heavily involved, the result of the match between Onerahi 1 and Whangarei Old Boys 1 ended up being a closer result than expected. Onerahi 1 started strongly and at the end of the first half was clearly in the lead  after some strong cohesive defensive and attacking work. Miranda Jex Black at wing attack had a solid game for Onerahi 1 and the defensive trio of Loren Eagle, Davina Cooper and Moana Clark
was formidable. However, Whangarei Old Boys clearly dominated the final quarter with the introduction of Lara Tipene to centre.
The combination of Tipene, with some accurate shooting by Trina Henare, saw the Old Boys  close the gap to  lose 44-40.
There are no games this  Queen's Birthday Weekend, but on June 11 and 12, matches to determine teams' rankings at end of preliminary round will be played. Winners Onerahi 1 play runners-up Marist Old Girls while third and fourth placed WGHS and Whangarei Old Boys respectively go up against each other. Takahiwai 1 will play Fideliter 2 for fifth and sixth, while Fideliter 1 and Onerahi 2 battle out seventh and eighth.
 The teams placing seventh and eighth will play off for promotion-relegation on June 19.