NETBALL - Northland clubs bow to Harbour in Super race

Northland netball teams missed out on earning a place in the Super-12 tournament after the qualifying tournament in Whangarei yesterday was dominated by North Harbour teams.
Harbour teams fought out the final, with Collegiate comfortably beating Commodores 49-31 to become the top-seeded Netball North team, when the 12-team competition starts on April 3.
The competition features three teams each from Northern, Waikato, Counties-Manukau and Auckland-Waitakere.
The two northern finalists will be joined in the competition by Shore Rovers, who beat the top-placed Northland team Extons, from Kaitaia, in the third-fourth play-off.
Kerikeri's TPP finished fifth, beating Whangarei's Fideliter 30-25. Fideliter beat fourth-seed Carmel Marist 34-29 in the upset of the day but had to settle for sixth.
Carmel beat Old Boys to finish seventh, with Taiamai Ohaeawai ninth and Hibiscus Coast Raiders tenth. Otamatea were 11th after they beat Dargaville's Rangimarie 33-21.
The qualification tournament at the Whangarei Centre Courts was preceded by a surprise appearance of the South African U19 team, who have been touring the country for the last two weeks.
The team has played an international series against their counterparts from the Cook Islands, Samoa, Fiji and New Zealand and finished their tour with two matches against North Harbour senior sides Collegiate and Commodores.
The squad has been preparing for August's U19 World Cup in the Cook Islands and the main reason for the tour was to select a final squad for the Rarotonga tournament.
Team manager Claudine Claassen said the team had really enjoyed their tour.
"The weather reminds us of home and the players have learned a lot," she said.
The manager said the team has also benefitted from their time working with New Zealand coaches, in particular Netball North coach Lyn Gunson.
"It's really helped us to look forward with confidence to the World Cup," Claassen said.
The team finished their tour on a winning note by beating Collegiate 32-30 and Commodores 38-26.