Netball: Old Girls step up to Premiers

Marist Old Girls made the most of their chances by earning promotion into the premier grade of Whangarei Netball Competition for the rest of the season.

Treewise Marist Old Girls had confident wins over both seventh placed Wahine Toa 2, 50 to 18 goals and seventh placed Wahine Toa 1, 42 to 25 goals, meaning that they move from first place in Premier Reserve to seventh place in the Premier grade for the championship round.

For Old Girls, defenders Kelly Middleton, Rose Parker and Helen Francis were strong while mid courters Tracey Bradley, Vicky Taylor and Shannon French all combined well together on attack. In the circle Nicky Taylor shot consistently and kept a cool head under pressure.

Wahine Toa 1, with a narrow 30-28 win over Wahine Toa 3, remain in premier grade for the championship round but are now down to eighth place.

Wahine Toa 2 were relegated from Premier to Premier Reserve based on their loss to Old Girls and their number-one team. Tegs Wharewaka at goal defence played a strong defensive game for the relegated team gaining several intercepts and Harmony Kingi and Anya Garland were strong in mid court. Tania Ross moved and played well in the shooting circle but it wasn't their day.

Wahine Toa 2 were beaten by Wahine Toa 3 29-24 meaning Wahine Toa 3 will start the championship round ranked top in Premier Reserve while Wahine Toa 2 will be ranked second.

For Wahine Toa 3, Harono Te Ringa at goal keep was the stand out player but she was well supported by the other defenders and mid court players who brought the ball quickly through the court and who fed the circle with skill brought from experience.

Only the top two and bottom two teams of each grade played on Saturday with the exception of the top two teams of the premier grade and the bottom two teams from C grade.

The final spot in the Premier Reserve grade was earned by 1st placed A1 grade team BBC Waipu who beat Educare North Fideliter 3 y 26 to 16 goals which means that BBC Waipu is promoted up into Premier Reserve in the 6th spot and Fideliter 3 are relegated to A1 grade. Given Semco Group Onerahi Social beat Fideliter 3 they will be ranked 1 in A1 grade and Fideliter 3 will be ranked 2 for the commencement of the championship round.