NETBALL - Only one goal in victory

Marist and Whangarei Old Boys provided the game of the day in the first round of Whangarei Premier Netball on Saturday, with Marist taking the slightest of advantages in the final quarter for a 23-22 win.
They traded shots early in the match with neither giving away advantage with players putting their bodies on the line.
Sue-Anne David was a thorn in Marist's side with a busy game in goal defence and Marist's June Hilton-Jones was clinical in wing attack, along with her opposite Jo Davis-Cooper impressing for Old Boys in wing defence.
Trina Henare was tireless for Old Boys, worked overtime to break the Marist defensive combination and with some accurate shooting was a stand-out.
It wasn't until the final quarter where Marist made a tactical change, moving defender Harriet Hardy to shooter, which paid dividends and turned things ever so slightly to their advantage. Hardy's height advantage and confidence complicated things for Old Boys and Marist won.
Despite a gallant effort from Whangarei Girls High School, Marist Old Girls showed their ample experience to take a hard-fought win 28-20.
The schoolgirls were underdogs as only two players returned this season so they had a number of juniors, to take on the competition favourites. They were tenacious in their full court press and centre Emma Smith stood out as they held Old Girls to a 6-all draw at the first break.
Things didn't all run according to plan however as they made too many little errors in the second quarter and Old Girls were quick to take advantage.
Nicky Taylor and Sophie Tua in the circle were an outstanding combination and ensured the goals counted.
At the other end of court, Katie Fay and Kelly Middleton showed a distinct height advantage, and disrupted WGHS attacking options. They picked off any rebounds on offer and did not allow shooters' second shots at goal.
WGHS came back in the second half but the advantage stood and Old Girls held on for a first-up win.
Manawanui's Belinda Campbell made a triumphant return to lead her side to an emphatic victory over Fideliter 37-24 in the final match of the day.
Campbell was all over the court making life difficult for the Fideliter attack, with timely intercepts and tips along unending defensive pressure. Teaming up with Campbell was young goalkeeper Rita Himiona who pounced on loose balls and made some nice tips and intercepts as well.
Fideliter's Megan Henderson had a strong dame in goal defence and then in goal keep, dynamic and elusive in movements she was a definite standout performer.
It was in the middle periods of the match which Manawanui really started to take control and built a nice advantage. Both sides making a lot changes throughout the match, which worked better for Manawanui than Fideliter.
Preliminary rounds continue next week when teams unlucky in the first round will be keen to get things back on track
* Remember your grassroots!
Northland netball stalwart Carol McClintock hopes the success of the ANZ Netball Championships will filter down to netball at the grassroots level.
McClintock, a Whangarei Netball Centre committee member and the coaching convener of the representative subcommittee, was putting in her usual hours of toil at the Whangarei Netball centre on Saturday, and said the success of trans-Tasman netball championships was great for the game.
"It's been wonderful for the kids to have something to aspire to, to see the players on TV and to see them make a living out of netball," she said.
But she is concerned that the decline in grassroots rugby that came about after the advent of professional rugby may also occur in netball.
"The competition is new so we haven't seen any downsides yet but we have already seen the absence of quality tournaments for our representative teams to attend," she said.
Quality senior tournaments are already scarce and that is beginning to spread to some of the age-group tournaments.
She believes the game in Whangarei is also understaffed.
"The ideal situation would be to have a fulltime person paid to promote, market the game here and organise midweek tournaments, at the moment we're limited to what we can do because we can only volunteer on the weekends," she said.
"We've got this beautiful facility (the Kensington Courts) that is underutilised because we haven't got the manpower ..."
All the Northland netball centres are operated as separate entities and run on a voluntary basis.
"Netball North may offer paid positions but they can't get out to our whole area, they run a heap of workshops which is good but they can't be here every Saturday," McClintock said.
McClintock is one of the hard-working volunteers who love the game and are the backbone of the sport.
"I haven't left the netball courts for long since I started playing as an 8-year-old and I'm approaching my mid-50s now."
McClintock was helping organise selectors over the weekend as they start to select representative teams for competition this year.
"We go to all sorts of tournaments but the Auckland tournaments are very helpful for the girls because it teaches them a different style of play and exposes them to new things," she said.
"You never know - one of our little girls out here playing today could be a future Silver Fern but unless they're exposed to netball in other areas they might not get the opportunity."