St Matthews hoping for third time finals luck

St Matthews Collegiate are hoping for third time lucky when they meet Harcourts in the grand final of Netball Wairarapa's premier one inter-club competition next weekend.
The students lost by just the one goal to Harcourts in the final round of the top six playoffs just over a week ago and then on Friday night lost by three goals when the two sides met again at the Genesis Recreation Centre in the first of the semi-final clashes.
That result gave unbeaten Harcourts automatic qualification to the grand final while under the repechage system St Matthew's were given a second shot at making the competition decider when they played Kuranui College on Saturday evening, again at the recreation centre.
Kuranui had earlier upset Gladstone All Blacks 43-24 in the semi-final encounter between the third and fourth seeds and they gave St Matthews plenty to think about as well before losing by four goals.
St Matthews coach Jo McKenzie was delighted with team's performance against Harcourts although she admitted to some disappointment that after going into the last quarter with a one goal lead they were beaten 33-30.
"They (Harcourts) are an experienced team and that showed in that last quarter, "McKenzie said.
"The pressure was right on then and they obviously handled it a little better than we did,"
McKenzie was pleased though with the competitiveness shown by her side right through the court in the first three quarters, something illustrated by the fact that twice during the game they managed to build a four goal advantage.
"We certainly did enough to suggest we are capable of beating them, maybe it will be third time lucky in the final," she said
As to the match with Kuranui College, McKenzie said her team made too many basic errors but was quick to suggest that was probably as much due to the excellence of Kuranui as to their own inadequacies.
"They (Kuranui) played beautifully, it was only in the last quarter that we got away from them," she said. "
Kuranui College Lynda Strange admitted she was still on a high yesterday after her team's gusty performances against both Gladstone All Blacks and St Matthews Collegiate.
"It would have been nice to make the final but we gave it everything we had and you have to be pleased with that," she said.
"It was a new experience for us to get this far and the girls responded as well as they possibly could."
Strange said the first half of the match with Gladstone All Blacks was an evenly-contested affair and that a decision to make alterations to the Kuranui starting line-up for the last two quarters proved to be decisive to the end result.
"We changed things round with the idea of offering something different through the midcourt and it seemed to work well," she said.
Strange was thrilled with the resolve shown by her side against St Matthews, who had beaten them comfortably in a previous clash.
Kuranui trailed by four goals at the end of the first quarter but had clawed their way back to be only one goal behind at halftime and it was pretty much even stevens from there to the period in the last quarter when St Matthews had a run of five unanswered goals. They won 38-34.
"We did have a bit of lapse in that last quarter but overall we played really good netball, it was a top game," Strange said.
In the premier one reserve grade Salute Greytown qualified for the grand final when they defeated Fagan Motors 45-39.
Fagan Motors will now play Wairarapa College A next Friday to decide the other finalist.
Results
Premier one
Harcourts 33, St Matthew's 30; Kuranui 43, Gladstone All Blacks 34; St Matthews 38, Kuranui 34.
Premier one reserve
Salute Greytown 45, Fagan Motors 39; Wairarapa College Senior A 31, Carterton Red 24; Hiona 49, Harcourts 2 17.
Premier two
Trevs 1 23, Greytown Red 9; Wairarapa College Intermediate A 39, Martinborough Cruizers 8
Premier three
Celtic Marist 33, Magie B's 29; WTPU 17, Wairarapa College Senior Reserve 1 16.
Premier four
Carterton Social 28, Trevs 2 26; Wairarapa College Mozzys 23, St Matthews Junior A 21.
Senior A
Wairarapa College Junior A 30, Makoura Senior A 21; Greytown Black 24, Wairarapa College B12 16.
Senior reserve
Masterton Flames 25, Wairarapa College Masters 24; Chanel Junior A 42, Kuranui C 17.
Senior B
Kuranui Junior A 25, St Matthews Junior B 16.
Senior C
Wairarapa College Senior Reserve 3 17, Wairarapa College Imax 5; Kuranui Maroon 15, Solway Junior B 9.
Senior D
Wairarapa College Icons 29, St Matthews Shakers 7; Wairarapa College Ihugz 22, Chanel Intermediate C 9.
Primary results
Grade one: St Matthews Primary A 30, Te Kura Nga Puawai 25; Chanel Year 8 15, Greytown Players 12; Lakeview Sting 23, Masterton Intermediate Year 8B 12; Carterton Gold 11, Gladstone Pinksters 10.
Grade two: Masterton Intermediate Year 7A 36, Featherston Flyers 5; Greytown Champs 23, Carterton Black 15; St Matthews Primary B 13, Opaki Stars 9; Lakeview Rebels 21, Hadlow Horrors 5.
Grade three: Masterton Intermediate Year 7B 10, Lakeview Aces 7; Masterton Intermediate Year 8 Magic 20, St Matthews Primary C 10; Masterton Year 8 Force 8, Chanel Year 7 8.
Grade four: Solway Primary A 11, Lakeview Flames 5; Masterton Sting 13, Carterton Silver 10; Te Kura Nga Kakano 8, Opaki Shooters 6; Lakeview Magic 15, Fernridge Flames 5.
Grade five: DPS All Stars 9, Opaki Shooters 8; St Pats Saints 11, Masterton Intermediate Rebels 9; Lakeview Shakers 11, Eketahuna 9.
Grade six: Greytown Lazers 11, Featherston Shooters 6; Carterton Green 12, Carterton Bronze 4; Fernridge Pearls 8, St Pats Shamrocks 5; Carterton Yellow 8, DPS Flyers 2.
Grade seven: MPS Wasps 12, Lakeview Force 9; Wainuioru A 8, Greytown Diamonds 4; Lakeview Kiwis 12, Solway Primary B 1; Hadlow Midgets 7, DPS Shakers 5.
Future Ferns one: Te Kura 19, Carterton Orange 6; Wainuioru B 11, Carterton Purple 6; Greytown Ferns 13, Solway Stars 11.
Future Ferns two: Lakeview Ferns 6, Opaki Flyers 1; DPS Diamonds 9, St Pats Shimmers 3; Fernridge Gems 14, Carterton Pink 0; St Pats Stars 22, Featherston Kiwis 1.