Netball: Force too resolute for Sting

By JULIE ASH

Maybe it was revenge for last year's final, maybe they felt they had to prove they were worthy semifinalists or maybe it was because it was Linda Vagana's last home game. But whatever was driving the Force yesterday it sure worked as they powered away to a 60-48 win over the Southern Sting.

In front of a sellout crowd at the North Shore Events Centre the Force broke the Sting's 14-match winning streak and claimed a confidence-boosting 12-goal win.

The usually composed and error-free Sting fell apart in the later stages of the third quarter and were unable to fight back, handing the Force their first win over their southern rivals.

"They took it to us, they wanted it, they needed it, they were hungry for it and they played well," said Sting coach Robyn Broughton.

"We made a lot of uncharacteristic errors. I didn't think we played our fast flowing game like we usually do. They stopped it which means they did a good job on us."

The loss was the Sting's first since April last year when they were beaten by the Rebels.

But despite their heroic efforts the Force's win does not advance them any further up the points table.

Finishing fourth they now face the third-placed Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in a must-win match in Tauranga on Sunday.

The top-of-the-table Sting play the second-placed Flames in Invercargill on Friday night, when the winner advances straight to the final while the loser faces the winner of the Magic and Force game.

But after an ordinary start to the season the Force have finally shown they have the goods to win the league.

Trailing the Sting by one in the first quarter the Force looked a little dicey early in the second after goal defence Kate Dowling was forced out of the match. She lost her contact lens and didn't have a spare.

Fijian representative Matila Waqanidrola took a little time to settle but once she did she combined well with Vagana, who has announced this season is her last in the league. The score was 28-all at half-time but the wheels began to wobble on the Sting machine late in the third quarter.

A couple of rare Sting misses at goal combined with some almighty Force defence allowed the home side a four-goal lead going into the last quarter.

From there it seemed to go from bad to worse for the normally error-free southern side.

The Force were successful because they managed to stifle the Sting's free flow through court, restrict Natalie Avellino and Donna Loffhagen and make good use of shooter Daneka Wipiiti's height advantage over the Sting defenders.

They also played an extremely slow and controlled game.

"Our main word was patience today, we made sure there was always people available to the ball," said Force coach Yvonne Willering.

"Everyone took responsibility. In the past we have been a bit guilty of letting the leading players take the responsibility." The sides were fairly even in terms of shooting, with the Force nailing 60 from 74 attempts and the Sting 48 from 64.

Going into the match the Sting had already secured first place and a home semifinal and Broughton wonders whether this had an effect on her team.

"You always want to win but I don't know psychologically how much effect that has on a team.

"I kept saying to them you are not hungry enough, you need this, you want this, you want the pride of this and they were all 'oh yes' but there were uncharacteristic errors.

"I have never seen them drop it like that."


In other matches yesterday the Auckland Diamonds' season ended with a 42-32 loss to the Canterbury Flames.

The Magic trounced the Western Flyers 81-35 and the Otago Rebels beat the Capital Shakers 42-32.

SEMIFINALS

Friday June 4 * -

Game A: Sting vs Flames, Invercargill.

Sunday June 6* -

Game B: Magic vs Force, Tauranga.

Friday June 11 -

Game C: Loser Game A vs winner Game B.

Friday June 18 -

Final: Winner Game A vs Winner Game C.

* provisional dates