Canterbury player Maree Bowden in action. Photo / Dean Purcell
Canterbury have claimed their second straight provincial netball title, fighting off a fast-finishing Otago side in yesterday's final of the national championships in Porirua.
The Canterbury team, with eight transtasman league franchise players in their squad, including star midcourter Maree Bowden, were the favourites for the 2011 Lion Foundation crown
from the outset.
But the gutsy young Otago side made life unexpectedly tough on their provincial neighbours, fighting their way back from a nine-goal deficit early in the second quarter to draw within three in the dying stages of the match.
The clinical Cantabrians held their nerve to hold on for a 63-59 win.
Canterbury's Ellen Halpenny and Otago's Te Paea Selby-Rickit dominated the scoring and posted almost identical shooting statistics with Halpenny converting 45 of her 50 shots at goal for a 90 per cent return, while Selby-Rickit netted 44/51.
