Netball: North give cross-town rivals fright

Auckland Waitakere overcame a late scare from their less-experienced cross-town rivals to salvage a draw against Netball North in the weekend's NPC action.

After opening their campaign with an impressive 62-42 win over Otago last weekend, Auckland Waitakere were expected to be too good for their largely young and inexperienced neighbours.

North have lost a number of their top players from last season, with Cathrine Latu, Brooke Williams and Areta Thatcher all turning out for Auckland Waitakere this season after their Baytex club in Massey this year joined the Auckland club competition.

The North Harbour-based team are also missing veteran midcourters Temepara George and Sonia Hardcastle from last season.

By comparison the Auckland Waitakere line-up features five of this season's Mystics team - Latu, Jade Topia, Rawinia Everitt, Debbie White and Rachel Rasmussen - as well as former Silver Fern Anna Scarlett.

But the North side, coached by Silver Ferns legends Rita Fatialofa-Patolo and Linda Vagana, were more than up to the challenge and dictated the pace of the game for much of the match.

Youngsters Sally Greenwood in the midcourt, and 17-year-old goal shoot Carli Botes were particularly impressive for the North side.

Botes, a student at Rangitoto College on the North Shore, converted 34 of her 40 shots at goal for an 85 per cent return, and proved a handful for the defensive pairing of Scarlett and Rasmussen with her speed and strong movement around the shooting circle.

Auckland coach Paula Bailey opted to start with a very young line-up of her own in the first quarter, leaving most of her first-string line-up on the bench.

But North made a confident start to the match, with Botes and Susan Tagicakibau enjoying a great deal of space in the shooting circle, helping their side to a 15-10 lead at the first break.

To try to close down the pair, Scarlett was introduced at goal-defence in the second spell and Auckland Waitakere slowly began to peg back the difference.

For the next two quarters little more than two goals separated the two sides, with Auckland Waitakere leading 36-34 at three-quarter time.

With the match evenly poised heading in to the final period, Auckland Waitakere coach Paula Bailey didn't take any chances and put Latu and Jade Topia in the shooting circle.

But the inclusion of the duo initially had an unsettling effect on their attack end with North defenders Vilimaina Davu and Finau Pulu forcing three consecutive turnovers in the Auckland shooting circle to give the visitors a healthy four-goal buffer for much of the final period.

Up by three goals with just over one and a half minutes left of the clock, North looked to be on track for an unlikely victory over their more experienced rivals.

But an error on attack from North allowed Auckland to score three quick goals, with Topia calmly slotting a long-range goal in the dying seconds, allowing her side to escape with 44-all draw.

In the other division one match-ups at the weekend, defending champions Southland managed to get the better of their northern neighbours, overcoming Otago 53-43, while Canterbury just edged Western 60-58.