Inglewood eliminate Old Boys
The grand final match-up in the Taranaki premier one netball competition has been decided.
Inglewood will meet Tysons with a chance to claim the title next Saturday after toppling New Plymouth Old Boys 50-42 in New Plymouth on Thursday night.
But their ticket to the grand final didn’t come easy.
Old Boys were on the front foot early, with Inglewood looking nervous at the opening whistle.
Despite missing two of their opening three shots, Inglewood were able to stay with Old Boys, who failed to make the most of their early extra possessions.
Inglewood soon found their feet and went on the attack, jumping out to a 13-9 lead to end the first quarter.
Looking to reduce the gap, Old Boys scored three unanswered goals to open the second period.
The New Plymouth side’s goal keep Megan Washington was putting on a great display on the defensive end, while the mid-court players were using lob passes to feed goal shoot Racquel Sampson who finished off the majority of her opportunities.
Old Boys were able to pull a goal ahead midway through the quarter, which seemed to spark Inglewood’s attack as they made a late run to end the half with a 24-20 lead.
Inglewood applied strong defence in the third quarter, clogging the passing lanes and disrupting Old Boys lob passes.
With their attack struggling to regain momentum, Old Boys found themselves down by nine at the end of the third period, due to some strong shooting from Inglewood duo Wendy Williams and Lana Rowlands.
Old Boys threw everything they had into the fourth period, with Sampson and Teesha Smith shooting at a high per centage.
However, Inglewood proved to be too strong in the end and took the win.
Inglewood coach Annette Perrett said she expected her girls to pick up the win.
‘‘It was a hard fought one,’’ she said.
‘‘They certainly had me on the edge of my seat, which I wasn’t too happy about.
‘‘We just really need to tidy up our errors. We really need to get our timing and focus on getting those basics right rather than giving away too much ball.’’
She said there was a lot of pressure on the do-or-die game, but it was good to see the team step up to the challenge.
‘‘There was no second chances. They believed in themselves though, they’ve got the confidence, but they’ve just got to tidy up some of those errors and back themselves a little more.’’
The grand final will see Inglewood face Tysons for the fifth time this season, with Tysons winning three of the four encounters so far.