Old Boys too good
To regurgitate the old cliche, it was a game of two halves for Stratford-Eltham when they met New Plymouth Old Boys in their premier one netball match.
Unfortunately for StratfordEltham neither half was overly flash as they fell to a 57-45 defeat at Stratford’s TET Multisport Centre on Thursday night.
On the other side of the court, there was just one word to sum up how Old Boys coach Leanne Matuku felt about her side’s showing.
‘‘Happy’s probably the right word for it. I’m happy that we won, happy that we found some consistency because I guess that’s what we’ve been missing and just happy I could see the structures we’ve been working on.’’
The early stages of the match went back and forth as the two sides traded goals.
However, solid defence forced a few turnovers from the Stratford-Eltham side and Old Boys were able to jump out to a four-goal lead with just under six minutes to go in the first quarter.
While the period remained a shooting duel, a number of timely intercepts and a few errant passes from StratfordEltham opened the door and Old Boys held a 20-13 lead after the opening 15 minutes. With the momentum, Old Boys wasted no time in building on their lead, scoring the first three goals of the second period to go 10 goals ahead.
Old Boys looked in control across the court as the defensive duo Anna White and Lauren Giddy made things difficult for the opposing shooters.
White particular active trying to get in the passing lanes to pick up extra possessions.
Despite starting close, Stratford-Eltham found themselves 11 goals down at half time and needed to make the most of their opportunities in the second half if they were to come back.
However, they went cold from the shooting circle and were off target on a number of attempts.
Being out-rebounded, they found themselves falling further behind as Old Boys didn’t make the same mistakes.
In the end, it was Old Boys’ night, with the scoreline a fair reflection of their dominant performance.
In the other matches of the night, a strong performance from Jessie Fowell in the mid-court led Inglewood to a 46-41 win over Naumai, while Tysons predictably took a comfortable 69-35 win over New Plymouth Girls’ High School.
In a new initiative, premier netball will roll on this week,