Kihikihi reign supreme
Kihikihi clinched the Paper Plus Te Awamutu Netball Centre premier grade promotion-relegation round title with a 47-32 win over Pirongia.
The 15 point victory over third placed Ray White Pirongia Premiers on May 23 was Kihikihi’s seventh win in as many games at ASB Stadium, Te Awamutu Events Centre.
Tony Fabish Panelworks Kihikihi finished the competition unbeaten with a maximum 21 points, making them firm favourites to take out the championship that commenced last night.
RSN were the big improvers in the promotion-relegation round, finishing runners-up after starting out seeded fifth. A decisive 83-24 win over TAS Ecolab gave them a six wins, one loss record, their only loss being to Kihikihi.
Last year’s champions Fraser Tech finished fourth after beating COGS United 69-30.
TAC Premier ended their promotion-relegation campaign on a high note beating Bulklines Wallace Wasps 68-34.
Kihikihi coach, Gwen Matchitt said her team may have finished the round in first spot but she is sure that all teams in every grade are going to come out fighting to reach the championship finals.
“Every team starts with a clean slate again, points won in the promotion
Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic put an injury-plagued campaign behind them with a confidence-boosting 64-53 win over the Northern Stars in Auckland to record their first win of the season.
The accuracy of Magic shooting duo Lenize Potgieter and Monica Falkner was a telling factor, the pair making the most of their opportunities while the Stars squandered too much ball.
Livewire centre Sinclair was in the thick of action for the Magic with her strong attacking play while being equally as effective on defence in helping the visitors push out to a 10-goal lead.
FIRST HICCUP
Lucy Sim (Edmonds Judd) still holds a commanding lead in Te Awamutu Courier ‘Our Panel’s Picks’ ANZ Netball competition despite achieving two wins from three games in week four after incorrectly selecting the Stars to beat the Magic.
It was Sim’s first loss after retaining a 100 per cent success rate for the first three weeks. She leads with 92 per cent, from last year’s winner Bernie Marshall (McDonald’s) on 77 and Murray Green (Paper Plus) on 69.