High school netball showdown lives up to expectations

The much anticipated Forest View High School A versus Tokoroa High School A premier netball game lived up to expectations last Thursday night at the Putaruru Stadium.

The stadium was full to the brim with supporters and spectators for this great match-up.

It was an exciting, tough and skilful game. Both teams played extremely well. The umpires Denise Lee and Jean Teao controlled the game extremely well.

Tokoroa High School were ahead by five at halftime but with some positional changes made by the FVHS coach Yvonne Charlie, Forest View High School were quickly able to close this up and moved ahead by three goals. THS A coach Maria Te Kanawa asked her girls to keep calm.

In the final quarter defence players in both teams forced many intercepts and held balls. The final result came down to which attacking side could keep their cool and make the goals count.

THS A were able to gain back the lead early in the final quarter with their attackers and shooters finding their form again. THS were then able to stay in front, with heart stopping play right to the last minute. THS were able to hold off the final surge by FVHS and won the game 35 to 34.

The Bill Gray Memorial Championship was decided in the final game of the Premier Grade last Saturday. The United Force and Nemesis teams were both undefeated during the championship competition. They met for the showdown in front of a big crowd of supporters and spectators.

The game was played at pace with both teams turning the ball over due to great defence by both sides. The United Force shooters were not able to find their normal shooting form in the first half of the game, and the Nemesis defence were able to provide more ball to their midcourt and shoot- ers. Nemesis looked to be the better team in the first half with a four goal lead.

Inspiration from United Force assistance coach Juanita Shadrock at half time was able to lift the team who immediately came back during the third quarter and erased the lead in a matter of minutes.

United Force started to show their class and dominance in the last half of the game and were able to pull out to a 34 to 29 win.