Parker stars in St Nics’ victory
St Nicholas continue to work on connections through court as they eye up premier club netball’s championship round when they expect to be at full strength.
A decisive fourth quarter set St Nicholas up for a 64-46 win over Halswell in the Christchurch Netball Centre’s club competition at Bishopdale YMCA on Tuesday night.
In other matches, Kereru used much of their bench in a 63-45 win over Saints and Technical led at every break to beat Lincoln University 46-41.
St Nicholas’ on-court captain Grace Jones said she was pleased her team stuck to its task to grind out victory which included introducing some new players to the premier league.
‘‘It was a good game where we had to work hard in those first three quarters before pulling away in the fourth,’’ she said.
‘‘We’re still looking at our consistency and settling in with some new combinations.’’
St Nicholas was on the brink of breaking into the playoffs last year and Jones believed finding consistency was key to making a move.
They are yet to bring a number of key players into their ranks with Mainland Tactix defender Zoe Walker and midcourter Erikana Pedersen to join national league netballers Olivia Coughlan, Chloe Williamson and Jess Shaw in the St Nicholas strip for the championship round.
‘‘Last week we were a bit patchy in a game we could have won,’’ Jones said of their draw with Lincoln University. ‘‘We’re definitely building on the consistency and today [against Halswell] we showed that and then pulled away for the win.
‘‘We’ve still got players to come into the side so getting combinations right is going to be a big thing for that important third round.’’
Jones has already formed a steady shooting combination with newcomer Brooke Parker who netted 53 of her team’s goals, while Hilary Jones is providing a strong link through court at centre with a safe pair of hands and good vision on attack.
Halswell led by one goal at the first break but St Nicholas lifted early in the second spell to take the lead and build on their buffer, finishing well with a 21-10 advantage in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, defending champion Kereru delivered plenty of ball into the hands of their shooters who netted just 70 per cent of their attempts of goals against a determined Saints side.
Only two goals separated them at the first break before Kereru built a matchwinning buffer in the second quarter.
Technical and Lincoln University turned on a scrappy low-scoring affair in the late game, dominated by a number of turnovers.
Maddy Lloyd took on a senior role in the Technical shooting circle and landed more than half of her team’s goals while defender Louise Thayer picked up plenty of possession through court.