Otago A win Lion Foundation Netball Champs for 2013

Otago A win Lion Foundation Netball Champs for 2013
4 October 2013
Otago A have successfully defended their Lion Foundation Netball Championship crown for 2013 defeating Hamilton in the final on the final whistle.

In a match worthy of a final, less than eight points separated the teams across the whole 60 minutes with Hamilton chasing down the deficit to level the match in the dying stages.

Hamilton’s wing defence Kathrine Coffin and centre Elias Shadrock made easy movement through the midcourt difficult for Otago in the opening quarter forcing the ball to be worked tirelessly and patiently around the attacking circle into Te Paea Selby-Rickit and Kate Shearer. In Otago’s favour was the near flawless performances of the shooters, odds-on to sink the ball through the net and finishing with enviable shooting stats of 37/39 for Selby-Rickit and 17/26 for Shearer.

Otago stretched the lead to eight and with Hamilton struggling to find tall goal shooter Elsa Brown, the weight of the workload fell to Jess Tuki in the circle with mixed results. As Hamilton’s confidence fell away, the same couldn’t be said for Otago, letting the ball go resulting in an open court and room to move.

Hamilton coach Margaret Forsyth made the switch at halftime injecting Jessie Waitapu into goal attack, pulling Tuki back onto the wing, while Otago coach Lauren Piebenga stayed faithful to her starting seven.

Goal by goal, Hamilton crept back into the match to trail by just four at the three-quarter mark and level it with just minutes left on the clock. With both team benches literally screaming at their teams and the crowd urging the home side on Te Paea Selby-Rickit slotted in the winner with time up on the clock for Otago A to retain the New Zealand Cup for 2013.

The play-off for third and fourth initially looked like Auckland was going to run away with it, scoring 18 goals in the opening quarter against Christchurch’s 11.

Determined not to leave the tournament without a top three placing, Christchurch played their way back into the match thanks to some beautiful shooting from Julianna Naoupu and dogged defence at the opposite end with Zoe Walker and Jane Watson linking with Hayley Saunders in the defensive midcourt to bring the ball through cleanly.
By halftime the difference was one, and at the end of the third quarter, Christchurch had gained the ascendancy pulling ahead 47-39. The resolve of both sides didn’t wane throughout the final quarter, Christchurch just too good in the end, earning their third placing over Auckland by 66-48.

In earlier results, Otago B finished their Tournament on a high defeating Centre Invitational 47-45, Manawatu were too good for Counties Manukau 57-48 and Wellington beat Waitakere 64-31.

Final Placings:
1. Otago A
2. Hamilton
3. Christchurch
4. Auckland
5. North Harbour
6. Southland
7. Wellington
8. Waitakere
9. Manawatu
10. Counties Manukau
11. Otago B
12. Centre Invitational

Across the five day championships, National Selectors have been watching and assessing players performing consistently well in each of their matches. The following players have been chosen as the Lion Foundation

National Champs Tournament Selection:
Maree Bowden, Christchurch
Malia Paseka, North Harbour
Rachel Rasmussen, Auckland
Te Paea Selby-Rickit, Otago A
Kate Shearer, Otago A
Elias Shadrock, Hamilton
Whitney Souness, Wellington
Click here for full statistics and results.

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