NETBALL
Celtic player-coach Elleshia Clarkson is rapt with how the defending Wairarapa Premier One champions are coming together after three games of the season.
A 47-30 win over a competitive Gladstone Tauweru extended Celtic’s unbeaten run to 15 matches, and Clarkson feels the team is tracking well with the inclusion of some new players in their first year out of college.
“We’ve got three new players from Wairarapa College – Ella Forster, Mia Bartlett and Sian Wheeler – and it’s been good introducing them into the team,” Clarkson said.
“They are young, and they’re bringing a new energy, so it’s a little bit different from last year.”
Clarkson said the first half of Friday’s game with Gladstone was close before Celtic pulled away in the third and fourth quarters, and she is expecting much of the same throughout the season.
“It’s definitely competitive, and all of the teams are quite close.”
Clarkson believes it’s too early to say whether they will successfully defend their title. In the “second round, we’ll have a better idea; this round is about getting people on court, getting them comfortable, and forming bonds between players.”
Celtic play Jo Kelly and Co Carterton Maroon tomorrow night in a catch-up game.
In other results, Carterton Maroon got their first win, 52-36, over Opaki Vixens, and Jo Kelly and Co Carterton Old Girls were surprising 44-22 winners over Waicol, who were without two key players NZ Secondary School international Sovaia Sabutu and NZ Under 18 softball international Maggie Shields.
Points
Carterton Old Girls, Celtic, Wairarapa College 12; Carterton Maroon, Gladstone Tauweru 4; Opaki Vixens 1.
