NETBALL
Wairarapa College A and Celtic United will meet for the third straight year in the final of Netball Wairarapa’s major club championship.
Celtic United booked their place in Saturday’s Holmes Construction Premier One final with a tight 44-41 win over Harcourts on Friday night and were joined by reigning champions Waicol on Monday night.
Waicol, the two-time champions, were pushed hard by Jo Kelly and Co Carterton Maroon before prevailing 40-27 in the semifinal, which had been deferred from Friday.
The finalists have been the form teams of the competition. Celtic are unbeaten over the 11 matches, and Waicol’s only defeats have come at the hands of Celtic.
Saturday’s final starts at 1pm at the Trust House Wairarapa Netball Centre.
HOCKEY
St Matthew’s will play for their second consecutive Manawatu Intercity Girls Division One title against Feilding High School tomorrow night, having qualified for the decider with a tough 1–0 win over Whanganui Collegiate last Thursday. Feilding HS ended Wairarapa College’s hopes by winning their semifinal 3–0.
Waicol had the better of Feilding HS in the Boys Division One semifinal, winning 3–2. Although Waicol will be underdogs against the powerful Palmerston Boys High School in tomorrow night’s final, they can take confidence in having beaten their opponents 3–2 in the first round.
Kuranui upset Whanganui Collegiate 3–1 in Boys Division Two and will take on Whanganui High School in the final.
Gladstone remain on target to make a second straight clean sweep of the Wairarapa Hockey Men’s and Women’s Division One titles on Saturday. Gladstone Bulls are hunting their third title in a row in the men’s championship and take on Carterton Vets, who upset Comvita Kia Kaha 2-1 in the preliminary final.
Gladstone Gold held on to beat Comvita Kia Kaha 5–4 to set up a women’s final clash with Dalefield, who got the better of Tremain’s Red Star 5–3.
FOOTBALL
Rathkeale were convincingly beaten 4–0 by St Patrick’s Silverstream in the second round of the Wellington Secondary School Premier Division top-four playoffs, leaving them with a draw and a loss. They are away to Scots College in the final round on Saturday.
Wairarapa College beat Hibs2 4–1 to make Saturday’s final in division one against top qualifiers Heretaunga College.
In Wairarapa local leagues, Carterton Redbacks stung Greytown Property Brokers 6–0, stretching their unbeaten run to 33 games, and DV Skulls locked in second place in division one with a 5–1 win over Progressive Engineering Masterton Athletic. McAuleys Masterton were 6–4 winners over Featherston United Property Brokers, and Carterton Reapers edged Masterton Ziggy’s Glass Presidents in division two.
Division three leaders Greytown Umbrella Group Spartans had a tough 2–1 victory over DV Mitre 10 Megabeens, Masterton Lions defeated Greytown The Offering 3-0, and Carterton Goal Diggers triumphed 3-0 over Evergreens.
The quarterfinals of the Wairarapa Cup knockout competition will be played on Saturday.
INDOOR BOWLS
A 10–0 clean sweep over East has seen Central come out on top and claim the Wairarapa indoor interclub championship.
The Horseshoe caused the upset of the final round, beating runners-up Clareville 7–3. Central finished with 49 points from Clareville [44], Horseshoe [35], and East [16].
Peter and Sarndra Bain won the battle of the husbands and wives, beating Donald and Janice Leighton 12–5 in the final of the Central Association Open Pairs Championship on Sunday.
Donald and Janice Leighton will be joined by John Duncan and Tina Patrick in representing the Central Zone in the masters’ fours at the NZ Indoor Bowl Federation Super Finals Weekend in Wellington, where they come up against the seven other zone winners from around New Zealand.
