Waicol centre Pele Malatai in action against St Matthew’s on Saturday. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
NETBALL
JAKE BELESKI
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The Wairarapa College premier one netball team picked up their first win of the season in a tough battle with St Matthew’s Collegiate on Saturday.
A strong third-quarter performance helped Waicol to a 48-42 win over their secondary school rivals.
Co-coach Melissa Cullen said they were pleased with how the girls had performed.
“We had a really strong third quarter, which then gave us a really strong position to try a few other combinations.
“St Matthew’s came back pretty strongly in the fourth quarter as well and made it tight towards the end.”
There is still plenty of work to do before they start their competition with other Wellington secondary schools, but they are heading in the right direction.
Playing extra matches will give them a chance to work on their combinations and improve their skills and game plan.
“We’re pretty happy with how the girls are tracking, but there’s still work to do in all areas,” Cullen said.
“We’re not anywhere near perfect yet but we’re seeing some really pleasing combinations and court flow.”
Playing other Wellington schools would give them a chance to test themselves against different opposition, and that was something the girls were looking forward to.
“That’s where we’re trying to put the foot down and build our momentum, so we’re looking forward to that as well.
“The girls always love playing the colleges – they’re the games they look forward to so our girls are really excited and looking forward to those games.
“It’s always slightly different game when the colleges play each other compared to the adult teams, and their excitement levels are always really high.”
On Friday night, Harcourts beat Celtic 52-41 in a rematch of last year’s final, while Carterton were too strong for Gladstone, winning 46-27.
