Technical Netball were the dominant Club in the Christchurch Netball Premier competition this year winning both Premier League netball titles last night.

Technical B took on Christchurch Girls High School A in the first of the grand finals for Premier 2. Technical had been the form team for the last two rounds of competition and were favourites for the title.

While 25 goals separated the teams last time they met, this was an intense contest until three quarter time.

CGHS lead at the first change by just one but this could have been more with a number of scoring opportunities missed. The shooting for both teams improved in the second quarter, and Technical were keeping themselves in the contest with their accuracy. CGHS extended the margin by one going into half time 22-20.

Technical won the third quarter 11 goals to 8 having made a few key positional changes and with CGHS struggling to find their accuracy in goal.

While the margin was only one heading into the final break, having hit the front Technical’s experience came through in the deciding quarter. Technical dominated the final quarter in all aspects of the game while CGHS were unable to stay in touch.

The final margin was twelve in favour of Technical 47-35, who were deserved Premier 2 Champions and proud winners of the Memorial Garden Trophy.

Technical were also favourites to go back to back and defend their title from 2018 in the Premier 1 Grand Final. A deserved favouritism for a team that has not been beaten all season.

Technical dominated on the scoreboard from the outset. While the shooting percentages were uncharacteristically low in the first quarter, Technical limited Kereru’s opportunities to score. Captain Louise Thayer, Goal Tiffany Challis and Lily Marshall proving a formidable line up in defence.

Technical set the pace early scoring 15 goals to Kereru’s 7 to lead by eight at the first break.

Kereru needing to make a change moved Terauoriwa Gapper from Centre to Wing Defence and Manaia Rapana-Feather came on into the Centre bib. While it was a much better quarter for Kereru with Goal Attack Tyler Rollo also making an impact, Technical extended the margin and it was 31-17 at half time.

Kereru kept the changes coming in the last half. Julianna Naoupu and Claudia Lewis came on for Rollo and Maia Hill in goal, but it wasn’t until the last quarter that Kereru started to make inroads.

While Kereru won a high scoring last quarter 21 to 18, the result was always going to be in Technical’s favour at the final whistle.

Having been the form team since the end of last year, Technical were deserved winners of the Premier 1 title. They would proudly hold up the Trust Bank Trophy for the second year running as well as the Brenda Condon Challenge Shield.

Premier 1 statistics:

Technical 63 (J Prosser GS1 37/44 GA2 1/1, T Placid GA1 12/16, L Clarke GS2 13/14) def Kereru 46 (M Hill GS1 8/9, T Rollo GA1 9/13, J Naoupu GS2 19/21, C Lewis GA2 10/12). Qtr scores: 15-7, 31-17, 47-28, 63-46.

Premier 2 statistics:

Technical B 47 (K Ralph GS 32/39 A Holmes GA 15/18) def CGHS A 35 (O McIntyre GS 30/48, E Hartnell GA1 4/7 GA3 0/1, A Houston GA2 1/3). Qtr scores: 10-11, 20-22, 31-30, 47-35.

Article added: Wednesday 28 August 2019