Netball's top two apparent

The Marlborough premier netball competition is looking very much like a two-horse race with just two rounds remaining before the play-offs.

At Stadium 2000 tonight, Harlequins Indevin and Pelorus Edridge Contracting, last year’s finalists, underlined their status as the teams to beat in this season’s race to the top.

The leading teams took on the third and fourth-ranked sides, coming away with comprehensive victories.

Harlequins downed Marlborough Girls College 64-40 while Pelorus overcame their clubmates, Pelorus Gills Construction, 67-47, both games following similar patterns.

The winning sides both began strongly, quickly establishing a handy lead, allowing them to tinker with combinations in the final stages.

Established premier players such as Laura Evans, Paige Lovell, Jordan Peipi and Danelle Moffatt formed the basis of a Pelorus Edridge crew who are quite capable of guiding their club to a first premier title this season.

Their opponents, who have lost Cara Gallop and Kate Gaudin for the season, were under the pump from the outset, trailing 56-28 at the three-quarter mark before taking out the final stanza 19-11 to regain some ground on their club-mates.

Harlequins Indevin dominated the possession stakes throughout their battle with the students, putting up 89 shots to MGC’s 59. Wiri Bristowe played a big part in their success, excelling in both the GS and GK bibs.

The seasoned group of Bristowe, Bridget Gane, Wendy Trolove, Lauren Murray and Simone Pedersen make Quins a hard nut to crack, a combined game intelligence and composure under pressure key to their success.

MGC were happy to drop in 40 goals against a strong defensive unit, with Anel Moli their leading shooter. Defender Izzy Tupouto’a was also called on in the attacking circle, offering back-up, while GK Brooke Harper was determined and athletic at the back as her side showed more resilience in the second half.

The evening’s first match was expected to be the tightest, and so it proved, Tokomaru prevailing 54-42.

Both Toko and Harlequins Fairweathers were chasing their first wins of the round and a 9-8 first quarter pointed to a nail-biter. However, the Picton side, led by the ever-reliable Gemma Hika, bounced out to a nine-point lead after dominated the second quarter and were able to hold that margin, then slightly extend it through the remainder of the clash.

Besides Hika, Tamara Acott, Chloe Devir and the Wilson sisters were at the core of Toko’s success, finding ways to smoothly convert possession into points without undue risk.

Captain Kirsty Boase again put in a big shift for Quins, with returning GS Jorga Bacchus offering solidarity and composure down the other end, producing a 28 from 31 shooting effort.

Scores:

Harlequins Indevin 64 (Wiri Bristowe 36/45, Lauren Murray 14/24, Kayla Collins 5/9, Fiaali’I Solomona 9/11) Marlborough Girls’ College 40 (Anel Moli 17/24, Hazel Glover 13/23, Izzy Tupouto’a 10/12). Quarter scores (winning team first): 17-8, 21-7, 16-10, 10-15.

Pelorus Edridge Contracting 67 (Paige Lovell 43/54, Megan Cosgrove 15/18, Zoe Jordaan 9/13) Pelorus Gill Construction 47 (Liv Pinkerton 21/27, Karli Murphy 26/38). Quarter scores: 19-8, 16-9, 21-11, 11-19.

Tokomaru Crafar Crouch 54 (Gemma Hika 41/48, Tamara Acott 13/19) Harlequins Fairweathers 42 (Jorja Bacchus 28/31, Sophie Ridley-Scott 14/23). Quarter scores: 9-8, 17-9, 14-12, 14-13.

Points after week three of round two: Harlequins Indevin 9, Pelorus Edridge Contracting 9, Pelorus Gill Construction 4, Tokomaru 4, MGC 3, Harlequins Fairweathers 0.