The preparation leading up to the Waikato Bay of Plenty SynergyHair Netball League’s first game has been intense and exciting with players travelling all over the Zone to attend their two weekly training sessions.
The team came into their Captains Run on Saturday morning where they were joined by both Ivana Rowland and Amy Christophers from the Magic. It was good to begin introducing these players to structures and combinations that the coaches have been working on for the last couple of months.
The first quarter was a good tussle with the players taking a bit of time to shake off their nerves. Half way through the quarter saw the Comets score 5 in a row taking them to an 8 goal lead. Our players finally settled and bought the score back to within five at the quarter break.
Quarter score: 10 – 15 to Comets
The second quarter saw Ivana shift to GS and Arikinoa coming into GA. Early in the piece the Comets pushed their lead out to seven but with a bit more pressure and a few gains from Amy Christophers, saw WBOP score 3 lots of 3 in a row and the team levelling the score with one and a half minutes to go. Ivana finished the first half shooting 17/18.
Half time score: 25 - 27 to Comets
After a lengthy 8 minute half time break, Georgia Bodle, Sera Taei and Keasi Williams-Fonohema take the court at WD, GS and GK respectively. Keasi took a nice clean intercept on the Comets starting centre pass. However after multiple passes trying to get it through court WBOP were unable to score due to an error. The Comets had a couple of runs of 3, along with a few misses from our shooters, extended their lead out to a whopping 9 goals.
Three quarter score: 34 – 43
In the final quarter Liza Ball starts after coming on near the end of the third quarter. She gains a couple of intercepts and pick-ups with the team showing some amazing defensive pressure. The team slowly crawl back and with only 2 minutes to go WBOP were down by three. This increased to a 6 goal margin and on the last second Sera was contacted by a Comets defender giving her one last shot at goal after the buzzer had rang. She managed to score the goal giving WBOP one point on the results ladder.
Final score: 49-54
