Counties Manukau and Wellington will contest the Grand Final after winning the honours in differing semi-finals at the NetballSmart Netball NZ Open Champs on Friday being staged at the Christchurch Netball Centre.
The Grand Final will be played at 1.30pm on Saturday, both teams coming through the tournament unbeaten and now with the opportunity to etch their name on the 91色情片 Cup. Losing finalists last year, Counties Manukau have never won the famous trophy while Wellington last won in 2015.
Counties Manukau ended Manawatu Green鈥檚 unbeaten run when nailing a 46-43 win but were left with a few anxious moments during the last quarter of their semi-final.
Forging a nine-goal lead at three-quarter time, Counties Manukau were in the box seat but as they have done all tournament Manawatu Green showed their resilience and spirit during a pulsating run home.
Eclipsing their opponents 13-7 in the final quarter, Manawatu Green kept closing the gap but ultimately ran out of time in a terrific finish to the game.
With both teams coming into the semi-final unbeaten, the pair delivered a closely-fought and tight opening stanza. Having tall and accurate shooters, Jaelin Tulikaka for Counties Manukau and Elizabeth Adrole for Manawatu Green, the pair featured prominently in a lively first quarter.
Respective goal attacks, Crystal Maro (Counties Manukau) and Renee Matoe both excelled in setting up their respective tall targets under the hoop while adopting the play-maker鈥檚 role outside the circle.
There was little separating the teams when they headed to the first break with Counties Manukau leading 13-12.
Counties Manukau made their move in a fruitful second quarter. Providing a bustling defensive strategy in the midcourt paid dividends in creating forced passes from Manawatu Green and turnover opportunities which allowed Counties Manukau to gradually build on their lead.
Chasing the game forced Manawatu Green into further error despite the best efforts of inspiring captain Matoe but they struggled to make inroads and headed to halftime trailing 27-20.
Counties Manukau retained the slightest of edges in the third quarter, slick through-court play finding Tulikaka and Maro in shooting range and defender Lili Tokaduadua pouncing on anything loose before a spirited surge from Manawatu Green ensured they were kept honest.
Defenders Kara Adrole and Jessica Fagan-Pease caused some disruption in restricting the movement and accuracy under the Counties Manukau post to keep Manawatu Green in the contest and despite trailing 39-30 at the last break, added the motivation to dig in for an exciting finish.
In the other semi-final, Wellington sent an ominous warning when completing a comprehensive 56-31 win over Wait膩kere.
Wellington were quick to assert their dominance with rapid ball movement, slick transitional play, impressive connection between the shooters and rock-solid defence. Establishing an early lead, Wellington continued to power away while widening the margin through each quarter.
The link between goal attack Khiarna Williams and fellow shooter Phoenix Schwalger helped Wellington get away to the best of starts, the pair revelling in a mix of short feeds and long bombs as the midcourt turned on a quality service.
At the other end, the defensive trio did a fine job of restricting ball getting to dangerous shooters Priscilla Rasmussen and Stacey Ah Van, leaving Wellington with a handy 15-8 lead at the first break.
Better ball retention helped Wait膩kere stem the flow on the resumption but they still required multiple phases to get the ball through a dogged Wellington defence. The team in yellow and black absorbed before striking back forcefully to maintain their grip and handy advantage when leading 28-16 at halftime.
Wellington continued to apply the pressure through a rollicking third quarter, personnel and positional changes doing little to restrict the damage for Wait膩kere who struggled to contain the speed, flair and ability in the air of their opponents.
Trailing 42-24 at three-quarter time, Wait膩kere were in a place of no return while Wellington had the luxury of introducing fresh legs for the run home.
In the morning鈥檚 quarterfinals, Manawatu Green, Counties Manukau and Wellington all had comfortable wins to secure their spots in the last four while Wait膩kere had to work a little harder.
Both South Island teams were knocked out of contention for title honours, with Christchurch Whero succumbing 45-39 to Counties Manukau while Dunedin were left on the backfoot when losing 50-37 to Wellington. In a closely-fought contest, Wait膩kere just got home 44-42 over Tauranga.