Hamilton City became first-time winners of the New Zealand Cup after completing a comfortable 48-38 win over Counties Manukau in the Grand Final of the NetballSmart Netball NZ Open Champs in Auckland on Saturday.
Absorbing a close contest in the opening quarter, Hamilton City dominated through the middle two quarters to stamp their mark and control of the outcome between the two unbeaten teams.
``The last time I was involved in winning the New Zealand Cup was as a player, so to be involved with Hamilton City as first-time winners of this trophy is pretty awesome and very special,’’ coach Te Aroha Keenan said.
``We’ve been building since the start of the tournament and what was really great was getting some of our young ones in an environment like this. They have been just fantastic, so much so that we ended up playing them in the final which was great.
``We had great faith in our shooters and we knew if we got the ball down to them, they would put it away and they didn’t miss a beat today.
``We had a little bit of experience in our team but it was mostly youth from our National Netball League (NNL) team, so to have them involved in a winning environment has been amazing.’’
In the battle of the form shooters of the tournament, Hamilton City’s Kate Taylor and Ivana Rowland were influential figures under the hoop while enjoying more ball in their hands than their opposites.
In an outstanding all-round display of accurate shooting from both sides, Taylor and Rowland completed a clean sheet with 32 and 16 goals apiece, respectively, while Counties Manukau missed just the one shot throughout the game.
Hamilton City were also well-served at the defensive end where the trio of Oceane Maihi, Holly Fowler and Charlice Bryce did an excellent job of forcing turnover opportunities while keeping the dangerous shooting pair of Jaelin Tulikaki and Maine-Crystal Maro under wraps.
With each team going on mini-runs during the opening quarter and both enjoying the lead at different stages, it was Hamilton City who edged to a tight 14-12 first quarter lead.
Three straight goals to Counties Manukau in the early stages of the second quarter kept the contest tight but Hamilton City were always able to respond in a positive fashion. A late burst pushing them into a handy position when leading 27-20 at halftime.
With goal attack Maro playing a prominent role, Counties Manukau made a valiant bid to chip into the deficit during the third quarter closing to within five at one stage but unable to make further inroads.
Scoring the last three goals helped Hamilton City stretch out to a 39-30 lead at three-quarter time.
Starting the final quarter with the first five goals looked to have sealed the deal for Hamilton City but Counties Manukau struck back with seven of their own before running out of steam, Hamilton steadying the ship with a strong finish.
``We hadn’t had the opportunity to train much together and to get everyone out on court during the week was pretty cool,’’ Hamilton City captain Ariana Cable-Dixon said.
``We hadn’t really solidified a top seven which was quite nice in a way because it gave us lots of options and then today, I just felt it was like our time to really pull things together which we did and that was really cool.
``We were able to build pressure by scoring our own goals. We showed lots of composure and what was really important today was being able to score off our turnovers which put the pressure back on them.’’
Cambridge ended a strong tournament in style to clinch third place with a well-merited 53-49 win over Auckland. In nailing 37 goals from goal attack, Monica Falkner played a dominant hand for Cambridge.
New Zealand Cup (winner): Hamilton City
Annie Brown Cup (runner-up): Counties Manukau
Gisborne Cup (presentation): Counties Manukau
Violet Gilmour Trophy (lowest average of goals scored against): Counties Manukau
Lady June Blundell Silver Salver (highest number of goals scored): Waitākere