Double trouble. Dunedin’s top-tier netballers had a big weekend with a bumper double round at the Edgar Centre on Saturday and Sunday. University Albion A remain unbeaten. They dispatched Columba College 58-37 on Saturday and beat the Southern Magpies 71-25 on Sunday. Physed A got themselves on an early roll to set up a 71-34 win over St Hilda’s Collegiate on Saturday. They opened with a 10-4 lead then really started to put their foot down to lead 19-6 at the break. Goal shoot Milasa Finau set herself up nicely in the circle. She found her defender to post up and gave herself room in the back space for her attackers to find her. She was ably assisted by Neveah Dunn, while wing attack Gemma Rowcroft had an ability to cut sharply, hit the circle edge and supply her shooters with quality ball. Centre Millie Hassell drove things nicely from centre and helped Physed’s quick ball speed through court catch St Hilda’s on the back foot. St Hilda’s, who were missing a couple of key players, still managed to find some nice passages. Goal attack Maia Walls put a bullet pass in to Charlee Farquhar. But Physed just forged ahead to lead 32-15 at halftime. Defender Maggie Manson caused a headache for the St Hilda’s attack line. After chipping away at goal keep in the first half, she moved out to goal defence in the second and her long reach and eye for the ball helped stifle the flow through the midcourt. That allowed Grace Tiko to be injected at goal keep. She hunted for ball high in the circle and used her footwork to get around the body. Physed held a 52-24 lead at the break. Their dominance allowed them to test out other combinations and players in the final quarter. The Southern Magpies survived a late scare from the South Pacific Titans Tītī to win 51-50 on Saturday. Southern led by five with five minutes to go when Tītī made their final push and got within one. But Southern played the ball around and wound down the clock to secure the one-point victory. College A beat Titans Tāiko 64-46 in the other Saturday game. On Sunday, College beat Titans Tītī 77-39, St Hilda’s downed Titans Tāiko 59-51, and Physed A beat Columba 50-31.
