CENTRAL OTAGO
- Rhys Chamberlain
It was finals time for Central Otago netball over the weekend and in Alexandra Molyneux A and Dunstan High School A played out a Premier 1 thriller for the Vincent Shield.
Molyneux A took the silverware by a solitary point 30-29.
The school team fresh off a third placing in the B grade at the South Island Champs, came into the match full of confidence and attack Shaun Robinson, along with Jonelle Fulton and Jenna Keane, led the side to a three-goal lead mid-way through the third quarter.
But the momentum swing was evident once Molyneux stalwart Elasia Chapman entered the match. Her defensive pressure eventually became too much for Dunstan, which then struggled to get the ball down court.
The play of Michelle Keimig and Emily Chamberlain was also very influential in the match for Molyneux.
Roxburgh Kilties won the play-off for third and fourth place from Cromwell College A 29-20.
Terrace Green is the champion of primary school netball, after beating Clyde A 34-12.
Hockey
The final matches for senior men's hockey were also played out. Queenstown beat Cromwell 2-1 and Under 18 Boys beat Cavaliers 4-1. The results left Queenstown as the season winner with Cromwell second and Under 18 Boys third.
NORTH OTAGO
- Terry O'Neill
Athletic Maroon won top ranking for the premier grade netball semifinals at the Hine Marae courts on Saturday beating Kurow 29-24 after leading 17-13 at halftime.
It was a close contest but Athletic's teamwork carried the day and its defence meant that Kurow had trouble feeding its shoots.
St Kevin's A caused a minor boilover in the other game leading Excelsior 11-6 at halftime and stretching this lead out to a 25-16 lead at fulltime.
St Kevin's came off a disappointing tournament week but lifted its game, even though the loss of Stacey McCaw caused a couple of changes.
In the semifinals next Saturday, St Kevin's will meet Kurow and Athletic will play Excelsior.
In the bottom four, Eastern A earned top spot with a one-goal lead at fulltime over Waitaki Girls Wildfire, after leading 18-12 at halftime.In the other play-off Waitaki Girls Lightning Strike beat St Kevin's College B, 23-19, after leading 12-10 at halftime.
In the semifinals Eastern A will play St Kevin's B and the two Waitaki Girls sides will play each other.
In division one, section two, Valley Green plays Papakaio and Athletic will meet Valley Blue.
Football
Meadowbank United won its way into the second round of the South Canterbury Cup with a 6-0 win over Northern Hearts B at the Showgrounds on Saturday, after leading 2-0 at halftime. Meadowbank Reserves was relegated to the plate section when it was beaten 7-0 by West End A. Tyler Cox, James Miller and Hamish Aker each scored goals for the winners.
Hockey
The North Otago under-13 teams had success in club hockey on Saturday. The girls side beat St Kevin's Mixed 5-0, Tahlia Green and Brianna Turner each scoring two goals for the winner. Jonty Naylor scored both goals as the boys side beat Waitaki Girls 2nd XI 2-1.
St Kevin's Girls 1st XI beat Pirata Black, 8-0 with Hannah Cladwell scoring four goals and Olivia Pope, three while Pirata Blue beat Shamrocks, 4-2.
Indoor bowls
Waitaki Bridge's Cliff Ormandy skipped the winning team as it beat Mavis and Colin Wederell of the St Pat's Club, 7-4 in the final.