Technical earn redemption with 'incredible' last-gasp victory

​

“How much do you want this?” That was the challenge from Technical A head coach Charlotte Drummond as her side staged a dramatic comeback to win the Christchurch Netball Premier 1 final.

Technical trailed for much of the third quarter against Kereru A and were still down 38-34 with just eight minutes remaining.

But they stormed home at Ngā Puna Wai on Saturday, snatching the lead 40-39 with little more than a minute to play before holding on to secure the trophy.

“It was incredible to watch,” Drummond said.

“Me, my manager and my assistant coach, we were pretty excited. We were screaming at the girls, the girls on the bench were standing up, it was just a really cool moment to watch them come together and do it.

“Losi Fainga’anuku and Kate Littlejohn, our defensive end, they really won us the game in the end with their turnovers.

“They got some critical ball in the end that we scored off.”

From there it was just a matter of winding down the clock to secure the trophy.

“That’s the way you want to play a final. You want it to be a fight and it just made it so much more exciting that it did finish like that,” Drummond said.

“We’ve got some pretty level-headed girls in our team. I trusted that they backed each other and wanted to do it for each other, but they could have done it a wee bit earlier, in my personal opinion, to make it a little bit less stressful.”

The nail-biting finish capped off a thrilling contest.

Kereru had earlier overturned a 25-21 deficit in the third quarter to seize control, before Technical clawed their way back to redemption after last year’s 41-33 final loss to Lincoln University.

The majority of this year’s team played in that match, but only wing defence Riley Smart, goal shoot Aimee Hendry, and goal defence Littlejohn, alongside Drummond, assistant coach Tyler Ngatai and manager Dani Fisher were involved in Technical’s last title win in 2023.

Drummond said the key to the team’s success was enjoying their netball and not taking it too seriously.

“Trainings weren’t over the top. It was just nail the basics and get it right, let's grow all together.

“It was a fun season with a cool bunch of girls that get along.”

Most of the Technical A side will next play in the open national tournament from September 10-13, the first time the event has been held at the Christchurch Netball Centre at Ngā Puna Wai.

“They go head-to-head with teams from around the country,” Drummond said.

“It’s cool to have it in our backyard.”