Tough times on and off the court for netballers | Manawatu-Wanganui Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Manawatu-Wanganui

Rua Ponga was hoping son Seth would sleep well on Monday night - she needed to do the same.

Twenty-four hours of sitting with croup-stricken 6-year-old Seth in Whanganui Hospital was not an ideal preparation for a Wanganui premier netball semi-final, but Ponga (wing attack) put it aside to turn on a massive performance in Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau's conclusive 49-40 victory over Marist.

The past glories did not return for Marist, as many believed they would. With the exception of the first quarter, where the teams stood toe-to-toe and slugged it out for a 12-all scoreline, Kaierau had control which became more and more marked as the game wore on.

Remarkably it's shown in the shooting statistics (unofficial), where Kaierau had 71 shots at goal against Marist's 50.

Second quarter replacement wing defence Berrie O'Connor harried key Marist weapon Susan Osborne, while tall timber Jackie Abraham was dominant under the basket, despite quite desperate efforts from Marist goal keep Donna Jeffrey and goal defence Blanche Cloete, which often found the displeasure of umpire Leigh Kohkia.

It was a tough match, too much whistle and too much body contact, and in the end Kaierau was quite the better team, almost repeating its 10-goal margin of the previous game between the two teams.

Marist were convinced they could do much better - but it just didn't happen because Kaierau was superior in midcourt.

Coach Annette Pearce has rotated her squad through the season and never been afraid to change within a game. That move triumphed last night with the efforts of all subs.

Pearce: "It was about us coming out and making sure we capitalised on our ball. We were rusty to start off with a bit - but we were lucky with the height of Jackie (Abraham) in there with the rebound.

"All credit to our girls, they stuck to our game plan."

Ponga: "My son was in hospital yesterday, we got the ambulance at 6.30 in the morning. He was in until midday today. So it's been a couple of hard days with him.

"I haven't had sleep for three days, but what Annette says is that you have to leave everything at home and come with a fresh plate. I managed that today."

Marist coach Diane Watkins: "On the day they were much the better, they fed better ball to the shooters - they were probably hungrier than what we were."

That just about sums it up.

Other matches:

Taihape upset WHS 50-48 in the play-off for third and fourth, Kaiwhaiki walloped Utiku 72-33 for seventh and eighth, and the plate final was not played because Ratana could not produce a team at the earlier start time because of work commitments. They hope they can play Collegiate at a later date.