Telstars Defend POMNA Premier Division Premiership

Esco Telstars (in red) defended their premier division title this afternoon in a grinding, hard fought encounter with Paramana at the Rita Flynn Courts in Port Moresby.

On a day that saw the mercury spilling out of the dial even as early as 8:00 in the morning the teams just had to contend with conditions that would have been like playing on the surface of the sun. The 15 minute quarters must have seemed an eternity but still both teams turned it on for supporters and fans, providing a game in which neither team let up until the final whistle.

As expected it came down to possession and accuracy near the hoop and for Paramana it was to be a disappointing afternoon with a fairly expensive average deficiency from their shooters in the first and last quarters. It was to be this poor completion rate at critical moments of the game that worked against the ladies in black. At half time it seemed Telstars had Paramana's measure but to their credit, Paramana made a strong resurgence in the third quarter bringing them to within a margin of 5 nets and a sniff of the trophy.

Umpires Emily Taule and Margaret Hill made it clear from the outset that they were not going to accept any nonsense and with several Pepe's, former Pepe's and National U21 squad players in the two teams, rightly so. Emily Maha was advanced several times for dissent and that quickly set the tone for the game and then it was on for young and old.

There was no love lost from either side and the four quarters were evenly poised, even toward the the end of the final quarter.

The final score: Esco Telstars 34 Paramana 30 with an impressive scoring overage for Toka Aua, who really rose to the occasion today playing well above her best. Defender Ravu Raule and Marie Otio in attack shone for Paramana.

In other division grand finals played today there were some real surprises in a day of excellent netball.