Perhaps it was the cooler afternoon air or simply an under estimation of their opponents, but it was the big names in the PCNC premier division that took an almighty tumble in front of a decent netball crowd at the Bisini courts on Sunday.
Brian Bell took to a relatively passive Westpac side in the second premier division game of the day making it two Sunday losses in a row for the bankers, beating them only by the closest of margins 14 - 13 and in the main match of the afternoon, BSP's green machine had a difficult time containing a surging Fairdeal Liquors side, succumbing 18 - 25 in an otherwise tight encounter.
BSP (in green) really struggled to get a grip on today's main game
Fairdeal eventually won the game 25 - 18
Even with an impressive line up, last years premier's were simply hustled out of the game by a hungrier opposition. It was a fast, high energy encounter but in the end it was the ladies in black with the money.
In boxing out the likes of Renagi Dringo and forcing errors in a normally proficient passing game for their oppositions mid court, the Fairdeal ladies were able to get under BSP's skin, forcing the green machine to boil over. But when the bankers they were able to string their passes together, they certainly looked like the champion side they are.
Taking nothing away from Fairdeal, it was a job well done.
In the other premier division games of the day, IPA put their name in the winners circle with a 28 to 15 drubbing of Daltron. A smiling Julianne Leka-Maliaki, happy with the result said "There's still alot of work to do, but winning always makes it worthwhile". Air Niugini kept it's claim on the prize intact by posting a 11 net buffer on Numbawan Supa 30 - 19 in a fairly polished performance and will be another team hard to beat this year.
In other games on Sunday, the cobwebs still are very apparent with teams like FinCorp and Datec struggling to find a fluid rhythm to their game. Not so for teams like the PNG Sports Foundation who's form see them building on a winning run in Division 3.
Theodist have to be the standout when it comes to uniforms and the bar seems to be raised each year. The uniform kits give the ladies a lift in both appearance and performance.
We will post the rest of our images of Sunday's games this evening so for those wanting to see the game pics please be patient.
If your able to, let everybody know about the page as the more this type of blog is seen, it lifts the profile and interest in the game. The more prospective sponsors see how well netball is organised, the more likely they are to consider sponsoring competitions, the facilities and the game.
The images below are some of the faces from Sundays' crowd, which was a real decent number.
A busy court, good games and great company always makes these competitions a sure thing.
If you look at some of the crowd shots, there is quite a bevy of people enjoying themselves. It's a wonder why so much money is being pumped into other sports and so little into netball. It's time for a change, don't you think?
(below) Faces from Sunday's crowd
Thanks for your patronage and see you at the courts this Sunday.
Near the Hoop
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