News

Auckland NPC November 2007.

New region Counties Manukau were joined by Auckland, Canterbury and defending champion Wellington for the largest National Provincial Championships yet.

Seven participating teams made for an intense weekend of regional Korfball and witnessed a number of upsets, some close games and some very good matches.

After hard fought round robin games only six teams could advance to the finals leaving Counties Manukau 2 in 7th place. The 5th-6th playoff saw Counties Manukau 1 overcome Auckland 2 to take the higher final placing.

The 3rd-4th play-off presented a close tussle between Wellington 2 and Auckland 1. The previous game between the sides saw a safe victory by the Auckland team. This time Wellington were able to stifle the Auckland attack and came into the half two goals up, however the experience of the Auckland side enabled them to press effectively in the second half allowing them to them cruise away to an eventual 10-4 victory. This left Wellington 2 finishing in 4th place and Auckland 1 in 3rd.

The final game saw a match up between old rivals Canterbury and Wellington 1. With a good opening from the Wellington side the Cantabrians seemed a little shaken. A well played time-out allowed Canterbury to regroup and a consecutive scoring spree followed to take them into lead. From then on it seemed to be level pegging all the way with Canterbury stretching the lead out and Wellington catching up again. Canterbury always managed to maintain a small lead which saw them eventually take the Cup 12 - 10.

Most Valuable Player awards were voted for by the team coaches. Wellington 1 scooped the table with Rose Patterson and Ryan Lawrence taking home the medals.

The next NPC is due to take place in Christchurch in May 2008. Before then Taupo will be the venue for the KNZ Summer Nationals in January, whilst March sees a return to Auckland for the Oceania Regional Korfball Championships.