Housing retain title

By HUXLEY LOVAI
National Housing Corporation cheered on by vocal supporters, retained their premier division crown in the Public Servants Netball Competition grand final beating beat Works, 24-21 in an entertaining match on Saturday.
The final was an evenly-contested affair from the start but NHC finished strongly in the final quarter.
Both teams were well served by representative players this season with Jeperth Tulapi for NHC and Kimberly Alex for Works. The duo proved to be invaluable for their teams giving them game structure, allowing for a high tempo match.
With NHC taking a slender 12-11 lead into half time the match was set up for an exciting finish, with NHC shooters Kalia Alu, Ulice Rove and substitute Tina Gabina showing great composure to see their team through.
The NHC shooters were tested all throughout the match by the Works defenders Athalya Kila and Kiri Gamini who kept the opposing shooters on their toes.
A delighted NHC captain Kalia Alu told The National that the team’s fighting spirit allowed them to pull away for the closely fought victory.
“We have a young team with speed and accuracy with great stamina, never giving up, with a great fighting spirit. Honestly, this was a neck-to-neck game, and we knew that the team who makes the least errors will win.
“Our defence was tight, with a fast mid-court and when it came to the ring our main shooter, Ulice Rova was accurate throughout the match. With Jeperth (Tulapi) in the mid court, that made the difference for us.
“This is the second time for us to win the premiership. Since coming into the competition joining in division five till now, we have been winning our grand final matches,” Alu said .