Lae netball bag title

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The National, Tuesday 25th September 2012

LAE Netball Association (LNA) are the new champions in the A division of the 2012 Digicel National netball tournament.
 They defeated Port Moresby Netball Association 14-13 in the grand final at the Sir Ignatius Kilage stadium in Lae, Morobe on Sunday.
In the B division, three-time champions Alotau defeated Port Moresby 23-22 to claim the champion tag for the fourth time
The Morobean girls won all their games but lost to POMNA in the quarter finals then went on to beat Motu Koitabu before facing Port Moresby in the final showdown.
The match was evenly played as both teams coordinated play in the mid court for the goal shooters to net points.
The host side with current representative player Nerrie Adula held the POM side 8-3 until half-time break.
Port Moresby’s points came in the second half but time was not on their side as the home side hung on to win by one.
LNA president Josephine Waea Ila said they did not play for themselves but for all other centres as well that came to the national tournament and rightfully deserved the title.
PNG netball president Julliane Leka-Maliaki was impressed with the display of raw talents from new players and smaller associations like Wewak and Kiunga who gave the established associations a tough challenge.
She thanked Digicel PNG for the sponsorship which has now put PNGNF on the right track in its preparation towards the 2015 Pacific games.
Netball will aim to have the strongest team and vie for gold.
The master’s division grand final between Kairuku-Hiri and Motu-Koita was forced to end on a 14-14 draw after there was not enough lighting at the outside courts of the stadium.
Tournament director Pole Kassman, said the master’s match winner is yet to be decided on the aggregated points which were not yet confirmed.
Kassman who is also the national coach for the last six years said some of the experienced players did not perform to expectations, which she attributed to the poor playing surface after the potholes on the courts were filled with gravels.
No major injuries however were sustained, she said.
The junior netballers who are part of the over 1,200 netballers who took part in that event will start their junior championship today.