Sparrows oust champs

By HUXLEY LOVAI
ROUND two of the premier division matches in the Port Moresby Netball Association competition saw Credit Corp Sparrows beat Paramana 43-28 in their tier-1 clash on Wednesday night.
Sparrows produced a masterclass performance to soundly beat the defending champions.
They had an extra spring to their step, testing the champions across the court over the four quarters.
As expected, the opening two quarters were hotly-contested as the both teams midcourt battled for dominance.
Paramana’s centre Shanna Dringo and wing-attack/captain Gasi Moka held the advantage for most of the opening quarters.
Paramana’s shooters made the most of their shots at goal count.
However, as the game progressed Sparrows began to wrestle the game away from Paramana. Sparrows’ mid court, marshalled by centre Neritha Adula, found their rhythm and began to boss the centre and goal third.
At half time Sparrows led 16-12 over Paramana.
In the final two quarters, Sparrows lifted with their momentum, leaving Paramana speechless.
Sparrows goal-defence stressed their dominance as the resilient Kilala Owen and Aisha Roberts made Paramana work for every single goal.
Excellent shooting from Sparrows Stacy Haeremai and J Nao allowed their team to pull away to a comfortable 15-point win.
A member of Sparrows coaching team, Julienne Leka Maliaki told The National: “Tonight’s game was exceptional.We focused on defence and we won the game on the back of it. Our shooting percentages was also high, I believe it was 80 per cent. Those were the two factors that got us the win by that margin.”
Results:(Tier-1) Mermaids 69 Telstars 33; (Tier -2) Rebels 50 Raukele 41 and Veupunama 36 Mona 35.