Hamilton City are first-time winners of the New Zealand Cup for netball, after defeating Counties Manukau 48-38 in Auckland on Saturday.
A thrilled coach Te Aroha Keenan said the victory was “awesome”.
“The last time I was involved in winning the New Zealand Cup was as a player, so to be involved with Hamilton City as first-time winners of this trophy is pretty awesome and very special.”
The NetballSmart Netball NZ Open Champs featured 17 teams, competing since Tuesday to lift the New Zealand Cup, first played for in 1926.
Netball’s oldest competition showcases a mix of promising up-and-coming talent, alongside a sprinkling of well-known faces with ANZ premiership experience.
“We’ve been building since the start of the tournament and what was really great was getting some of our young ones in an environment like this.
“They have been just fantastic, so much so that we ended up playing them in the final which was great.”
Hamilton City led 27-20 at halftime, stretching their lead to 39-30 by three-quarter time.
In the battle of the form shooters of the tournament, Hamilton City’s Kate Taylor and Ivana Rowland were influential figures under the hoop, completing a clean sheet with 32 and 16 goals apiece.
Counties Manukau missed just one shot throughout the final.
“We had great faith in our shooters and we knew if we got the ball down to them, they would put it away and they didn’t miss a beat today.
“We had a little bit of experience in our team but it was mostly youth from our National Netball League team, so to have them involved in a winning environment has been amazing.”
Cambridge clinched third place with a 53-49 win over Auckland.