Diamonds edge out Rebels

Diamonds edge out Rebels

The Trusts Diamonds continued their winning momentum in the National Bank Cup Netball competition with a hard-fought 46-41 win over the Otago Rebels in Dunedin tonight.

The visitors maintained a slight edge throughout with quarter leads of 13-9, 26-20 and 35-30, the Rebels being unable to breach the gap but managing to pick up a precious bonus point by finishing within a five-goal losing margin.

Silver Ferns Anna Scarlett and Maria Tutaia stood out for the Diamonds in a match that was marred by injury breaks.

Defender Scarlett was a thorn for the Rebels shooters, her long reach and rebounding ability making life difficult under the hoop.

At the other end of the court, player of the match Maria Tutaia was a shining light where her composure and accuracy in the Diamonds shooting circle enabled the visitors to keep their noses in front.

The Rebels maintained an unchanged line-up throughout in their first home match of the season while the Diamonds made several substitutions. Following on from her fine effort last week, attacker Grace Rasmussen made another strong contribution tonight with a cameo role of 13 shots from 16 attempts.

It was a disappointing night for the Rebels, who suffered their second straight loss, the team still struggling to gel as a unit and having some shaky moments in the shooting circle.

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