Mid Canterbury Netball’s ACL Premier winners for the 2022 season have been crowned.

A top night of finals action at the EA Networks Centre was topped off by Celtic Auric Electrical A completing a stellar unbeaten season with a 41-26 win over United KFC A in the ACL Premier 1 final in front a big crowd of cheering fans.

As has been the story for much of the season, Celtic dominated the game from start to finish to get their hands on the trophy, while the play-off for third spot was also relatively convincing, with last year’s champions Hampstead Ray White A securing third spot with a 51-23 win over Methven Wareings A.

Things were much tighter in ACL Premier 2 though, as has been the story in that grade all season. Allenton A – in their return season to ACL Premier netball after a number of seasons absence – took on College A in the ACL Premier 2 final and at the end of a topsy-turvy game it was the Allenton A side who came out on top 32-29, giving them a fairytale finish to their first year back in the top flight.

Third spot in ACL Premier 2 went to another team returning to premier netball after a few years away, with Rakaia ProShear finishing strong and beating Celtic Darryl Phillips Motor Company B 30-22 in the battle for third.

In ACL Premier 3 the final came down to Hampstead Ray White B and College Y10A, with the Hampstead side taking it out 35-30, while the same two clubs also battled it out in the third-place game, with Hampstead Ray White U18 Development downing College B 40-16.

With ACL Premier finals now done, attention moves to the final day of Saturday netball for 2022 (Saturday 27 August).

The Ashburton New World Junior competition finals will see St Joseph’s Celtic Gold take on Hampstead Ray White Junior A in the Junior Senior A final at 11am, while Methven Rural Natives will play Rakaia Mobil Y7/8 in the Junior Senior B final at 10am.

With seven teams in the Intermediate grade, they’re finishing with one full round rather than finals, with the winning team set to be the team that finishes on top of the table at the end of tomorrow’s last round. St Joseph’s Celtic Green are top of the table heading into the final games, followed by Methven Clemens Seed Dressing.

In the afternoon senior grade finals, the KFC Senior grade final will see College Y9A take on Rakaia Seed Cleaning at 3.30pm, straight after the KFC Senior Reserve final between College Y10B and Methven Garage Gym. The Bellissimo Day Spa 2^nd grade final will kick proceedings off in the afternoon, with Hampstead Ray White U18B taking on College Blue in that final.

A junior prizegiving will take place immediately following the last junior final at approximately 11.50am, while a senior prizegiving will also take place immediately following the last senior final.

Article added: Friday 26 August 2022