Mid Canterbury Netball’s ACL Premier competition officially enters its business end this week, with the third and final championship round getting under way.

With Celtic Auric Electrical A and Hampstead Ray White A having finished one and two in the first two rounds, all eyes will be on the remaining four teams in ACL Premier 1 to see if anyone can really upset the apple cart over the next five weeks of netball.

Spots three and four on the ladder in the first two rounds have been occupied by Mt Somers Victory Lime A and Methven Wareings, and those two teams kick off round three by playing each other in the 8.15pm game this week.

But the remaining two teams are definitely not to be written off, with College A a team that always builds well as the season progresses and finishes strong, while Southern Rakaia Hub A will also have gained some confidence from their 28-24 win over Rakaia ProShear in this week’s promotion/relegation game between the top ACL premier 2 side and the bottom ACL premier 1 side at the end of the second round.

College A have the task of taking on the currently unbeaten Celtic A side this week at 7.15pm, while Southern will take on Hampstead at 6.15pm.

In ACL Premier 2 the championship round will kick off with United KFC A taking on the team that came oh so close to a premier 1 spot on Tuesday night, Rakaia ProShear, before Allenton A take on Methven EuroAgri, and Hampstead Ray White B take on Celtic Darryl Phillips Motor Company B.

The Celtic side earlier in the week ensured they remained in ACL premier 2 with a win over the top round two team from ACL Premier 3, AshColl Y10A.

That AshColl Y10A team has had a big week at the South Island Secondary Schools Junior Tournament in Christchurch, where they finished 13^th, and they’ll start round three against Hampstead Ray White C at 7.15pm.

The first game on court in ACL Premier 3 this week though will be Methven Shearmac versus College B, while Rakaia Seed Cleaning and Methven Garage Gym will finish the night off.

All netball then takes a break next week for the school holidays, with ACL Premier netball returning on July 20.

Article added: Wednesday 05 July 2023