As they had been all day, conditions for this match were wet and windy. They showed no sign of halting either as Waikato tapped off this final with the wind at their backs.
Waikato had the mental advantage of having beaten Counties earlier in the tournament, however, these two teams rarely disappoint to display an even and exciting encounter.
Both teams looked cautious to begin with and went about easing themselves into the game and feeling out their opponent.
Lillian Pompey scored first for Waikato, using an in-and-out move to beat her defender and dive over. Credit also goes to the Counties defender who showed good honesty when asked by the referee if she had made the touch or not.
Counties were having trouble escaping their own half and with territorial advantage Waikato piled the pressure on. Despite repeated bravery on defence, this pressure eventually caused Counties to cave in and Mere Nock scored after the Counties defence didn't make their five and were played through by the referee. Coming up to halftime both teams played strong defence and also had marginal shouts for touchdowns turned down by the referees. Halftime score 2-0: Waikato.
The beginning of the second half brought no touchdowns as the teams played carefully in the blustering wind. Advancing the ball up the field became challenging without the ability to extend play with longer passes. Adding to this, both finalists were well drilled in their defensive policies and kept opportunities at a minimum.
It took until midway through the second half for a telling blow to be landed. Waikato went three ahead as Jordan Webber scooted away down the right hand side following an overlap.
Counties needed more desperation in their game as they had lacked invention in the final third so far. They managed to pull a touchdown back when they began to play at pace on attack. Tyla Nathan-Wong diving over between an outstretched defence.
Past Waikato teams have lost games from here but this team looked in control for the duration. Not shaken by conceding earlier, Hollie Gray scored Waikato's fourth touchdown following a well constructed second-phase play.
A killer blow was landed a couple of sets after this as Rose De Thierry was played through a tired Counties defence and went all the way on her own.
As the match was winding up, Counties dropped a certain touchdown cold on the wing which basically symbolised how this final had gone for them as a missed opportunity. The intensity of the match slowed as it looked as though both teams knew their respective fates with only a minute or two remaining. Waikato had already disappeared over the horizon and won the Open Womens grade 5-1.
Last Modified on 05/03/2012 09:02