The club was re-established about five years ago, and Taieri has been moving up the grades since it entered the competition.
It was promoted to the top grade after winning Premier B last season.
Playing an experienced Southern team, which has been a regular feature in the Premier A finals, was a difficult task for Taieri’s first game.
Southern took the lead midway through the first quarter and built on it for the rest of the game.
Its attacking players grew in confidence as the game progressed and its defence gained ball.
Both teams took a while to settle into the game, and the first period was riddled with stepping calls and loose passes.
It took about two minutes for the first goal to be scored.
At about the midway point of the quarter, Southern players started to gel and netted seven unanswered goals, the equal-largest run of the game.
From then, Southern took control.
The Magpies capitalised on Taieri errors and made the most of their centre passes, while defensively, they were tight on the opposition, especially in Taieri’s attacking third.
Southern goal keep Penny Johnson was disruptive throughout the game, deflecting the ball away from Taieri attackers.
Wing attack Sara McCarthy and centre Grace Herdman moved well in their attacking third and hit the circle edge, making their feeds into the shooters easier.
The team played with length and, at times, was able to move the ball quickly down the court.
It was a solid performance for Southern’s first outing of the season.
Taieri had good moments throughout the game but struggled to string them together for the duration.
Centre Rachel Beattie led the attacking end and picked up a few intercepts on defence, while wing defence Zara Forgie did her best to pressure the Southern attackers.
Taieri’s second and third quarters were its best with some nice feeds into the shooters and gains on defence.
In other games, Phys Ed B beat St Hilda’s 61-25, Phys Ed A downed South Pacific A 82-26, and College beat Phys Ed C 61-25.
