College Red made its debut in the Dunedin premier A competition on Saturday.
The team moved up to the top grade from premier B after winning its promotion-relegation game against Taieri on Tuesday night.
At the weekend, it lost to Southern Magpies 45-33 in the first game of round two.
Not much separated the teams in the first quarter.
College took an early 4-1 advantage but Southern was able to pull it back and level the score.
A run of five goals helped Southern take a three-point lead heading into the second period.
Centre Grace Herdman picked up a couple of turnovers early, while wing attack Sara McCarthy was quick and drove well to the circle edge.
It was not always pretty netball though, as both teams were guilty of throwing misplaced passes and not capitalising when they had possession.
Southern shooters had a tough time landing their shots in the first half but found their rhythm later on.
College goal keep Natalie Sherman made the most of the rebounds on offer, often in the right place to grab the ball or tip it to her team-mates on the edge of the circle.
Her team outscored Southern by two in the low-scoring second quarter, during which the teams scored a combined 14 goals.
The margin was just one goal at halftime.
Southern stepped up in the second half — its flow on attack improved and goal shoot Harriett Cuttance held nice space in the circle.
Defender Penny Johnson, who started at goal keep and then moved forward to goal defence, was strong and collected ball throughout the game.
A run of three goals and then four helped Southern edge ahead and lead by seven.
That pushed out to 12 by the end of the game.
College wing defence Laurel Williams kept the pressure on the opposition right until the end, doing her best to create turnovers.
Overall, College performed well in its first outing in premier A and showed why it deserves its spot.
The other premier games produced some interesting results.
Phys Ed A beat Columba College Senior A 46-38, College A downed Phys Ed C 44-39, and Phys Ed B defeated St Hilda’s 56-42.
