Netball: south completes double over north
Thato Kala | Monday August 25, 2014 15:43
The two sides were meeting for the second time in the newly introduced Super Stars tournament and the southerners proved the stronger side again. But this time north could have easily won the match had they been more precise with their shooting. The first quarter was a close contest and only produced 16 goals.
South went to the second quarter leading 10-6, but it could have been more than that had it not been for a solid north defence.
Mphoentle Gumede, named the outstanding player of that game, formed a solid backline with Otsile Mpala and they kept the southern attack at bay for much of the game. They were, however, let down by their attackers who lacked cohesion and were wasteful upfront. Jungle Queens dynamo Khumo Tutuwe, usually player Wing Defence or Centre, was played out of position in the opening quarter. She struggled at Wing Attack and had to be replaced by Dosto Sakaiwa in the second quarter. The UB Crystals captain picked up the northerners. She collected centre passes and converted them upfront very well.
Towards the end of the second quarter, the southern side looked exhausted while their opponents continued adding firepower.
Northern have been training and camp together ahead of the games. The usually reliable Nancy Morobe was not functioning at GA and the south side still struggled to shoot upfront . Coach Sithulile Mlotshwa had counted on Morobe’s experience. She made a change and introduced and new Centre who combined well with Sakaiwa.
She also pulled out Keamogetse Modise from her wing defence position and introduced Gaolatlhe Molefhe.
Molefhe was a little too slow to contain the marauding southerners. The north led 18-20 in the third quarter and at that stage the game could have gone either way. But south came back and maintained dominance in the final quarter. They notched a few 12 goals in the quarter to wrap up a hard fought win.
Gumede blamed poor shooting for the loss. “If we had a good shooter upfront we could have won this game, but I am happy we played fairly well in this game,” Gumede said. She added she was happy with her performances. Team BONA continued with their fine performances when they humiliated Future Stars 77-8 in a one-sided encounter.
Team BONA are preparing for next month’s 2015 Africa World Championships Qualifiers that will be hosted by the country. The team is currently in camp and has won all the Super Stars matches convincingly.
Meanwhile, the Under 17 COSSASA Games team left the country yesterday for Lusaka, Zambia. Four of the team members were part of the team that represented the country in the Africa Youth Games in May this year including captain Sarona Hans.
“We have prepared well for this and I am confident we will bring something from Zambia,” Hans told Monitor Sport.
Her Super Stars team MaLittle week was inactive at the weekend because of the Zambia trip. Other results:
Spar North 22-68 Team Bona;
Spar North 39-38 Future Stars