Hawks thump hapless PUBS

THATO KALA
Correspondent | Monday June 24, 2013 00:00

 

The youthful outfit did everything right on the afternoon, but could not replicate the same form against defending national champions, BDF Cats. They succumbed to a 68-13 defeat at the hands of Cats who were without several stars on Saturday. Cats were without the likes of Hilda Binang, Ntebogang Motlakaleso, Kagisano Mawela and Gagotheko Tshelametsi but still managed to kick off their campaign on a high note.

Botswana international and Cats' GS Tebogo Radipotsane led the depleted champions with so much aplomb.But it was Hawks' first win that came in amazing fashion. The Mochudi outfit were inactive last season owing to financial constraints. Hawks made a return this season and went down fighting in their opening game of the campaign against star-studded Jungle Queens.

And on Saturday, as soon as the first quarter got going, they did not waste time with their GS Gaone Rapalai opening the scoresheet. Rapalai combined well with 40-goal scorer Dimpho Kgosiemang, who played GA.Hawks' defence that was marshaled by the towering Oratile Ramatlhodi did quite well.The coordination going forward was excellent, as they often made fast breaks with their GS Rapalai making no mistakes upfront. Their display in that game was, by far, better than their first outing against Queens. At the end of the first quarter, they led 16-2. They never looked back in the second quarter, as they continued to tear their opponents' defence apart. Interestingly, PUBS never scored a goal in the second quarter while Hawks bagged 17 goals in that quarter.  

PUBS struggled to string consistent exchanges, often making stray passes.Hawks took advantage, keeping possession quite well and camping in their opponents' half for the greater part of the quarter. Time and again, Kgosiemang fed off their first-rate exchanges in the final third and kept widening their lead.PUBS remained subdued in their third quarter and lost a lot of possession in midcourt. Had Hawks been more precise in front of goal in the third quarter, they could have bagged more goals. Kgosiemang also did well to drop and intercept PUBS' passes. Hawks turned on the heat in the final quarter with their GK Obakeng Phalaagae keeping PUBS' attackers at bay to polish off their first win in style.

Hawks' coach Lorato Thebekgosi said she was happy with their first victory and believes her young charges will keep getting better.'I'm quite happy with the win, the girls did well. We took advantage because PUBS were a bit low-key.It's obviously a morale booster for my girls,' she said. PUBS' captain Malebogo Radikgwatlhane blamed the loss on lack of cohesion.

'We hardly train together as a team and it showed in our game today,' she said. Newcomers Jwaneng Netball were also merciless as they picked up two wins on Saturday after beating PUBS and Centre Chiefs.They beat PUBS 49-14 before edging Chiefs 54-44. The Jwaneng outfit put up decent displays to give their maiden campaign a perfect start.They will obviously draw courage from the two wins as the season progresses. Meanwhile, the Botswana national netball team kicks off its Africa Championships campaign with a tie against Zambia tomorrow at 12 noon.Botswana is in Group One with hosts, Zambia and Zimbabwe. They play Zimbabwe on Wednesday and  Malawi on Thursday.The other group has Swaziland, Africa's netball powerhouse South Africa, Uganda and Namibia.The final of the tournament is set for Friday.