Semifinal match-ups decided at Telkom Netball League

The North West Flames will face the Western Cape Southern Stings and the Gauteng Jaguars will take on the Free State Crinums in the semifinals of the Telkom Netball League next Friday.

That’s after the Flames defeated the Crinums 48-37 in their showdown at the University of Pretoria’s Rembrandt Hall on Sunday. The last time the teams went head to head, the Free State team claimed an eight-goal victory, but this time the day belonged to the side from the North West.

The Flames were firing from the start and took an early lead. There were plenty of errors on both sides of the court, but somehow the North West side managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over. They were six goals up by the first break at 14-8.

The second period saw the Crinums slowly working their way back into the match and closing the gap. There were still plenty of squandered opportunities on both sides, but by halftime the Free State team had narrowed the margin to three goals, with the Flames still leading 23-20 at the break.

The third quarter witnessed another surge coming from the Flames, who opened the gap to 10 points. The Crinums came back at them to get within five but finished the quarter 35-27 down. With the momentum well and truly on their side, the Flames then built on that lead to claim the 11-goal victory.

“Overall it was a great team performance,” said a thrilled Flames coach, Elsjé Jordaan, afterwards. “We’ve been talking about consistency and playing for four quarters and it’s the first time actually that we got it right so I’m happy with that,” she added, giving credit to her whole team but particularly the defence, with goalkeeper Simoné Rabie once again taking home the player of the match award.

“Simoné is just playing the netball of her life. She’s really enjoying herself out there. What was really great to see today was how the team stuck to the plan. Obviously we had a plan for their attack because we know that Lefébre [Rademan – goal attack] is quite a weapon for them and it worked. So the girls managed to stick with it and I think that was the difference today.”

As for avoiding the two-time defending champion Gauteng Jaguars in next weekend’s semifinals, Jordaan added: “You have to beat them all to win the competition, but we had a semi against the Jaguars last year so we’re happy to not have another semi against them. But the Stings are a quality outfit as well. They proved on Friday that they can play for 60 minutes.”

STARS OUTSHINE ALOES

Earlier, in a thrilling battle for top spot in division two and a shot at promotion, it was the KwaZulu-Natal Kingdom Stars that edged out the Eastern Cape Aloes 45-43. The last time the two sides met, they played to a 43-all draw and Sunday’s match was an equally exciting encounter.

The Stars raced to an early 3-0 lead, forcing the Aloes to play catch-up for much of the quarter once they eventually sprung into action. They reached the first break with the KZN side 13-11 up, but the second quarter belonged to the Aloes with much more smooth passages of play and accuracy giving them the edge. They managed to reach halftime two goals up but the remainder of the match was to be a see-saw affair with plenty of turnovers on both sides but neither team necessarily being able to make the most of their opportunities.

The Stars have developed a reputation of holding their nerve right to the final whistle and in the end, that proved to be the difference between the teams. After exchanging the lead several times, the Aloes were three goals up with four minutes left to play but struggled to hold onto possession and, looking a little flustered, some basic errors cost them. The Stars were able to capitalise and claim the two-goal win.

That means they’ll face the bottom side in the first division, the Gauteng Golden Fireballs, in next weekend’s promotion/relegation playoff.

“This game is so unpredictable – you’ve just got to love it,” said a thrilled Stars captain Precious Mthembu afterwards. “I think the girls just showed passion in the field and composure and that was the most important thing – the spirit of the girls was just phenomenal.”

Mthembu added that confidence is high that her team can earn promotion to the top division next year.

“We’re expecting a bit more experience from the Fireballs, having played in the first division. But I think we showed today that we can play with composure. We’ve got the speed and fitness. We’ve just got to play with a lot of patience throughout next week. We’ve got a lot of homework to do, but I think we’ve got it. We can take the Fireballs.”

SUNBIRDS PIP BAOBABS

Meanwhile, in other second division action for third and fourth place on the log, there was another closely fought contest as the Mpumalanga Sunbirds beat the Limpopo Baobabs 50-49. The Sunbirds had led for much of the game, reaching the end of the third quarter five goals up on 40-35, but the Limpopo side came back at them in the final period. The Baobabs were in possession and entering the shooting circle when the final hooter sounded, so bringing an end to their hopes of equalising and pushing the game into extra time.

The victory was a reversal of the result from their first encounter, which the Baobabs won by two goals.

TELKOM NETBALL LEAGUE RESULTS

Division 1

North West Flames beat Free State Crinums 48-37

Division 2

KwaZulu-Natal Kingdom Stars beat Eastern Cape Aloes 45-43
Mpumalanga Sunbirds beat Limpopo Baobabs 50-49