Fireballs, Jaguars and Baobabs claim good wins

The Fireballs claimed a nailbiting 45-44 victory over the Crinums in their Telkom Netball League clash at the Heartfelt Arena in Pretoria on Saturday.

Both teams were unbeaten coming into this game and locked on eight points apiece. The first quarter was a tightly contested affair, but the Crinums had the upper hand with a two-goal lead.

The same intensity carried over to the second quarter; the defensive pressure from both teams resulted in a turnover battle, however, the Crinums were quick to profit from the gains that presented themselves and extend their lead by four goals at halftime.

The two sides were equally dominant in the third quarter and showed brilliant passages of play. Tshina Mdau and Bongi Msomi fed Owethu Ngubane and Nomfundo Mngomezulu with great precision in trying to keep up with the Crinums, who had good control of the ball amidst their quick movements.

The Fireballs worked overtime on defence and their efforts saw them deadlocked at 30-all in the last eight minutes of the game. The Crinums welcomed the strategic stoppage time that was called by coach Martha Mosoahle Samm.

Martha made wholesale changes, five to be exact, to match the strong finish she had hoped for. Crinums’ goal keeper Ané Retief received a warning in the dying minutes of the game, which injected some more confidence in the Fireballs’ shooting circle to slot the last goal in before the final whistle and claim a 45-44 victory.

Incredible scenes at the Heartfelt Arena in Pretoria as the Fireballs celebrate their 45-44 #TNL win over the Crinums ?? pic.twitter.com/8NUswDIxoy
— SuperSport ?? (@SuperSportTV) June 3, 2023

‘’It’s all about belief. It starts with the belief, by the end of the third quarter before the fourth, I said to them, I don’t see the belief and I want to see it in your eyes before you get off this bench and, they did. We didn’t play well, we struggled with ball in hand, we were very expensive and we made bad decisions at critical stages but, when you play bad and, you can pull off a game like this, that’s a sign of a good team’,’ Fireballs coach Dr Elsje Jordaan said after the game.

JAGUARS POUNCE ON STINGS

Another enticing game saw the Gauteng Jaguars win two back-to-back wins after beating the Stings 53-40.

The Stings were looking to redeem themselves after giving away a three-quarter lead on Friday and ended up losing to the Crinums by three goals.

The Stings created multiple chances and had 31 attempts at halftime, but were unable to capitalise on those opportunities, sitting on a 68 goal per centage.

However, credit must be given to the Jaguars team who were determined to go for a clinical win judging by the good decision making that was evident on court.

BOABABS TOO STRONG FOR COMETS

And lastly, Cornelia Mupenda produced another player of the match performance to steer the Limpopo Baobabs to their third victory after beating the Eastern Cape Comets 59-32.

Both teams showed plenty of energy in the first quarter and at that point no one could tell who this game would go in favour of, even though the Baobabs took an early four-goal lead.

The Baobabs defence did a great job in silencing the Comets' drives on attack, restricting the Eastern Cape side to scoring just six goals in the second quarter.

Coach Emily Mathosa’s changes only came in the third quarter when the Baobabs were 16 goals ahead, but all six changes that came in did not hinder the team’s momentum.

The Comets regained their mojo in the last quarter, but not enough time was left to try and make up for their mistakes. The Baobabs will next face the Lilies in the Limpopo derby on Sunday morning to wrap up the weekend's action.