Cape Town and Tshwane remained the only unbeaten title contenders after the second day of action at the SPAR National Netball Championships at Stellenberg High School on Friday.
One of the standout clashes of the day saw hosts Cape Town take on four-time defending champions Johannesburg in a repeat of last year's senior A section final.
The clash lived up to expectations, with Cape Town pulling away in the closing stages for a 55-47 victory.
Johannesburg looked well in control as they took a 16-11 lead by the end of the first quarter. But a strong second quarter from the home side saw them equalise and then go ahead for the first time in the game at 22-21. They took a two-goal lead into the halftime break and Joburg only managed to close that gap in the final minute of the third quarter. That sent the teams into the final period all square on 39-39.
But Cape Town dominated the final quarter to seal an eight-goal victory. They know better than to read too much into the result, though. Last year, they also beat Johannesburg in the round-robin stage before the defending champions edged them by a single goal in the final.
Speaking about the win, Sigi Burger – playing at these championships for the first time since 2018 – said: “I think it was just like the fact that we were really hungry, but also just the clinicality. I think we knew going into this how important and crucial it was to do the basics right.”
Determined not to follow last year’s pattern, Burger added: “Confidence goes a long way… But we’re not resting on our laurels. We know netball is a game of momentum, and it's the team with the least mistakes that wins. So, taking it from here, we will just continue to grind and take every single game, every single quarter from 0-0, and just have the aim of winning quarter by quarter with good, clean netball.”
TSHWANE WIN TIGHT GAME
Earlier in the day, Johannesburg earned their first win of the tournament with a 62-57 victory over the Alfred Nzo team, while Cape Town defeated Nelson Mandela Bay 59-52 in their morning match.
Meanwhile, another one of the tightest matches of the day was contested by the teams from Tshwane and Mangaung. Tshwane took a firm grip on the game in the first half, notching up an 18-9 lead by the first break and extending that to 31-18 by halftime. But a spirited fightback from the Free State side saw them win the third quarter by 17 goals to eight, meaning there was all to play for in the fourth, which proved to be a see-saw affair.
The Tshwane side held on to win by just one goal in the end (51-50) and goal defence Luca Keun admitted afterwards that her side were guilty of taking their foot off the pedal in the second half.
“I think we got complacent,” she said. “I think if you have a 13-goal lead, obviously when you go back on court, you need to keep fighting because you know Mangaung is a team who will keep fighting until the end, but we just got complacent. We dropped the shoulders a bit, but I think in the end there, we got it back.”
Keun expressed pride in the team for holding on to secure the win and said the tight contest was good preparation for potential playoff matches next week. She remains confident her team could go all the way.
“It's the first time we've had this much experience in our team again, so I really think we can pull it through. We have players who can play big games, and I really think we can do it.”
Later in the day, Tshwane claimed a comfortable 62-41 victory against eThekwini, who had earlier put up an impressive fight against the Dr Kenneth Kaunda team from the North West. But Dr KK eventually emerged 50-45 winners. The North West side’s last game of the day saw them beaten 52-56 by Mangaung.
In the under-21 A section, coach Bongi Msomi’s two-time defending champion Johannesburg side continued their winning run with a 53-40 victory over the Dr Kenneth Kaunda side.
Results
Senior A section
Alfred Nzo 47 – 62 Johannesburg
Nelson Mandela Bay 52 – 59 Cape Town
Mangaung 50 – 51 Tshwane
Dr Kenneth Kaunda 50 – 45 eThekwini
Namibia 54 – 21 Alfred Nzo
Botswana 36 – 29 Nelson Mandela Bay
Cape Town 55 – 47 Johannesburg
Dr Kenneth Kaunda 52 – 56 Mangaung
Tshwane 62 – 41 eThekwini
Under-21 A section
Mangaung 45 – 36 Tshwane
Ekurhuleni 33 – 51 Cape Town
Dr Kenneth Kaunda 40 – 53 Johannesburg
Royal Bafokeng 38 – 42 Mangaung
Cape Town 38 – 57 Tshwane