The story of the underdog rang true on Monday night at NWU Pukke claimed an unexpected 56-48 win against defending champions Kovsies to claim a place in the final against Maties.
Earlier in the first semi-final Maties beat Tuks in Pretoria which set the tone for the underdogs to bark loudly on the night and show that they also had bite.

Bloem’s firm favorites and the Potch underdogs went into battle in a do or die clash at the Callie Human Hall in Bloemfontein.

The Mostert’s Karla and Tanya needed to be kept in check during the match and they had a quiet game as Renske Stoltz and Sigi Burger had the better of them with great team play. Each player played to their strengths.

Kovsies goals also kept coming in thanks to Danelle Willemse but her shooting left her behind at times in the second quarter as Pukke’s defence made it extremely difficult to gain momentum.
The core was tight in the opening exchanges at 7-7 with both defences getting intercept to gain possession.

Stoltz had a fantastic game which fantastic long range shots and intercepts. She deservedly won the player of the match award. Pukke dominated in the second quarter with a 22-16 lead. Pukke retained their momentum and took a 28-19 lead at half time.

At half time NWU Pukke’s goal shooter, Burger had a much better first half than Willemse, her opponent at the other end. Burger had a 87% goal success while Willemse struggled with 67%.

The body language of Kovsies was not great at the start of the third quarter as Pukke piled on the pressure. Kovsies though made a spirited comeback with the introduction of Denielle van der Merwe
Kovsies, as defending champions were not going to let Pukke steamroll them and had their moments in the final quarter. Kovsies last chance was with the powerplay which they took with nine minutes to go in the match.

Kovsies though could not capatalise on this as rather ironically Pukke took most advantage from it as they headed into a commanding 11 point lead.

Pukke’s defence was superb with 6 defensive rebounds between Zandre Kruger, Jeante Strydom and Maronel Scherman during the match.

“We are very proud of the girls. Today we came together as a team and stuck to the basics. We are ready and positive for the final against Maties,” said Pukke captain, Izanna Muller.

Pukke will now face Maties in the final in Stellenbosch next Monday, 19 October to crown a new Varsity Netball champion.