Tuks beats Maties to set up Varsity Netball final clash against Pukke
Tukkies went through to the Varsity Netball final when they beat Maties from Stellenbosch in the semi-final on Monday night.
The Tuks netball team possible played one their best games ever on Monday night to beat Maties by 74-43. In doing so, they qualified for the third time in five years to play in the Varsity-final.
And what a final it is going to be. Pukke from Potchefstroom beat Kovsies 53-37 in the other semi-final to claim their spot. They are the defending Varsity champions after defeating Tuks by one goal in last year’s final.
Pukke is the only unbeaten team this year in the competition while Tuks only lost once and that was against the team of Potchefstroom and that was just by six goals.
Tuks scored so far in eight games 503 goals and conceded 283 while Northwest-Pukke scored 459 and conceded 250.
The final is on Monday night at the Tuks Rembrandt Hall on the Tuks sports campus.
The way Tuks outplayed Maties was somewhat of a surprise. Apart from the first quarter which ended with only a one-goal difference, it was one-way traffic for the rest of the game.
Tuks’s coach, Jenny van Dyk, ascribed her team’s dominance to the fact that they were better prepared.
“In the first Varsity encounter Maties caught us off-guard with their fast tempo of play. That led to us being under pressure for the whole match, scraping through by just two goals to take the victory. As we knew what to expect we could prepare how to neutralise Maties on their strong points”, said Van Dyk after the game.
The Tuks captain, Shadine van der Merwe, who has been outstanding throughout the tournament managed to finetune disrupting any opposition attack to an art. At times it seems as if she knew what the opposition planned on doing even before they decided to do so.
Goalkeeper Jasmine Ziegelmeier also played her part in frustrating Maties in the circle.
Ine-Mari Venter (goal scorer) and Rumandi Potgieter (goal attack) were both relentless in the way they sunk the one goal after another. Their accuracy led to Venter receiving the player of the match award and Potgieter the best shot award.
Tuks and Maties set a new Varsity record on Monday night by scoring 117 goals. The previous record for most goals in a semi-final was 114. Ironically it was when the same two teams clashed in 2014.
The big question is whether it will be the third time lucky for Tuks on Monday night. If they do win Jenny van Dyk will also make local netball history as a coach. It will be the first time that the same coach wins the Brutal Fruit-series, the Senior Provincial Championships and the Varsity-series in the same year.
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