Local Netball teams make a clean sweep at national championships
Both the senior and under 21 teams of Tshwane were crowned national netball champions this past weekend.
Tshwane had a clean sweep in the SPAR national netball finals at the University of the Witwatersrand sports hall this past weekend, beating Dr Kenneth Kaunda in both the under-21 and senior finals.
In the senior competition, defending champions Tshwane made it two in a row when they beat Dr Kenneth Kaunda 52-48.
It was a match in which neither side had the upper hand until the second period of extra time, when Tshwane outplayed the North West side.
Tshwane took the early lead and were four goals ahead before Dr Kenneth Kaunda caught up and then passed them in the second quarter. At the end of the first quarter, Tshwane were 14-11 ahead, but Dr Kenneth Kaunda won the second quarter 13-9 to lead 24-23 at half time.
Tshwane won the third quarter 7-6, and Dr Kenneth Kaunda appeared to be heading for victory when they were 10-9 in the lead until the final minutes of the last quarter when Tshwane once again closed in on them to draw level on 40-all, scoring the crucial equaliser in the last 30 seconds of regular play.
However, it was in extra time that the Pretoria girls showed that they had the right temperament for the big moment under pressure. In this phase, they finished the game in their favour by scoring 12 points against 8.
The lead changed hands constantly throughout the match and the teams were never more than five goals apart. Dr Kenneth Kaunda’s defensive team of Simone Rable and Monique Reynecke, who had appeared impregnable during the round robin stage of the tournament, appeared to be mere mortals once again, while Akosua Mensah (GD) and Jasmine Ziegelmeier (GK) were outstanding at the other end of the court. Mensah in particular succeeded with some dazzling turnovers.
But it was Tshwane’s shooters who made all the difference. Goalshooter Venetia Grobler scored 31 goals from 35 attempts and goal attack Chantelle Swart 21 from 27, whereas the Dr Kenneth Kaunda shooters struggled to get the ball in the net, even from under the post. Chante Louw (GS) scored only 35 goals from 52 attempts and Elsunet du Plessis (GA) 12 from 27.
In the centre of the court, Tshwane captain Tshina Mdau had a very good game in the pivotal role of wing attack.
It had been a rough week for Tshwane, starting with the news that their charismatic coach, Jenny van Dyk, had to go into hospital for emergency surgery. They also suffered two defeats in the round robin stage, going down to Dr Kenneth Kaunda and Mangaung.
Stand-in coach Sone Mokken said she thought the defeats had been good for the team.
“It brought them down to earth and made them realise that they had to work hard for victory. They made mistakes in the final, but they kept coming back. We had developed a strategy to deal with Dr Kenneth Kaunda’s amazing defensive pair and it worked,” said Mokken.
According to Mdau her team just kept pushing and fighting for every point.
“I think having the experience of winning a final helped and we kept our composure,” said Mdau after the final.
– Earlier on Saturday the Tshwane under-21 team beat Dr Kenneth Kaunda 37-34 to make it a clean sweep at the championships for the teams from Pretoria.
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