The Mpumalanga Sunbirds kicked off day five of the Telkom Netball League second leg with a 52-48 win against the Diamonds. This crucial victory has now steered them into the number four spot on the log in division two with a superior goal difference than the Eastern Cape Comets, who are now fifth. Sunbirds’ Goal Attack- Alyssa Trahms was influential upfront, sweeping swiftly in the shooting circle to convert those balls and her performance earned her a back-to-back player of the match accolade.
Game two saw the Limpopo Baobabs put on a second half defensive display and stunned the Tornados with a 53-44 victory. Baobabs’ captain- Nthabiseng Mothutsi showcased another player of the match performance at the back and destabilized the Tornados shooting pair of Anne Diedericks and Rieze Straeuli. Both teams boasted a similar goal percentage, but the Baobabs snared more intercepts and that made the difference as the Limpopo side safely secured a spot in the semi-finals. This was the Tornados second successive defeat in just twenty-four hours and coach Danlee Mathews lamented the lack of consistency from her troops.
‘’Again, the girls were quite inconsistent. We play good patches for five minutes and then ten minutes in the quarter, things go array. I definitely think it’s a psychological thing that these girls need to work on because our game plan works. I mean they do play, that ball goes in smoothly, so each one of us need to go back to the drawing board and start taking responsibility for our own game because that goes towards the whole teams’ performance’’, Danlee said.
Meanwhile, the Southern Stings were just too powerful for the Flames after beating them 61-28. The Flames only managed to score just four goals in the first quarter but coach- Lizelle Erasmus only made one change to her attacking side, bringing in Diana Hlongwane to replace Michelle Geduld on the Center position. The match was pretty much a one-sided affair as the Stings dominated throughout with a total of fifty-three turnovers and nineteen intercepts. The Flames are yet to win a game in the competition, and they will certainly be participating in the promotion/relegation match on Sunday.
In the last match, the Eastern Cape Aloes played their last round robin game and wrapped it up in style after a 43-30 win against the Kingdom Queens. The Aloes will have to wait until tomorrow to find out who they will be up against in the semi-finals which get underway on Friday.
