Day two of the Telkom Netball League offered five games at the Olive Convention Centre. The morning started with a nail-biting encounter between last year’s finalists- the Southern Stings and the Free State Crinums. The Crinums survived a late see-saw battle and beat the Stings 62-60.
The Stings looked like they had control of the game in the first half but poor decision making came into play which gave the Free State side a chance to close the gap to just two goals in the third quarter. The Stings failed to utilize the opportunity to draw level in the final thirty seconds and the Crinums made use of the turnover ball to win the game by a two-goal margin.
In the second match, the Limpopo Baobabs and the Eastern Cape Comets got their TNL campaign underway. Both teams put up a fight in a tightly contested three quarters, but the Baobabs proved to be stronger as they pulled away in the last quarter to win the game 46-40.
Former player- Emily Mathosa who has taken over the reins from Anna Ledwaba who led the Baobabs to the semi-finals last year says winning the first game was part of her plans, ‘’What worked for us is keeping our own center passes because it is hard to lose the game if you keep your own center pass. The girls were also able to fall back for defense and give a good fight and turn balls, which helped us pull away from the Comets’’.
In the other Division one match, the Golden Fireballs sent a stern warning after beating the North West Flames 62-35. Debutant- Owethu Ngubane certainly played her role to the big score-line, boasting an eighty-five-goal percentage which earned her the player of the match accolade. The Flames coach- Elsunet Du Plessis made nine changes in total, in an attempt to cripple the Fireballs’ attack but Dr Elsje Jordaan’s side refused to back down and added more fuel to the fire.
Meanwhile, the Mpumalanga Sunbirds defeated the Northern Cape Diamonds 53-31. Sunbirds coach- Thembisile Mdluli made use of her entire team, trying out different combinations which still worked in her favour. The final match of the day was a cliffhanger between the home side- Kingdom Queens and the Tornados who were opening their campaign. The Queens claimed a 34-31 win after turning the tables in the dying minutes of the game thanks to the defensive efforts of the player of the match- Thulisa Maduna.
Full results:
Stings 60-62 Crinums
Baobabs 46-40 Comets
Flames 35-62 Fireballs
Diamonds 31-53 Sunbirds
Tornados 31-34 Queens
Friday (29/04/22) Fixtures:
08:00- Comets vs Diamonds
10:00- Crinums vs Stars
12:00- Aloes vs Baobabs
14:00- Jaguars vs Fireballs
16:00- Sunbirds vs Queens
18:00- Stings vs Flames
