Gauteng remained unbeaten at the end of the round robin section of the SPAR National Netball Championships at Hoy Park with a 45-25 victory over Mpumalanga on Friday.
The match against one of the weaker teams gave Gauteng coach Jenny van Dyk the opportunity to give some of her bench players a run and to rest critical players ahead of the final against defending champions Western Cape on Saturday. The match against was by no means a walkover as the Mpumalanga defense was tight and the Gauteng shooters had to fight hard to score.
Van Dyk said afterwards she was pleased with the way the tournament had progressed and Friday’s match had been a good workout ahead of the final.
“We’ve been preparing for the final since Day One, working on our tactics and strategies,” she said.
“I took pages of notes during our match against Western Cape yesterday, and we will spend some time seeing where we did not execute our game plan. But it will all depend on the quality of decision-making on the court tomorrow. I can do as much as I can to prepare them, but it is down to the players on the court.”
Western Cape breezed past Northern Cape, beating them 69-12.
“It was a nice relaxed game, and we are going to relax today,” said coach Annelie Lucas.
“The girls are going to the beach this afternoon and they are not going to think about netball. They know what they have to do tomorrow. I have a few options up my sleeve. What we are going to focus on is a tight defense and the need to get the ball into the circle so that our shooters can score goals.”
North West thumped Eastern Cape 57-15 to finish the tournament in fourth position, while last year’s finalists, Free State beat KwaZulu Natal 50-39. They clinched the bronze medal when they beat North West 35-28 on Thursday.
