Namibia Correctional Service (NCS) is closing in on the MTC Namibia Netball Premier League title after maintaining their unbeaten streak with two victories over the weekend.
On Saturday morning they beat Afrocat Lions 38-21 and followed it up with a 36-24 victory over Tigers to move seven points clear at the top of the log.
They have gone on an unbeaten streak of 18 matches and with only four matches remaining they are now strong favourites to win the title for the third year in a row.
NCS, in fact, have dominated Namibian netball in recent years, winning the title four times over the past five years, but captain Mwale Mulenamaswe did not want to start celebrating too soon.
“I don’t want to say too much, let’s just wait until 4 October and see,” she said after their win against Afrocat.
Despite the comprehensive scoreline, she said it wasn’t an easy win.
“I wouldn’t say we won comfortably – it was a big battle. Every team moving forward is going to bring everything to the match, because they are playing NCS and they obviously want to be the team that beats the champions,” she said.
“But we are really happy with the result, it’s not the score that we wanted, but a win is a win at the end of the day,” she added.
NCS started on the attack, moving 4-0 ahead before going on to win the first quarter 9-2. They pulled further away in the second quarter to move 18-6 ahead by half-time.
NCS maintained their dominance after the break although Afrocat made a determined comeback, reducing the deficit to 29-14 by the third quarter, before NCS completed a 15-point victory.
Afrocat’s coach, Dimitri Bittler, said he was pleased with their performance despite a slow start.
“Overall, I think the girls did well. We had a slow start and we found it difficult to catch up with them, but after that, I think we gave them a good go after half-time when we were quite evenly matched. I think we gave them a run for their money, although the scoreline was not what we wanted,” he said.
The result left them just above the relegation zone, fifth from bottom, but Bittler said he was confident that they can climb up the log.
“We started the season quite slow. with a new squad, so we were at the bottom at the end of the first leg of the league. But after that, we bounced back and I think we are in contention now, at least to be winning most of our remaining matches,” he said.
“I think we are becoming more consistent now, so I think we’re definitely going to climb up the log because the difference in goal difference from ninth to fifth is probably one or two points,” he added.
True to his word, Afrocat, changed their fortunes around with a 30-27 victory against Tigers the following day, to ease their relegation fears a bit as they moved up to eighth place.
Otjozondjupa Nampol, meanwhile, moved up to 29 points in second position on the log after beating Mighty Gunners 39-30 in the Otjiwarongo Derby on Saturday.
They still have five matches remaining, but with a seven-point deficit on NCS, it is highly unlikely that they will make up the deficit.
Unam Ogongo remain third on the log on 26 points after beating Extreme Eagles 40-36.
Ogongo have built up a big lead over the rest of the field with Eastern Chiefs trailing eight points behind in fourth position after they beat Cuca Tops 30-26.
Namibian Navy moved up to 17 points in fifth position after a hard fought 52-50 victory against Mighty Gunners, while Tigers are now sixth on 16 points after they could only win one of their three matches. They beat Wanderers 38-34, but lost to NCS (36-24) and Afrocat Lions (30-27).
Extreme NC, Afrocat Lions and Mighty Gunners are all on 15 points, and deep in the relegation battle, along with Wanderers (12) and Unam Jaguars (nine), while Cuca Tops on zero points have already been relegated.
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