THE Spar Proteas racked up their sixth win in the SPAR Challenge Tri Nations netball tournament at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Wednesday when they beat Uganda 44-32 to secure the trophy.
Both teams have met three times in this tournament with South Africa coming out on tops on all three occasions.
This was always going to be a tough match for both teams because South Africa wanted to maintain their one hundred percent record in the tournament and Uganda do not want to lose all matches against the hosts.
The Spar Proteas beat Uganda and Namibia three times each.
It was a tough match for the Spar Proteas, who were made to fight all the way by the Ugandan She-Cranes, who were in the lead until the middle of the third quarter.
The She Cranes, who had a rest day on Tuesday, came out guns blazing and went into the lead (5-4) midway through the first quarter.
Uganda made use of high, fast passes and their shooters appeared unstoppable. By the end of the first quarter, they were 10-7 ahead.
The Spar Proteas started clawing their way back in the second quarter, which they won by ten goals to nine. The halftime score was 19-17 to Uganda.
At one stage, Uganda were a substantial nine goals ahead, but South Africa scored seven goals on the trot to make up the difference. They drew level (22-22) five minutes into the third quarter.
A few strategic changes were made in the second half by Dorette Badenhorst, and these seem to have done the trick as the team pulled back and reduced the two-point deficit that they had suffered in the second quarter and managed to win the championship quarter 28 – 25, this was the first time South Africa took a lead in this match.
The fourth quarter was no different for the Spar Proteas as they started this homestretch quarter. Uganda had gone to this point of the match without making any changes.
South Africa kept the same team, and they were burning this candle on both ends as they managed to get over the finish line and won the match 44 – 32. South Africa conclude this series as the only unbeaten team.
The South African shooting pair, Sian Moore and Renske Stoltz, had difficulty getting the ball into the net for much of the first part of the match, although Stoltz scored a blinder from the edge of the circle.
Captain Bongi Msomi at wing attack and Izette Griesel at centre combined superbly to feed the ball into the circle, and goal defence Monique Reyneke was outstanding, intercepting and turning the ball on a number of occasions.
Rome Joubert, who has announced her retirement from international netball, came on for the last five minutes to tumultuous applause from her teammates. She first represented South Africa at the Quad Series in 2018 and had 22 caps before the start of the series.
Spar Proteas coach Dorette Badenhorst was happy with the victory, although she said there was always a lot to work on.
“What is worrying is that our shooters’ percentages are too low. It’s no good the centre court getting the ball to the circle if the shooters don’t get the ball in the net,” she said.
Badenhorst said the Spar Challenge series had been very valuable as the Spar Proteas prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next year and the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023.
“These were ranking matches, and because Uganda are in the top 10, we get good ranking points from beating them.
“It was also valuable to see the depth of talent in the next tier of players. Some of them will play at the World Cup and it is good to see how much talent we have.”
Msomi, who was named most valued player, said the Spar Challenge and the weeks of preparation preceding it, had been very important as new players were brought into the fold and took on the identity of Spar Proteas players.
“We are very much a team and the new players have bought into that,” said Msomi.
Earlier, the President’s XII beat the Namibian Desert Jewels 44-32, after leading 23-16 at halftime.
SCORE BREAKDOWN – Namibia vs President’s XII
Q1: Namibia 9 – 9 President’s XII
HT: Namibia 16 – 23 President’s XII
FT: Namibia 32 – 44 President’s XII
SHOOTING STATS – Namibia
Anna Kaspar: 20/26 (76.9)
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