Team SA’s netballers kept their unbeaten run going and stamped themselves as gold medal favourites when powering to a 58-14 victory over Botswana in Region 5 Youth Games action at the Maseru Club, writes Gary Lemke.
The win was their fourth in succession and follows similar wide victories over Zambia (39-14), Lesotho (57-22) and Malawi (42-27). However, this was probably their most impressive so far and a clear marker to Malawi, who they face in Wednesday’s final, that they will be very difficult to beat.
Afterwards, coach Precious Mthembu expressed her delight at the way Team SA stuck to their task, after what she admits was “a sloppy start”. But, after the first quarter, Team SA already had a six-goal advantage (12-6) and then built on that through the second quarter where they led 24-9.
However, they really stepped up in intensity and accuracy in the final two quarters, easing out to a 42-12 lead by the end of the third quarter and closing out the match in style in the last 15 minutes.
“Yes, I thought the girls were brilliant today,” Mthembu, herself a decorated former senior Protea player, said. “But, I feel there were mitigating factors in why we started so sluggishly.
“Firstly, we tried different combinations today, as we wanted to rest some players and try to introduce others so that everyone gets game time.
“Also, Botswana proved tricky early on. They played a low game which meant that they bounced the ball a lot in their passing and we struggled to adapt to that quickly enough. We were called for obstruction quite a lot and made unnecessary errors in that regard. But, then we were able to shut down the loose areas and grew into the game.”
Mthembu paid tribute to her players for sticking to the game plan. “Yes, it took a while for us to get going, but Shani Mokken for instance was playing out of position in the centre, although Amber came through for us again in helping pile up the goals tally.
“The team is in a good space at the moment, the momentum keeps building and there’s a lot of positive vibes as we prepare for Malawi in the final. I watched them closely when we beat them again in other matches and I know they’ll bounce back strongly. But, we’ll be ready for them!”
Photo: Roger Sedres