The SPAR Baby Proteas bounced back to winning ways at the Netball World Youth Cup on Friday, with a decisive 59-35 victory over African counterparts Uganda in Gaborone, Botswana.
They have now qualified to play Jamaica for fifth place on Sunday.
The South African Under-21s got off to a good start, winning the first quarter 18-5 and were 34-13 ahead at halftime.
Uganda made a number of changes early on as they tried to resist the South African pressure.
Goalshooter Danelle Lochner, who was named player of the match, and goal-attack Talja Venter appeared more confident than they had been against New Zealand on Thursday, and kept getting the ball in the net.
The South Africans were generally able to able to maintain possession, and when the Ugandans turned over the ball, the Baby Proteas were usually able to turn it again.
With a substantial half-time lead, coach Dorette Badenhorst was able to bring on some of her bench players, but Uganda stepped up a gear and began to fight back.
At one stage, the Ugandan goalshooter was sent off for five minutes for over-robust play, and the umpire later told the captain to warn her players about being too physical.
Still, the Ugandans began to claw their way back, restricting South Africa to 10 goals in the third quarter, and nearly winning the final quarter, which South Africa eventually won 15-14.
‘We knew it was going to be physical, so we were prepared to deal with that,’ said Badenhorst. ‘The team played much better than they did against Australia and New Zealand, and they stuck to their game plan,’ she said.
‘I’m much happier today – Jamaica will be another tough match, but we have a day off to prepare for them.
‘We’ll be analysing the matches they have played and working out how to deal with them. We finished fifth in the last Youth Cup in Glasgow, Scotland in 2013, and we are determined to maintain our position this time.’
For her part, ex-national player turned manager, Dumisani Chauke said: ‘Today’s encounter went very well and I don’t think it was quite as physical as we expected it to be. Our girls played excellent netball.
‘They stuck to the game plan and we managed to score from our centre passes and turned a few of Uganda’s centre passes. We were disciplined both on attack and defence and we reaped the rewards.’
Picture of Talja Venter in action against Uganda courtesy of Reg Caldecott