The Golden Fireballs tore up the record books in their Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League match against the Northern Cape Diamonds at the UCT Indoor Sports Centre on Sunday.
The Fireballs scored 90 goals and limited the Diamonds to 10 – the lowest number of goals conceded since the tournament started in 2014.
The previous highest number of goals scored was by the North West Flames against the Diamonds in 2016, and the least goals conceded was 14, by the Southern Stings, against the Mpumalanga Sunbirds, in 2014. The goal difference of 80 was also the highest.
The teams appeared to be from different planets. The woeful Diamonds seemed to have lost the ability to catch the ball and the Fireballs stole pass after pass after pass. Fireballs coach Elsje Jordaan used the opportunity to try out different structures and angles.
“There was no point in taking just three moves to get the ball into the circle,” she said.
“We would gain nothing from that.
“I wanted to run lines and try out different structures. I was very happy with the way our defence limited their goals to 10 – that was a magnificent effort.”
For Diamonds coach Maria Maiya, it was another thumping defeat. She now has to return to Kimberley to try out ways of improving the situation.
“It’s very difficult,” she said.
“We come from a large area and I can’t monitor their training or their leagues to see if they are following our training programmes.
“In their hearts, they want to be better, and they never give up trying.”
