The Fireballs’ fighting spirit in the third quarter didn’t yield any results in the end as they lost 49-38 to the Kingdom Stars. The Stars had an impressive start, leading 14-6 in the first quarter but the tension lifted during a tight third quarter as the Fireballs attempted to stage a comeback. The Fireballs closed the gap in the championship quarter after winning 10-8 but it was the KZN side that maintained their momentum to win the game. This was the second encounter between the two sides in the first leg with the Stars securing victories in both matches.
An arm-wrestle in the first quarter saw the Mpumalanga Sunbirds and the Eastern Cape Comets drawn heading into the second quarter. Both teams were desperate for their second win in the competition, but it was the Sunbirds strong defensive pressure that got them a 36-27 lead in the third quarter. Despite both teams making twenty-eight turnovers apiece, it was the Sunbirds who succeeded in converting most of them to win the game 49-42.
Sunbirds’ coach- Thembisile Ngwenya was pleased with the fact that her team concluded their first leg campaign with a win, ‘’I’m very happy and the girls showed up today. They stuck to the game plan and listened to every single instruction that I gave them and that makes me happy’’. Comets’ coach- Wendy Higson summed up her teams’ performance so far, ‘’We have improved in every game in the things that we do. Today, the girls were tired so we going to go back and work on our fitness. It’s been a good learning curve because now they realize that they need to be fit’’.
The game between the Jaguars and the Flames wrapped up the first leg at the Heartfelt Arena in the City of Tshwane. The Jaguars continued with their winning ways after beating the Flames 66-19. The Gauteng side finish the first leg unbeaten and sit comfortably at the top of Division one. The Flames will need to use the break effectively ahead of the second leg having lost all their matches. Last year, the North West team managed to win four out of ten games and finished second last subsequently missing out on a place in the semi-finals.
Sunday, 12th September 2021 was the last day of the Telkom Netball League first leg. Second leg of the tournament will resume on the 09th of October in Rustenburg. Fixtures for the second leg are available on www.netball-sa.org.za
