Australia held their ground continued their dominance over the SPAR Proteas with a 64 – 53 win over South Africa. Today’s win is the Diamonds 47th one.
When you compare the two nations, SPAR Proteas come into this match with at least ten test matches under their belt for 2025 while the Australian Diamonds are playing their first match one today. The two have met 46 times and Australia are yet to taste defeat.
The SPAR Proteas took to court today knowing that they need to put their best foot forward and do what they had never done before, which is to beat then current world champions.
Head Coach Jenny van Dyk has overtime maintained that to be the best you will need to play against the best – and this is what South Africa was aiming for today. While the Aussie Diamonds were the ones to get on the scoring board first, going three points clear in the opening few minutes of the opening quarter, the SPAR Proteas were very patient to be execute their game plan. It was not long before they levelled up.
SPAR Proteas showed real character and showed up for every pass – they displayed grit and resilience; they kept giving as much as they got. At the end of the first quarter – the two were locked at 14 points each.
With both teams’ level at the start of the second quarter, the Aussie Diamonds ramped out their attack and made sure to pull away from the SPAR Proteas while restricting them from scoring as many goals. As both teams went to half time, it was Australia who were leading 34 -26.
Jenny van Dyk made a few changes going into the third quarter with the introduction of Owethu Ngubane and Sanmarie Visser in place of Khanyisa Chawane and Shadine van der Merwe. South Africa seemed to have been more determined to play catch up – van der Merwe was brought back into the match half way through the quarter. At the end of the quarter, SPAR Proteas had scored 15 goals in response to Diamonds 16. Overall score after 45 minutes was 50 – 41 to Australia.
With Tarle Mathe’s legs growing tired, Coach van Dyk brought in Refiloe Nketsa in the centre to strengthen the midcourt. Australia kept applying the pressure on the SPAR Proteas, they made sure to keep peeling away from South Africa and eventually won the opening match 64 – 53.
Reflecting on the game, SPAR Proteas Head Coach said “to be honest, it wasn’t a bad game for us as South Africa, taking on the best in the world is never an easy task but we did it. Our first quarter was good and everything that went wring for us was in the second quarter. We lost the third quarter by a single point which demonstrated good game performance from our end. We know that we can be competitive as a team, there is a lot of improvement from our end. Our aim with the next match is to win, we do not just compete.”
Quarter Score Breakdown
- Q1: SPAR Proteas 14 – 14 Aussie Diamonds
- Q2: SPAR Proteas 26 – 34 Aussie Diamonds
- Q3: SPAR Proteas 41 – 50 Aussie Diamonds
- Q4: SPAR Proteas 53 – 64 Aussie Diamonds
SPAR Proteas Starting VII
GS – Elmere van der Berg; GA – Kamogelo Maseko; WA – Khanyisa Chawane ( C ); C- Tarle Mathe; WD – Shadine van der Merwe; GD – Jamie van Wyk; GK Nicola Smith
Shooting Stats:
Elmere van der Berg 37/42 (88.1%)
Kamogelo Maseko 11/15 (73%)
Photo Credit: Lauren Morgan | Netball Australia
