The final Telkom Netball League Power Week got underway this afternoon at the Heartfelt Arena in Pretoria. Teams are playing their last round robin games ahead of the semi-finals which start on Friday. The Mpumalanga Sunbirds got a comfortable 55-37 win against the Northern Cape Diamonds in the first match to keep their second position on the division two log. The Diamonds have only won one game so far, and will face the Limpopo Baobabs tomorrow evening while the Sunbirds have now shifted their focus to the semi’s where they will take on the Baobabs.
In division one, the Southern Stings pulled out all the stops after staging their biggest comeback to beat the Gauteng Jaguars 60-57. It was a tightly contested match that saw the Jaguars blistering in the first three quarters to take the lead however the defending champions were not ready for what the Stings dished out in the fourth quarter. The Stings took the lead for the first time in the last six minutes by one goal but the Jaguars managed to draw level in the fifty sixth minute. 57-56 was the score-line in favour of the Stings in the final ninety seconds, the Jaguars were presented with an opportunity to level the score but Wing Attack- Tshina Mdau’s unforced error led to Stings’ Goal Attack- Nichole Taljaard’s conversion which won them the game. Taljaard’s player of the match performance included thirty goals and seven assists.
Taljaard says it’s good to see her team step up when it matters the most, ‘’We played a lot like a team today, it took a while in the tournament for our team to come together and not play as individuals because individually every player is so talented but it becomes difficult for individuals to come together and share their talents. I feel like now towards the end of the tournament, we are accepting each other and we are allowing the person who is next to us, in front of us and behind us, to play to their strength’’.
Meanwhile, the Golden Fireballs extended their lead at the top of the division one log standings after beating the Crinums 53-42. This score-line means that we will see a repeat of this game on Friday afternoon in the semi’s because the Crinums will remain within the top four despite this loss.
Full results:
Sunbirds 55-37 Diamonds
Jaguars 57-60 Stings
Crinums 42-53 Fireballs
Thursday (16/06/2022) fixtures:
10:00- Queens vs Tornados
12:00- Aloes vs Comets
14:00- Stings vs Stars
16:00- Flames vs Jaguars
18:00- Diamonds vs Baobabs
