The Tornados led from start to finish against the Aloes to win the game 41-38. This was a great comeback having lost to the Aloes in the first leg at the Heartfelt Arena in Pretoria. This victory sees them extend their lead in Division two and remain at the top of the log. The Aloes had a total of sixty-one penalties and an average goal percentage of sixty-nine which didn’t work in their favour even though they only fell short by just three goals.
Tornados’ coach- Danlee Matthew says her troops need to remain humble as the tournament is far from over, ‘’Mentally it is good for the girls, to know that they can beat the Aloes. They struggled against them in the first leg but it’s a step in the right direction for them. They just need to step up from this and show up in every single game from here onwards. We are far from having it in the bag because there are a lot of quarters still ahead of us and we need to be consistent’’.
Meanwhile, the North West Flames lost all six of their matches in the first leg, but their struggles continued after losing yet another game against the Free State Crinums this afternoon. The Crinums who were very inconsistent in the first leg, winning three and losing three games, claimed a much needed 51-27 victory to close the gap on the log. Crinums’ Goal Attack- Elri Groenewald recorded a ninety percent shooting average which earned her the player of the match accolade after playing a full sixty minutes.
Flames coach- Lizelle Erasmus lamented on her teams’ injury woes and the absence of their key player, ‘’We knew it was going to be a tough opening game for us. I also have a bit of an issue with Monique’s absence, but we are so proud of her, we don’t want to take the opportunity away from her and hopefully she will be the star of the Proteas. We still have a few things that need to be sorted out and there is also Danielle Malan, who was one of the top shooters in the first leg, she got injured at USSA and unfortunately, I’m here with eleven players’’.
