UGANDA TAKE THE SPARKLE OFF THE NAMIBIAN DEBMARINE DESERT JEWELS AT SPAR CHALLENGE
The Ugandan She-Cranes thumped the Namibian Debmarine Desert Jewels 49 by goals to 28 on the second day of the SPAR Challenge Tri-Nations netball tournament at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Friday evening. Uganda led 22-17 at halftime.
The outcome of the match was never in doubt, with Uganda firmly in control. After the first quarter, they had a 12-6 lead. Namibia put up a brave fight in the second quarter, at one stage reducing the goal deficit to two goals and outscoring the She-Cranes by 11 goals to 10.
However, Uganda stepped up a gear and left Namibia floundering in the second half. Some careless passes added to the Namibian woes. The more physical Ugandan team kept up the pressure and the Namibians buckled. By the end of the third quarter, Uganda were 37-21 ahead, having restricted Namibia to just four goals in the quarter.
In the final quarter, Uganda continued to pull away from Namibia, scoring 12 goals to Namibia’s seven. Ugandan goal defence Joan Nampungu was named player of the match. She said Uganda had played better than in the match against South Africa on Thursday. “We still have things to work on but I think we are getting better all the time,” said Nampungu.
Namibian coach Julene Meyer said she was very happy with her team’s performance in the first half, but conceded that there was still work to be done. “We last played international netball in September 2019 and it is a great privilege to be playing against the world number five and number seven. When you are thrown in at the deep end, you learn to swim very quickly,” she said.
Earlier, the President’s XII beat the SPAR Baby Proteas by 54 goals to 49. It was their second victory over the Under-21 team in two days. Goal defence Jeante Strydom was named player of the match.
On Saturday, the Uganda She-Cranes play the SPAR Baby Proteas at 4pm and the SPAR Proteas take on Namibia at 6pm.
There will be no spectators at the matches, which will be televised live on SuperSport Variety 4 in South Africa.
SCORE BREAKDOWN
Q1: Uganda 12 – 6 Namibia
HT: Uganda 22 – 17 Namibia
Q3: Uganda 37 – 21 Namibia
FT: Uganda 49 – 28 Namibia
MOST-VALUED PLAYER
Joan Nampungu
