Team South Africa’s netball side are through to the final at the Region 5 Youth Games after dealing with a hostile host crowd to convincingly defeat Namibia 60-25 in Windhoek, writes Mark Lemke.
The stands were jampacked at The Showgrounds with the home fans in full voice for their girls. Team SA got to work on the silencing process early by taking a 3-0 lead within a minute. They continued their quality play throughout the first quarter, taking a commanding 18-5 lead into the second.
Namibian fortunes did not change after the restart as the South Africans continued to score freely. Strong defensive work from back to front saw the first half end 31-9.
The second half saw an inspired home spell in which Namibia scored 10 goals. Team SA remained strong and the third quarter ended 42-19.
Substitutions late into the match highlighted the depth of talent in the Team SA squad as they saw the game out with no drama in the final 15 minutes.
The full time whistle was purely confirmation that Team SA were through to the final. They celebrated with the travelling supporters to end a brilliant performance
Head coach Emily Mathosa said after the match: “We knew we would be playing against a lot of noise from the sidelines, so we spent time preparing ourselves for that. I am very pleased with my team’s progression over these games and we are confident we can win gold for the second time in a row.”
Mathosa nominated Christi-Mari Coetzee as the player of the match. The 18-year-old Goal Defender gave her thoughts on reaching the final and the tough Namibian crowd, “The atmosphere as well as the slippery court made it challenging, but we handled the game really well and I am proud of our performance. It is an amazing feeling to reach the final. I want to create history with these girls for Team South Africa.”
The opposing finalist is yet to be decided between Malawi and Zimbabwe. The girls are confident that they will come out on top on in Friday’s final.
Photo: Frennie Shivambu
