The Tshwane team with their trophy. Photo by Reg Caldecott
Tshwane maintained their recent dominance of South African netball, earning a runaway victory over Mangaung to lift the A-division trophy at the Spar National Championships in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
With Mangaung having stunned Tshwane in the round robin stage, played on the outdoor courts at Lotto Young Park, the Pretoria-based outfit had no trouble after the final was shifted to the Missionvale indoor centre due to wet and windy conditions, earning a 47-34 victory.
While they were outplayed in the last quarter of the game, Tshwane had done enough to secure a comprehensive win.
It was Tshwane coach Jenny van Dyk’s sixth title in two years with Northern Gauteng teams in senior, student and Premier League competitions.
“I spent a lot of time last night going over the footage from the USSA (University Sport South Africa) final last week,” Van Dyk said.
“We knew what kind of attack they wanted to play, and we played to our strengths rather than theirs.
“We started better than we did in the round robin match, and we also had a better warm-up this time.”
Organisers had initially opted to include a third-place playoff in the schedule, after the format had been adjusted with all A-division teams playing in one pool in the first stage of the competition, but the decision was overturned and there was no contest for the bronze medal.
Instead, the Dr Kenneth Kaunda district team were given third place after they had narrowly missed out on the final on goal average.