I should have planned a little better, says Tshwane coach

PORT ELIZABETH: After winning their first and second games of the Spar Women’s Netball National Championships, Tshwane had a wake up call yesterday when they lost 47-36 to Mangaung Metro in their Section A game.

“First you need to give credit where it’s due. Mangaung Metro came out all guns blazing today. They had a solid performance. That’s what went wrong for my team: Mangaung were very eager and ready. We were a little bit complacent,” said Tshwane coach Jenny Van Dyk.

“I felt that the first quarter went wrong for us. As for the rest of the game, we stayed in it. But the damage was already done in the first quarter. I think to be fair towards the team, I don’t think I really thought through the starting lineup that I wanted against this specific team. I should’ve planned a little better for it,” said Van Dyk.

“We need to be able to play against any team under any circumstances. There will be a day when things don’t go your way. Obviously playing weaker teams you tend to get a few bad habits but that will definitely not be an excuse today. Our drive was not strong enough.”

Mangaung Metro coach Burta De Kock said she was happy that her girls managed to fight until the game ended.

“I’m happy that the players could give their all for 60 minutes. They followed the game plan and supported one another.”.

In other games, Nkangala fell victim to Dr KK losing 86-14. Cape Town defeated Gert Sibande 73-38, Cape Winelands beat the struggling Bojanala 90-2 while Dr KK (in their second game of the day) beat Eastern Cape’s Sarah Baartman 109-7.