Maweni upbeat despite defeat

WITH heads held high, the Spar Proteas players drew positives from their 62-46 defeat to Australia in the SANZEA netball quad series on Tuesday, but they all agree there’s still a lot of improvement needed in their performances.

Phumza Maweni was happy that the Proteas reduced their score from the last time they played Australia from 25 to 16 goals, which shows they are getting better as a team.

In patches, the Proteas played a good game and put their opponents under pressure, but there were times when their movement and inaccurate shooting let them down.

Before the defeat to Australia at the Durban International Convention Centre, the Proteas took England to extra time before losing by a mere five points in a 60-55 scoreline on Saturday.

“We played as a unit. We did not tell ourselves we are going to win the game. We told ourselves we are going to reduce the scoreline. If you remember they beat us by 25 goals in the last quad series and now it’s 16. For us it’s worth it,” said Maweni. “Even against England we played as a team and it shows that we have improved. We are really happy with that.”

She added: “We made some mistakes, but I think we have learnt a lot and going forward I know we will work on these things. We are ranked number five, so playing against the best teams helps us improve our game. Even against England we won some of the quarters, which counts for something.”

The Proteas face New Zealand in the fourth leg of the quad series, set to be played in England. The match will be played on Sunday and Maweni cannot wait to give the New Zealanders a run for their money.