Mokken: We’ll bounce back
Champions Tshwane remained confident of their chances yesterday, despite having fallen off the pace when play got underway on the third day of the Spar National Netball Championships.
Mangaung took charge of the tournament on Tuesday, handing the defending champions their first defeat, as the Free State team remained unbeaten after two days of competition at the University of Johannesburg.
In what was perhaps the mostanticipated clash of the roundrobin stage, Mangaung secured a 50-44 victory over Tshwane.
While they were outplayed in a hard-fought match, with Mangaung defenders Jana Scholtz (above) and Ane Retief doing well to contain their opposition, stand-in Tshwane coach Sone Mokken recalled last year’s result when Mangaung had beaten Tshwane in the opening round before the Gauteng side went on to win the final.
“Last year we won the match that counted,” said Mokken, who was filling in for regular Tshwane coach Jenny van Dyk, sidelined while undergoing surgery.
Mokken believed they could bounce back to retain their A-section title.
“It’s a good wake-up call for the players,” she said.
“We made too many mistakes and we will go back and work at improving in the areas where we failed, but I know we can beat this team.”
Earlier in the day, Mangaung romped to a commanding 64-28 victory over Ekurhuleni, staying unbeaten after four round-robin matches, while Tshwane beat Nelson Mandela Bay 56-31.
The Dr Kenneth Kaunda team also remained unbeaten after handing Cape Town a crushing 65-22 defeat, though the North West South district side trailed log leaders Mangaung as they had played only three matches.
Despite the loss, Cape Town coach Sue Schooling said her side hoped to learn a great deal by contesting the top-flight division.
“Very few of our players have been exposed to the Brutal Fruit or Telkom Netball Leagues and they aren’t used to the speed and the physicality of play,” Schooling said.
“But they learn all the time, which is why we come to a tournament like this.”
The annual tournament was expected to gain further momentum yesterday, with Tshwane facing Dr Kenneth Kaunda in what was billed as the match of the day.