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LOBAMBA – Correctional Services male and female teams dominated the grand closing of the Swaziland Building Society (SBS) sponsored netball league.
This was during the Eswatini National Netball Association (ENNA) closing matches, which were held at OlympAfrica Centre at Lobamba this past Saturday. Their path to their glory, however, had to go under a tough and hostile test from rivals Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) netball team, who they managed to complete a double over them on the day.
Wrap-up
In what looked like the best way to wrap-up the tournament, were a chain of derbies between Correctional and REPS in both categories. A titanic clash was the female elite game played at 2pm. REPS, who were full of revenge after their brothers were brought down by the same opponents in the game before, made their statement to win the title from the onset known, as they thumbed Correctional 12-5 in the first quarter. However, Correctional, turned the tide in the second quarter edging REPS 7-6, only to reduce the deficit to six goals as the score board still read 19-13 in favour of REPS.
At 45 minutes, the champions had only managed to reduce the deficit to only four goals as their energetic and youthful opponents pressed hard.
The deciding quarter started off with the teams matching each other pound for pound, but REPS resilience was let down by dropping many balls; they felt match officiating did not favour them. Meanwhile, both coaches admitted that there were those episodes which were questionable during the game. Correctional at the end, however, managed to escape with a slender win of 37-36 to walk away with a
M. Ladies UEDF REPS
Correctional REPS UEDF M. Raiders M. Ladies Vixens
Correctional REPS Vixens Phoenix
E5 000 E3 750 E2 500 E1 250 E1 000 E1 000
Vixens Correctional
E3 000 E2 000 E1 000 E750 trophy and E5 000 cash prize.
In another derby that preceded the main final, Correctional’s dominance over REPS continued, as Correctional males defeated REPS 41-37 to clinch the E3 000 first prize in the men’s elite league.
Correctional made their statement clear from the start of derby, as they went away with the first three quarters with a margin of three goals on average. REPS’ efforts were in vain, as they managed to win the last quarter but the score line was not enough to earn them the prize. It ended 37-41 in favour of Correctional.