Aloes sweep Alice right off the park in grand style

IT WAS a great weekend for the Aloes netball team as they put the University of Fort Hare Alice A team to the sword in their Netball League Zone Section A clash over the past weekend.

The Aloes were in sublime form as they dominated the Alice-based team 26-14 in a high quality encounter.

Defence was a key factor for the Aloes and this contributed greatly to their win, while UFH Alice tried desperately to hold on for dear life and defend their dignity in the match.

At the same time Walter Sisulu University East London were in a similar situation against the Aliens netball team.

The Aliens controlled the game from the opening blast of the whistle scorching into a 10-goal lead.

They then maintained that lead throughout the game and came out on top 27-17 in the end.

A boisterous crowd provided raucus support and this clearly spurred the Aliens on during the match.

The result went a long way to redeeming last week’s catastrophic defeat against the Aloes men’s side. Their opponents also had to fight for the pride of the WSU institution after their Butterworth A team suffered a defeat at the hands of the only men’s team in the league.

East London Netball public relations practitioner Nadia Foslara said every weekend it is anyone’s game as the teams have proved that past scores don’t matter.

“No team is going to win their sections easily,” she said.

The B section saw the Romans going head-to-head with MBSA.

The Romans absolutely dominated the game from the outset according to a number of spectators present at the game.

The Romans defence was reportedly spectacular, although despite a number of flaws in their strategy they still managed to secure a comfortable 36-16 win over MBSA.

After last week’s loss against the Ravens the Romans bounced back well and showed that they will not be forgotten that easily.

A last-minute win for UFH Alice team then salvaged some pride as they beat the Aloes team in the B section.

This game saw UFH lagging behind for most of the match, before they brought their A-game in the last quarter of the match managing to secure a 24-19 win.

Aloes coach Wendy Higson said her team will be working on new strategies for the season.

“For the first league game of the season they played well but there is still lots of work to be done,” she said.

In a rather one-sided match the BCM team thrashed the WSU EL team by a jaw-dropping 55-12.

In the nailbiter of the weekend UFH EL faced the mighty Ravens. At halftime UFH already had a three-goal lead but the Ravens fought back but their best was a goal short as UFH defeated them 29-28. — namhlam@dispatch.co.za