Netball women showing signs of improvement despite loss
THE Proteas netball team are gaining ground on the top sides in the world but national coach Norma Plummer admits it take some doing to erase the divide.
Although South African team is yet to win a match in the Netball Quad Series, they have narrowed the losing margins against the world’s best nations.
On Tuesday evening the Proteas suffered a 62-46 defeat to the Australian Diamonds which was their smallest losing margin ever against the world champions.
In their last encounter in the series in New Zealand in August 2016 the Aussies won by 25 points and they managed to reduce the margin to 16 goals.
“I am quietly pleased, we used to lose to Australia by more than 50 goals, the last time we played, we lost by 25 points and tonight we got it down to 16 and we made a lot of mistakes,” Plummer said.
“We are in there in patches of play, we just need to be consistent and we need to learn the different options of getting out of situations.”
It was another gutsy display by the Proteas following on their narrow defeat against England over the weekend after reducing an 11-point deficit to come close to a shock victory.
Going into the half-time break South Africa were chasing the same margin against Australia but had a tougher time at keeping the opposition at an arm’s length.
The world’s top team scored five unanswered goals four minutes into the match before South Africa finally got onto the scoreboard.
South Africa’s shooters fired hot and cold with Plummer mak- ing an early change with VanesMari du Toit being substituted by Lindie Gobler in the second quarter.
“I felt our shooters stalled themselves a few times and didn’t put up the shot straight away and shouldn’t let it go,” Plummer said.
“They are playing the number one team in the world so I think they were thinking about it so it is about teaching that it doesn’t matter who it is if you are good on the shot you just go for it.”
The Proteas went into the final quarter trailing by 15 points and opened the gap with five more goals before the home side made a resurgence in the final minutes of the encounter.
South Africa finished only one goal adrift in the final quarter (17-16) finishing with their best performance ever against Australia.
Australian coach Lisa Alexander said South Africa were slowly but surely gaining on the four sides ahead of them on the world rankings despite playing against professional players.
“They need more control over their bodies, and they have to increase their mental toughness and resilience,” Alexander said.
“But they are pushing the top teams. However, Australia, New Zealand and England are all fully professional, whereas the South Africans are amateurs.”
The Proteas leave for the United Kingdom on Wednesday for the final leg of the quad series where they will play against New Zealand in London on Saturday.