Elsje’s team fall agonisingly short
JORDAAN: IT’S DISAPPOINTING, BUT A FANTASTIC EFFORT
Wesley Bo
Con
oach Elsje Jordaan admitted her Dr Kenneth Kaunda district team were gutted yesterday after narrowly missing out on a place in today’s final at the Spar National Netball Championships.
Though they routed Cape Town 83-39 in their last round-robin match, drawing level on 16 points with Tshwane and Mangaung, Jordaan’s side fell short of a spot in the title battle by finishing third on goal average.
“It’s very disappointing ... we had to defend two or three shots more and we would have pulled through, but it was a fantastic effort by my team,” Jordaan said.
With two sides having failed to pitch at the start of the tournament, the adjusted format saw the A-division pools being grouped together in a round-robin format.
While the semifinal round was scratched, however, organisers opted to proceed with play-off matches for the medals.
The Dr KK team were set to face Cape Winelands in the third-place play-offs this morning after the Winelands side finished fourth in the round-robin standings, four points behind the top three sides.
“With this format it has been a difficult tournament for everybody so it’s not nice to stand on the wrong side of it, but that’s sport, I suppose,” Jordaan said.
Eager to shake off their disappointment by stepping on to the podium, Jordaan said it would be a challenge to lift the spirit of her players but they would regroup.
“We have very tired bodies and disappointed players, but we’re still up for a medal and we’ll have to fight it out,” she said.
“It’s really difficult, but if we don’t want to go home emptyhanded we’ll have to pick it up tomorrow and play a good game.”
Former champions Mangaung, who finished on top of the table with the best goal average, were due to meet Tshwane in the trophy decider later today.