Tshwane still the queens of the court

Bela Bela – Head coach Jenny van Dyk said she had never doubted her Tshwane team after they hit back against their strongest rivals to win their third straight title at the Spar National Netball Championships at Zwartkloof Private Game Reserve at the weekend.

Tshwane dominated the final from start to finish, earning a 4439 victory over Dr Kenneth Kaunda in a match which was delayed by 90 minutes due to rain and lightning.

“I told them if we got to play the match we would win,” Van Dyk said afterwards.

If the weather hadn’t cleared shortly before the final, Dr KK would have been handed the trophy based on log positions.

Tshwane were given a chance to retain their crown, however, after the skies cleared just before the game, which was played in blazing hot conditions.

Maintaining their nerve despite the weather disruption, Van Dyk said she was “ecstatic” with the result as Tshwane continued their dominance of the A-division.

Earlier in the week, the defending champions had stumbled in a 38-34 defeat to the Dr KK district side in the round-robin stage, creating a similar scenario to last year’s final when Dr KK had lost in extra time after going unbeaten in the pool stages.

Van Dyk felt they had done well to control the title decider with a clinical performance.

“There can be stages when you’re behind but you still feel in control, but in the previous match we didn’t feel that way,” Van Dyk said.

“So in this match that was always going to be important. We knew the first quarter would be tough, but we just needed to stay in it and make sure we had a solid start, and that’s what they did.”