By Xilombe Mathye
JOHANNESBURG - It was a good day for the Johannesburg 1 squad as they registered their first victory in the SPAR National Netball Championships after beating Cape Town 31-20 at the Zwartkloof Private Game Reserve in Bela-Bela on Tuesday morning.
It was a titanic tussle in the U21 Division A game between the the two teams. The Johannesburg side scored the opening goal with Nobuhle Sibisi and Kelly Gouws combining nicely to get the ball to Zene De Waal, who put the ball in the shooting circle.
Wing defence Monique Mangiagali of the Cape Town side had to exit the court during the first stanza after she sustained an injury and was replaced by Rochelle Hendricks.
The first stanza consisted of a lot of quick passes and not too many goals, but both sides fought to put the ball in the circle. Johannesburg were 7-6 in the lead when the first quarter ended.
The Joburgers continued to dominate their opponents in the second quarter with their strong defence unit, while their attack squad allowed them to provide more goals.
It took the Cape Town team over five minutes before they scored their first goal in the second stanza against their stingy opponents.
Day 2 of the #SPARNationalChamps is underway.@IOLsport pic.twitter.com/0IoEmgs4Yq
They managed to score two more goals before the end of the first half, but started to play with a lot more cohesion in the second stanza.
They were looking to catch up in the third quarter, but the Johannesburg 1 goal defender Lesedi Nkwana kept them in check with some good defending.
The Johannesburg side continued to dominate and closed off the third quarter with a 13-goal margin.
The final quarter consisted of multiple errors from both uniforms, which included contact and stepping.
The Cape Town-based team managed to score more goals in the fourth quarter but that was not enough for them to win the match.