TNL: Day 3 Review
The action in the Telkom National League is coming in at a fast pace, day three saw some surprising results, below is a review of the day’s action.
Northwest Flames won a tight 41-37 victory over Kingdom Stars.
After a tentative 3 quarters, the Flames managed to pull away in the last quarter with their first victory in the league. With Flames Lucy Strydom and Elmere van de Beg suffocated by Stars defensive duo Jeante Strydom and Snayo Ndaba, both sides were at their best. But as the fourth quarter progressed, the Flames started to experience more success.
Although the Stars seemed to be in control at the beginning of the last quarter, the Flames were sharper and hungrier for the ball.
“No, we never given up, this a team whose confidence is really low at the moment. We are playing with a really young attacking front and our shooters were struggling. We really had to dig deep today but I’m sure this is what they needed” said North West Flames head coach Else Jordaan on her team’s turnaround strategy.
Unfortunately, three consecutive games have been lost by the Kingdom Stars, and it’s very frustrating, particularly because they had the lead at the start of the last quarter.
“We battled to keep consistency, we had our own errors which you can’t have in this competition”, stated Precious Mthembu as she expresses her team’s third defeat.
The apple did not fall too far from the tree as the Kingdom Queens lost 31-29 in what seemed to be a competitive match against the Tornados. The Ndlovukazi also handed over the win in the last seven minutes to the Tornados.
Jaguars claim Gauteng after a 40-27 triumph in a Derby with the Fireballs
This started off a tough match with a draw in the first quarter and a lead by the Fireballs in the second quarter. The third quarter had the Fireballs trailing behind.
The Jaguars swapped around Izette Griesel and Marlize de Bruin at Centre and Wing Attack of which worked for team as they managed to gain momentum.
“There’s definitely still a lot to do in the next few weeks just to make sure we secure one of the top four positions. Yes, it’s great to be at the top of the log but it comes with a lot of responsibility and we not taking anything for granted” said Jenny Jaguars head coach after her team’s win today against the Golden Fireballs.
The Golden Fireballs take their first defeat today against their rivals, the Gauteng Jaguars.
“It wasn’t a clean game, we let ourselves down. We made quite a lot of uncalled for errors. When we had the ball in hand, we weren’t disciplined with it. We didn’t stick to the game plan” said Dumisani Chauke after her team’s first defeat. The Jaguars are on top of the standings of Division 1, while the Aloes and Sunbirds are tied at the top of Division 2 with 4 points respectively.
