Mpumalanga Sunbirds off to a flying start in Telkom Netball League
This Mpumalanga outfit ended their opening weekend of the league on a high, and the squad's morale is soaring as they prepare for the second leg of the competition.
The first centre pass of this year’s Telkom Netball League (TNL) was received on Thursday April 27 with the opening match of the tournament seeing the Northern Cape Diamond and Limpopo Lilies take each other on at the Ngoako Ramahlodi Sports Complex in Polokwane.
The Mpumalanga Sunbirds got their season off to a flying start when they drew with the Eastern Cape Comets in an exhilarating match that saw a lot of intercepts and turnovers on both ends. The final score was 32 goals apiece.
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The team thereafter had two days to rest, and worked in some needed on-court training sessions in preparation for their second encounter of the tournament against the Kingdom Queens.
The Sunbirds put their feet on the accelerator from the first whistle, not allowing the Queens any breathing space.
After the full four quarters of play, the Sunbirds claimed their first victory, defeating the KwaZulu-Natal outfit 49-34.
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The last round of the weekend was played on Monday May 1.
The newbies to the league, the Limpopo Lilies, have been struggling to catch their breath in the league thus far, and the Sunbirds did not take it easy on them. The Sunbirds proved their dominance and defeated the Lilies by a staggering 36 goals, claiming yet another win.
The scoreboard read 61-25 in favour of the Mpumalanga side.
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After the weekend’s games, Sunbirds’ head coach, Thembisile Mdluli, said she was proud of her team’s performances.
“I can see the players are more confident on court and are ready for the second leg that takes place next month,” Mdluli said.
The Sunbirds are third on the log in division two with five points to their name. Above them are the Diamonds and the Western Cape Tornados.
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TNL returns from June 2 to July 1 when the teams will battle it out on court at the Heartfelt Arena.
