Sigi Burger found the net with one second left in the last quarter of a hard-fought final.
Cape Town captain Sian Moore lifts the trophy at the National Netball Championships. Picture: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
Head coach Freda Kemp hopes her team’s victory on Tuesday will give netball a boost in the region, after hosts Cape Town edged Tshwane to lift the trophy at the Spar National Netball Championships.
In a tightly contested final that swung back and forth, experienced goal shooter Sigi Burger scored with one second left as Cape Town secured a narrow 56-55 win over Tshwane, who had gone unbeaten in their previous eight matches at the six-day domestic showpiece.
Having lost to Johannesburg in last year’s final, Kemp was delighted with her side’s hard-fought triumph.
“We lost the final by one point last year, and as they say, the table was set for us here in front of our home crowd,” Kemp said.
“We really worked hard to make sure the players had everything they needed to perform at the highest level, and we’re very proud of what we did today.”
Hoping for more financial support
While the Western Cape side won the title in 2016, when teams represented provinces, it was the first time Cape Town won the senior A division final since the structure of the national championships was changed, with teams now representing districts.
Though she was pleased with her squad’s performance, and with the progress they had made in terms of development, Kemp was particularly relieved to win the title because she believed this would help the Cape Town region rake in more support and funding for local netball.
“We’ve been working hard the last few years getting finances for netball, and I said to my team and the federation that we need to start winning in order to attract sponsors,” she said.
“So that was in the back of my mind, apart from developing netball and winning, to take netball forward in Cape Town.”
Tshwane making progress
With her team having finished fifth in last year’s tournament, Tshwane coach Rozanne Matthyse was satisfied with their turnaround, despite narrowly missing out on lifting the trophy.
“This could have been anybody’s game and I’m very proud. For me it’s 10 steps forward with such a young team – most of our players are under 25 – so we have a lot to be grateful for and I’m looking forward to what’s coming,” Matthyse said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mangaung earned a narrow 45-44 win over Johannesburg in the third-place play-off in the senior division.
In the U21 age group final, defending champions Johannesburg coasted to a convincing 53-38 victory over Tshwane.
