Missing rivals no concern as Winelands celebrate SA title

While three of the top contenders were missing from the event, Cape Winelands coach Marchelle Maroun said the absence of some of their biggest rivals had done little to dampen the celebrations of her team after they lifted the SA title at the Spar National Netball Championships in Cape Town at the weekend.

Defending champions Tshwane withdrew from the event after two players in their squad tested positive for Covid and others showed symptoms, while Mangaung and Dr Kenneth Kaunda did not turn out due to the unavailability of university players.

In their absence, Winelands dominated the senior A-division, going unbeaten at the six-day tournament and beating Nelson Mandela Bay 66-54 in a hard-fought final on Saturday.

ALSO READ: Cape Winelands close out dominant week to win SA title

“It would have been nice if they were here. I would have loved to have come up against them,” Maroun said.

“But it’s anyone’s game on the day, and it’s out of our control that they were not here.”

With the core group in the Western Cape squad having narrowly missed out on a couple of major titles earlier this year, Winelands captain Nichole Taljaard was delighted to claim the trophy.

ALSO READ: Netball SA – Trouble finders and problem solvers

The Southern Stings lost to the Gauteng Jaguars in this year’s Telkom Netball League final, and Maties fell to Kovsies in the Varsity Netball series, and Taljaard said they had given it everything in order to secure the last title on offer in the 2021 campaign.

“We’ve been in this position a few times this year already, so it’s nice to come out as the winners this time,” Taljaard said.

“Everyone is tired and I don’t think anyone is going to go home and celebrate with anything other than sleep and maybe some TV.”