Elmere van der Burg of Dr Kenneth Kaunda and Akosua Mensah of Tshwane in action during the final on day six of the National Netball Championships. Picture: Reg Caldecott/Gallo Images
Head coach Jenny van Dyk said she had never doubted her Tshwane team after they hit back against their strongest rivals to win their third straight title at the Spar National Netball Championships held at Zwartkloof Private Game Reserve at the weekend.
Tshwane dominated the final from start to finish, earning a 44-39 victory over Dr Kenneth Kaunda in a match which was delayed by 90 minutes due to rain and lightning.
“I told them if we got to play the match we would win,” Van Dyk said afterwards.
If the weather hadn’t cleared shortly before the final, Dr KK would have been handed the trophy based on log positions.
Tshwane were given a chance to retain their crown, however, after the skies cleared just before the game, which was ultimately played in blazing hot conditions.
Maintaining their nerve despite the weather disruption and unfavourable conditions, Van Dyk said she was “ecstatic” with the result as Tshwane continued their dominance of the A-division at the six-day annual championships.
Earlier in the week, the defending champions had stumbled in a 38-34 defeat to the Dr KK district side in the round robin stage, creating a similar scenario to last year’s final when Dr KK had lost in extra time after going unbeaten in the pool stages.
Having recovered to stun the in-form outfit once again, Van Dyk felt they had done well to control the title decider with a clinical performance.
“There can be stages when you’re behind but you still feel in control, but in the previous match we didn’t feel that way,” Van Dyk said.
“So in this match that was always going to be important. We knew the first quarter would be tough, but we just needed to stay in it and make sure we had a solid start, and that’s what they did.”
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