From Sunday, it will be all to play for in the Varsity Netball Tournament in Bloemfontein.
Hollywood’s best writers would have battled to script a more thrilling finish for the Varsity Netball Tournament.
As things stand, UJ tops the log with 20 points. Kovsies has 17, Tuks 14, and Maties and Northwest have 12. UJ and Kovsies are guaranteed to play in the semifinals. That leaves two semifinal vacancies with three contenders.
Tuks is the team who will have their work cut out if they want to contest the semifinals. On Sunday, they play Kovsies, and on Monday, UJ. Tuks will have to be at their utmost best if they want to win both games. In a worst-case scenario, if Tuks should win one game and lose the other by less than seven points, they would have 19 points on the log. It would mean they are in the top four.
Maties and Northwest are guaranteed to win on Sunday as they play Madibaz and Wits, respectively. That will give them both 16 points. So the crunch game for these two teams will be on Monday when they play each other. The winner is guaranteed to play in the semifinals. The loser’s fate will depend on the outcome of the Tuks versus UJ match.
One of the best traits of TuksNetball is the player’s never-say-die attitude. Over the years, there have been countless stories of how Tuks snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the dying minutes. This time around, however, it will take more than pure guts for Tuks to win.
Tuks’s Achilles heel in this tournament is their play during the powerplays. They had a three-point lead going into the final quarter of play against Maties. Only to then get unstuck during the two powerplays, conceding 12 points without scoring once. The previous week playing, Northwest Tuks also lost in the last quarter during the powerplays, conceding 12 points while only scoring four.
Tuks’s head coach, Erin Burger, had no excuses for her team’s performance on Monday.
“Congratulations must go to Maties as they brought their A-game to the court. We played well in the first quarter (15 minutes) but struggled to adapt when Maties changed their game plan. During the powerplays, things did not work for us. We made silly mistakes at crucial times, and it cost us.”
Burger added that although the team lost, they are not defeated.
“I can vouch for the fact that if there is one thing Tuks players hate, it is to lose. They will be back and playing at their best starting Sunday.”
Tuks will play Kovsies at 13:00 on Sunday and Monday, UJ at 13:00.