It was always going to be tough for the Spar South African netball team — taking on the hosts in front of a passionate capacity crowd at the world championships in Kingston on Sunday.
But the Proteas produced a spirited performance that saw them matching the Jamaicans in strength in the first half but eventually going down 54-33.
Battling against a crowd so loud the players couldn’t even hear the umpire’s whistle, the South Africans came out firing, putting the first points on the board. By the end of the first quarter the score was 12-8 in Jamaica’s favour.
It was in the second quarter that the South Africans managed to close the gap and were within one point of their opponents on 18-17, but by the half-time whistle they had slipped to 25-20.
A series of basic errors and wayward passes saw the South Africans slipping further away from their Caribbean rivals in the third quarter which finished with the score on 38-29. And by the fourth quarter shooter Sindy Gumede hardly even got a touch of the ball as the South Africans failed to penetrate the circle.
Coach of the side, Marlene Wagner denied that the crowd had anything to do with their disappointing performance in the second half of the game but the relentless racket did seem to have had some kind of draining effect on the team.
”We sustained good pressure until half time but we just couldn’t keep it up,” explained Wagner.
”We held it well but they just outplayed us in the last two quarters.
I didn’t really expect to have lost by such a big margin,” she added.
Coach of the Jamaican side, Maureen Hall said that her side was expecting a tough game from the South Africans who are ranked just one place below her team in the world standings. ”I was very impressed with the way they worked and the way they just kept fighting and fighting,” said Hall.
The South Africans will have to keep that fighting spirit going for the remainder of their pool games. Their next opponents, the USA, should not provide too much of a challenge, however the big test will be the following game against the world champions, Australia. – Sapa