BONUS - RUSTENBURG - Hosts Johannesburg held their nerve to defeat Mangaung 53-52 in a gripping final of the SPAR National Netball Championships hosted by the City of Johannesburg on Saturday to claim a third straight title.
Having lost to the Free State team during the round-robin stage earlier in the week, Johannesburg made sure to avoid the same mistakes at the start of the match.
While they briefly dropped behind in the opening quarter, the home side ensured they were all square by the first break, which was reached with the score on 14-14.
It was in the final four minutes of the second quarter that the Johannesburg team started to edge ahead, thanks largely to a better shooting percentage.
With just three goals in it at half-time (29-26) there was all to play for in the second half.
Johannesburg managed to capitalise on the mistakes creeping into Mangaung’s play and by the end of the third period, they had opened the gap to six goals (44-38).
With victory within their grasp, it was Johannesburg who started committing the errors, however, allowing Mangaung to launch a massive fightback in the final seven minutes of the match. With the hosts looking rattled, Mangaung closed the gap at speed, but in the end fell heartbreakingly short, eventually losing by just one goal.
The loss denied Mangaung a hat-trick of their own after winning the Telkom Netball League and Varsity Netball titles this year.
Earlier in the day, the Dr Kenneth Kaunda team from North West got the better of Cape Winelands, beating them 33-30 to secure third place.
In the under-21 tournament, Johannesburg dethroned defending champions Tshwane with a commanding 42-32 victory. That completed a massive turnaround after the Johannesburg under-21 team failed to win any of their matches at last year’s SPAR National Netball Championships. This year the side was coached by the recently retired former SPAR Proteas captain, Bongi Msomi.
