Johannesburg’s title defence took another knock on day two of the Spar National Netball Championships in Boksburg after being held to a draw by Mangaung on Tuesday.
The three-time defending champions lost their opening-day match to Cape Town, who are on top of the log standings and remain unbeaten in the tournament so far.
The Joburg side was already 8-0 down to Mangaung before registering their first goal.
But determined not to let the match get away from them, the Joburg side clawed back and finally found their rhythm by the third quarter, which they managed to dominate, scoring 15 goals to Mangaung’s nine to head into the final period one goal up.
Johannesburg were three goals ahead at one stage, but five unanswered goals from Mangaung to edge back into the lead made for a tense finish, with the teams eventually settling for a 44-44 draw.
Frustrating draw
Spar Proteas defender Karla Pretorius, who is the head coach of Mangaung, expressed her delight after managing to hold the reigning champs to a frustrating draw.
“We were thrilled with our start, but somewhere we just hit a bit of a dip. But I think we responded well and got out of it,” Pretorius said.
“We’ll take the draw today. I think it could have gone the other way, but we’ll take that. The first half of the game was good.
“We weren’t as clinical in the second half, so we need to bring it all together to ensure a consistent, accurate 60-minute performance.”
Later in the day, Mangaung got back in action against the visiting Botswana side, whom they beat 57-54.
Johannesburg, on the other hand, finally managed to record their first win of the tournament with a 53-37 scoreline against Nelson Mandela Bay.
Results:
Senior A Section
Cape Town 67-37 Cape Winelands
Tshwane 37-41 eThekwini
Johannesburg 44-44 Mangaung
Cape Winelands 47-46 Nelson Mandela Bay
Dr Kenneth Kaunda 51-62 Cape Town
Tshwane 35-42 Botswana
Nelson Mandela Bay 37-53 Johannesburg
Mangaung 57-54 Botswana
eThekwini 32-58 Dr Kenneth Kaunda
Under-21 Section
Cape Town 48-30 eThekwini
Dr Kenneth Kaunda 52-29 Ekurhuleni
Johannesburg 55-35 Tshwane
