London - Despite gutsy performance The SPAR Proteas fell short against New Zealand in the 2022 Quad Series in London.
The world champions beat South Africa by one solitary goal 51 – 50 to finish third in the four nation tournament.
The Proteas and Silver Ferns met for the second time in twenty-four hours and this time around it was for the bronze medal. South Africa finished the stronger side of the two yesterday and today they started as they ended.
It was the Proteas that took an early lead in the game, they led the quarter for the most part and from there it was pound for pound right until the last second when New Zealand finished the quarter 14 -13. Monique Reyneke limped off the court and was replaced by Khanyisa Chawane.
Simone Rabie came in at Goal Defence for Nicola Smith and this was her first in this tournament. The Proteas were more clinical today and played with a lot of confidence and took the game to New Zealand, they fought harder today and ended the quarter trailing by three points. Nicola Smith made a return into the game towards the end of the quarter. Quarter ended 25 -28 in favour of Silver Ferns.
Championship quarter started like a house on fire, and it was the wounded Proteas that were going for everything on offer. South Africa’s mid court players really played their hearts out and left everything on court, Venter remained impressive in attack and continued to roll on retaining a 100 percent shooting rate during the match. South Africa won the quarter by a solitary goal with the score being 39 -38 to the Proteas.
#QuadSeries
— Netball South Africa (@Netball_SA) January 19, 2022
3rd/4th Playoff 🥉
🇿🇦🆚🇳🇿
FULL TIME
What. A. Match!😱
Giving it their 𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙔𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 and we can all be 𝙋𝙍𝙊𝙐𝘿 of our SPAR Proteas.👏
Thank You team & Thank You @SilverFernsNZ for the contest.#SPARProteas #WeAreAllIn
📸 @EnglandNetball / @benlumleyphoto pic.twitter.com/o9MtHLA8JS
A great end to the third quarter saw South Africa growing in confidence and this was evident in how they played especially at the start of the last quarter. The Silver Ferns claimed the lead however South Africa kept coming back and reduced the lead to point. New Zealand slowed the game down to claim a bronze medal ending the match 51 -50.
“Excellent game from both teams. I am immensely proud of the SPAR Proteas, and I believe today we played better. The team play way better today and pushed New Zealand – we came here with a young team and tried new combinations. Our errors were minimised to five per quarter compared to the thirty we started with at the beginning of the tournament,” said Dorette Badenhorst, SPAR Proteas Head Coach.
New Zealand Starting VII:
GK: Kelly Jury; GD: Kayla Johnson; C: Claire Kersten; WA: Gina Crampton; WD: Karin Burger; GS: Maia Wilson; GA: Tiana Metuarau
South Africa Starting VII:
GS: Ine-Mari Venter; GA: Lefebre Rademan; WA: Izette Griesel; C: Bongiwe Msomi; WD: Monique Reyneke; GD: Nicola Smith; GK: Phumza Maweni
The SPAR Proteas will arrive back in South Africa on Friday 21 January 2022 at 08:00.
Score Breakdown:
Q1 SPAR Proteas 13 – 14 New Zealand
Q2 SPAR Proteas 25 – 28 New Zealand
Q3 SPAR Proteas 39 – 38 New Zealand
Q4 SPAR Proteas 50 – 51 New Zealand
IOL Sport