THE South Africa Spar Proteas had another astounding game to finish the Northern Quad Series, scaring world number twos, the New Zealand Silver Ferns, in a double extra time blockbuster game. Despite a hard fight, New Zealand came out on top with a two-goal victory, beating the Spar Proteas 62 – 60 in a fast paced and evenly matched game.

The penultimate game of the Northern Quad Series, South Africa versus New Zealand, was the battle for third place in the tournament and ultimately a chance for South Africa to prove themselves ahead of the 2019 Netball World Cup in July.

Lenize Potgieter starred once again in the goal circle for South Africa, shooting 30 goals from 31 attempts across the four quarters, before shooting 15 from 16 in overtime to combine for an astounding 96 per cent shooting accuracy. Ine-Mari Venter started in goal shooter before being subbed out for Maryka Holtzhausen midway through the quarter after only one missed attempt at goal. Ultimately it was Potgieter’s impact that kept South Africa in the game, with Holtzhausen playing out the match, shooting 15/22 at 68%.

New Zealand’s shooting was shared more evenly, with goal shooter Maria Folau shooting 36 from 42 at 86 per cent and Ameliaranne Ekenasio having a stronger game despite accuracy issues, shooting 21 from 28. Young shooter Maia Wilson took the court in goal attack in the second quarter for what was a frustrating 15 minutes for the Kiwis, shooting a combined eight goals for the quarter.

It was the battle of the goal defenders on court, with Casey Kopua and Karla Pretorius putting in every last bit of effort to get their country the win. Pretorius, named Player of the Series, collected three intercepts from five gains with only nine penalties for the match. Kopua also generated three turnovers from her persistent in the circle, but came out of the match with 20 penalties to her name.

Spar Proteas centre courters Bongi Msomi and Erin Burger shared the feeding load, assisting in the scoring of 18 and 17 goals respectively. Msomi was evenly matched in the midcourt against Ferns wing defence Karin Burger, with Burger managing three intercepts but picked up for 17 penalties. Msomi was speedy as ever, generating four pickups and 36 feeds in her team’s favour. Silver Ferns centre Laura Langman was powerful as ever through the midcourt, effectively navigating her way around the play and picking up 26 goal assists from her 35 feeds into the circle.

With an even final quarter recording 11 goals apiece for the two countries, the game was sent into overtime. Consisting of two overtime halves of seven minutes, the game needed to be finalised with a winning goal before the second half was complete, so as not to go into double overtime. With both teams still putting up a tough fight, unwilling to let the win slip from their grasps, the game was set to continue until one team was two goals up.

Despite South Africa’s intensity and desire to win a second game for the series, the Proteas could not stand up to New Zealand’s strength and effectiveness in getting the job done, as Folau slotted the winning goal after 80 minutes of play.

SOUTH AFRICA STARTING SEVEN

GS: Ine-Mari Venter
GA: Lenize Potgieter
WA: Bongi Msomi
C: Erin Burger
WD: Shadine Van der Merwe
GD: Karla Pretorius
GK: Phumza Maweni

BENCH: Maryka Holtzhausen, Rome Dreyer, Renske Stoltz, Zanele Vimbela, Khanyisa Chawane

NEW ZEALAND STARTING SEVEN

GS: Maria Folau
GA: Ameliaranne Ekenasio
WA: Gina Crampton
C: Laura Langman
WD: Karin Burger
GD: Casey Kopua
GK: Jane Watson

BENCH: Erin Mikaere, Kimiora Poi, Sam Sinclair, Whitney Souness, Maia Wilson