WINDHOEK – Academia Secondary School and St Joseph’s Roman Catholic High School began the 2017 First National Bank (FNB) Classic Clashes with victories in netball over the weekend.
At Döbra on Friday, St Joseph’s saw off visiting Eldorado Secondary School 34-24 in an entertaining encounter, while Academia beat perennial rivals Augustineum Secondary School 39-24 in Windhoek on Saturday.
Augustineum were slow out off the blocks as they lost the first quarter by 12 points to five.
They did not help their cause in the second quarter of the game as they continued to lose possession unnecessarily.
This led to them being outscored by 10 points to five, leaving them trailing by 22-10 at half-time.
In the third quarter, Academia consolidated their lead by outscoring their opponents 11 points to five, taking their lead to 33-15.
Augustineum turned up the heat in the last quarter, outscoring Academia by nine points to six, but that was not enough to give them a win.
The player of the match gong went to wing attacker Jatjizavi Kavendja of Academia.
After the game, Augustineum coach Tuundja Ujava lamented the slow start by her players, saying she does not understand why they did not go all out from the beginning.
“I am happy that the match was played in a good spirit, compared to last year. But my girls let themselves down in the first three quarters of the match,” she noted.
Winning coach Roszelle Coetzee of Academia was also impressed with the way the game was played, saying last year, there was a lot of fighting among the players, which did not happen this year.
“We played well, seeing that last year we lost by two points. Both teams produced quality netball and gave the fans value for their money. This win feels awesome,” she beamed.
The two coaches also paid tribute to the FNB Classic Clashes’ concept, saying it helps bring pride to their respective schools, as it enables them to contribute something to their schools if they win the tournament.
They also said it helps players train hard, knowing that the player of the match gets various prizes from the sponsors.
In the 2017 Classic Clashes opener, St Joseph’s displayed great teamwork to dominate their physical opponents, and led the first quarter by seven points to two.
Eldorado came back in the second quarter to outscore their opponents by nine points to five, but that was not enough to give them the overall lead.
The second quarter ended with St Joseph’s 12 and Eldorado 9.
In the third quarter, St Josephs upped the tempo and outscored Eldorado by 11 points to nine to stretch their overall lead to 23-18.
St Joseph’s continued their dominance to the end, outscoring their opponents by a massive 11 points to six to complete a comfortable victory. – Nampa
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