NWU-Pukke continued their unbeaten Varsity Netball run with a tense 46-42 semifinal victory over UP-Tuks in Stellenbosch.
The victory set up a home final for Pukke against UFS-Kovsies who knocked the NMMU Madibaz out in their semifinal.
Tuks started well and took the game to Pukke, but the Potchefstroom side absorbed the pressure well and had soon levelled things up.
However, Tuks stuck to their task and kept pushing the favourites, forcing Pukke to dig deep to match them.
There was no separating the two teams at the end of the first period, as they headed into the break deadlocked at 11-11.
Pukke made a storming start to the second period, grabbing a few crucial turnovers and taking their opportunities well to establish a four-goal lead.
The Samsung powerplay saw them keep the pressure squarely on Tuks who had to work hard to keep the deficit to 26-22 at half-time.
Tuks threw everything at their opponents at the start of the second half as they looked to erase Pukke’s lead, and they managed to reduce the gap to just one goal to get right back into it.
Strategic use of the Samsung powerplay saw Tuks hit the front in the third period, and that resulted in a big push from Pukke who took a narrow 36-33 advantage into the final period.
Tuks came out firing in the final period, and snatched the lead back from Pukke as they looked to knock the favourites out at the death.
It all came down to the final moments as the game went right down to the wire, but Pukke held their nerve well to sneak a tense victory.
