The University of Johannesburg will be playing their hearts out in an attempt to cap off their season on a high when they face their VUT counterparts in the final round of the 2017 Varsity Netball competition on Monday night at the Imbizo Hall in Soweto, Johannesburg.
UJ have had a tragic trial this spell and have lost all six of their games to remain seventh on the log. A five-point win is all it will take to boost the morale of the squad and finally register a point under their names. Meanwhile, the Vaal University of Technology have followed suit having not won any of their games and are sitting at the bottom of the table with a -331 point difference. A win could see them escape their current position and end the season in seventh place.
UJ assistant coach David Maree recaps the team’s performances throughout the season, including their game against UWC last week.
“I think the season has been a bit of a disappointment for us in the sense that we had a very good preseason up until the Varsity Netball tournament began, and it seemed like all hell broke loose and everything went wrong for us. I think the greatest disappointment for us against UWC was that we started very well and we were positive that it was going to be a good outcome for us, but unfortunately in the second quarter, we gave it all away,” said Maree
“They called a power play that was to our advantage and straight afterwards, we were six goals behind and the girls dropped their minds into a negative attitude and they just could not pick up their play. They went and played defensively instead of attacking so they fell further and further behind, resulting in us losing the second quarter by 14 goals and that was the difference for the remainder of the game. It’s the first time in the history of the tournament that UJ lost to UWC so it was a great disappointment to us.”
Maree said it will be a tough encounter for both UJ and VUT as they are looking for a win.
“I know both of us are fighting for a win and position seven. We are positive and we’ve made one or two changes to the team. We are trying new combinations in the hopes that they will bring us success. Some of our new players that have been injured are back and available for selection. I’m very positive for the game against VUT.”
The match kicks off at 18h00.
UJ Team: Jodie Brown, Ntokozo Ramaremisa, Halala Nxumalo (C), Fanisa Mpofu, Tanya Liecterkost, Erin van Wyk. Kim-Roche Holmes, Megan Van Lelveld, Lebogang Malahlela, Nompumelelo Mbonambi, Angelique Molefe, Nandi Buthelezi
By Liziwe Mbha
