Tigers leapfrog Afrocat Lions to climb sixth

The Netball Premier League’s recent round saw the much-anticipated clash between Afrocat Lions and Tigers end in favour of the latter, who stormed to a 39-31 victory after leading at every break.

The encounter was held at the Israel Patrick Iyambo Police College netball courts in Windhoek.

It saw both teams needing victory as they were level on 32 points after 12 matches, with Afrocat Lions sitting sixth due to a superior goal average of 1.098 to Tigers’ 1.061.

Tigers, who were seventh before the match, took the lead and never took their foot off the pedal as they led 13-6 after the first quarter, 23-18 at halftime, 32-26 after the third quarter and 39-31 at full-time.

The victory saw Tigers leapfrog Afrocat Lions into sixth place on 36 points after 13 matches.

The standout player on court was Tigers’ goal defence (GD) Hileni Thomas, who led from the back with a strong defensive display of seven turnovers, two interceptions, two rebounds, one pick-up and one deflection.

Player of the Match crown

Thomas was crowned Player of the Match and awarded a N$10 000 prize. Reflecting on the recognition, she said she owed it to her teammates.

“It wasn’t easy, but we all came through for each other. We almost gave up our game [at one point], but we motivated each other to go on stronger.

“And at the end of the day, we made it. We see ourselves in the top four of this league [in the near future],” said Thomas.

Meanwhile, Afrocat Lions captain Venyekerera Maharero took her side’s defeat on the chin, saying they will work on reducing turnovers and come back stronger.

“We knew this was not going to be an easy game. We came in and tried to fight [the best we could], but Tigers brought all their guns out [and proved the better side on the day],” she said.

“We need to improve on our turnovers and conversions because we win turnover ball, but fail to convert in the shooting circle. We need to improve on that and feed more balls to our shooters.”

NCS remain unbeaten

Another encounter of the round was meant to be between league leaders Namibian Correctional Service (NCS) and Namibian Navy. However, the latter did not show up for the match, resulting in a 15-0 forfeit loss.

The result awarded NCS four points, as they remained unbeaten at the top of the log with 77 points after 14 matches.

Second-placed Namibian Defence Force (NDF) Mighty Gunners sit 29 points behind after 11 matches.

League coordinator Eliana Seibes confirmed that the next round will be held at Oshana Gymnasium in Ongwediva next weekend.

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