Africa-Press – Namibia. MIGHTY Gunners are the new MTC Netball Premier League champions after winning all three their matches in Windhoek over the weekend.
Although the league is not yet finished, Gunners are now too far ahead of the rest of the pack and cannot be caught anymore.
With one match still to play, Gunners are now on 42 points, while second-placed Namibian Navy are well behind on 34, followed by last year’s champions Namibia Correctional Services on 33 and Tigers on 30 points.
On Friday, Gunners beat Tigers 47-41, to close in on the title.
The two sides were level for most of the match with Tigers leading 13-12 at the end of the first quarter, while they were level 23-all by half time.
Gunners, however, edged ahead 34-33 by the third quarter before a strong finish in the final quarter eventually gave them a comfortable six-point victory margin.
After the match Gunners’ captain Erenfriede Uahongoro said their hard work had paid off.
“The game was very tough, but we trained hard and we made it. I think we pulled away in the final quarter because we were fitter. It has been a very tough season, but we trained very hard and thats why we are on top,” she said.
“The secret to our success is, we train hard to come and fight easy. For sure, we are taking the cup to Otjiwarongo,” she added.
Tigers captain Eve Kamutushi said unforced errors in the final quarter led to their downfall.
“We started off quite well, but I think we gave quite a lot of possession away in the fourth quarter and that’s where they built up their lead. But we had fun and gave it our all, although there are a couple of things that we could have done better,” she added.
“We needed to win this game if we had any chance to win the title, but our goal was to end in the top three, and we still have some matches left so we hope that we can do that,” she said.
Gunners, meanwhile, went from strength to strength, beating Namibian Navy 50-38 on Saturday, after leading 10-9, 23-19 and 35-29 by the first three quarters, while they clinched the title on Sunday after beating Rebels 45-28, after leading 9-6, 17-14 and 34-21 by the first three quarters.
Tigers bounced back with an emphatic 60-13 victory against Grootfontein on Saturday, after leading 12-2, 24-7 and 42-9.
In other matches on Saturday, NCS beat Otjo Nampol 53-30 after leading 13-9, 27-16 and 38-24, while Rebels just edged Afrocat Lions 41-39, after coming from behind to win the match.
The teams were tied 10-10 by the first quarter, while the Lions took a 21-18 lead by halftime. Rebels, however, upped the tempo to go 32-28 ahead and then withstood a strong comeback by the Lions to win the match by two points.
On Friday, Afrocat Lions also lost another close encounter, going down 47-46 to Otjo Nampol. In a topsy-turvy match, the Lions led 11-10 by the first quarter, but Nampol went 21-19 ahead by the second, and 34-32 by the third before winning by a solitary point.
In another close encounter on Sunday, Namibian Navy made a strong comeback to beat Otjo Nampol 52-50.
Navy led 12-10 by the first quarter, but Nampol edged ahead 25-24 by the second and 41-36 by the third, before Navy finished stronger to win the match by two points.
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