Proteas coach Jenny van Dyk had warned earlier that Malawi wouldn’t be pushovers. Picture: Reg Caldecott
Rowan Callaghan
The Proteas marched into the final of the Netball Nations Cup unbeaten with a hard-fought 58-55 win over Malawi in their final pool match in England on Saturday.
Head coach Jenny van Dyk had hinted that she could rest some of her star players for the match at the Copper Box Arena in London.
There were opportunities from the start for goal shooter Rolene Streutker.
Lethal finisher Elmere van der Berg was moved from goal shooter to goal attack. Van Dyk had warned earlier that Malawi wouldn’t be pushovers, especially after they beat Uganda earlier. And so it proved. It took the introduction of goal attack Nichole Breedt for the Proteas to eventually tighten their grip on the game.
They led 15-13 after the first quarter, 31-28 after the second and 46-40 in the third. The South Africans managed to see out the match despite having Ane Retief sent off for two minutes late in the match.
Van Dyk was proud of the composure shown in that moment, but she also had special praise for their rivals.
“Malawi was great today. It was the fifth time we played them this season and what a great improvement for them,” Van Dyk said in her post-match interview. “But it just goes to show that it will always be a tough one.”
The Proteas had topped the four-team group ahead of Saturday’s matches. They had beaten Uganda in their opening match and stunned hosts England in their second.
Van Dyk felt that Saturday’s tough match was perfect preparation for Sunday’s decider. They will face a repeat of last weekend’s match against England.
The Roses battled past bottom team Uganda in Saturday’s final pool match.
“I think it’s the best possible position to be in with tomorrow’s game in mind – just to feel that competitiveness all the way to the end,” Van Dyk told Sky Sports.
She felt that it tested their ability to hang on to a lead. “So yes, they did well with that. But obviously we are not happy with the standard of play that we put up today.”
The Proteas coach is likely to revert to the team that started in last weekend’s win over England for the final.
“We did try something else and this is a whole new opportunity to test other combinations as well. Some of them worked, some of them didn’t but you need to test them before you know,” Van Dyk said.
Attacking linchpin Kamogelo Maseko starred against England and is expected to go straight back into the starting line-up. Her almost telepathic relationship with Van der Berg has been key to SA’s recent success. The experiment of using Van der Berg at goal attack is expected to be short-lived.
The series is a key part of the Proteas’ build-up to next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. Van Dyk’s charges are on an upward curve after a defeat in the three-Test series in Jamaica.
They would surely like to mark that progress with a trophy to go with their Africa Cup of Nations title.
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