The Spar Proteas fell short of what would have been an incredible come-from-behind victory, losing 60-55 to an England team that had to dig deep in the SANZEA netball quad series at the Durban International Convention Centre on Saturday.
The game needed extra time to decide the winner, after the hosts put up a brave fight to close a 10 point gap which the English had established by the end of the second quarter.
The teams were tied at 48-48 after four quarters and time was added to the clock to determine a winner, which was England in the end.
Backed by an enthusiastic crowd, Proteas were 3-1 up in the first few minutes minutes of the first quarter, but some handling errors, wayward passing and missed opportunities in the final third cost them dearly and the English capitalised.
When the buzzer went off to signal the end of the first quarter, England were 11-8 ahead to give themselves confidence going into the second 15 minutes of the match.
England's goal attack Kadeen Corbin got in to the game as the Roses made the most of their dominance, establishing a 10 point lead at the end of the second quarter.
An injury to Proteas captain Bongi Msomi affected the team, as she had to go off for what looked like a calf problem.
The crowd did not stop cheering for the home side and it seemed to drive the home team's players to perform even better, even without their influential captain on the court.
They closed the gap to four points within five minutes of the third quarter and it was reduced by one more point at the end of the third quarter.
The Proteas dominated the final quarter and actually had a lead for a couple of minutes, but they could not hold onto it and ended up losing in extra time.
In the other match played here today, Australia led from start to finish in their match against New Zealand. The Diamonds beat the Silver Ferns 57-50 in a tightly contested match.
South Africa will play Australia on Tuesday.
- TMG Digital
Proteas narrowly go down to England
The Spar Proteas fell short of what would have been an incredible come-from-behind victory, losing 60-55 to an England team that had to dig deep in the SANZEA netball quad series at the Durban International Convention Centre on Saturday.
The game needed extra time to decide the winner, after the hosts put up a brave fight to close a 10 point gap which the English had established by the end of the second quarter.
The teams were tied at 48-48 after four quarters and time was added to the clock to determine a winner, which was England in the end.
Backed by an enthusiastic crowd, Proteas were 3-1 up in the first few minutes minutes of the first quarter, but some handling errors, wayward passing and missed opportunities in the final third cost them dearly and the English capitalised.
When the buzzer went off to signal the end of the first quarter, England were 11-8 ahead to give themselves confidence going into the second 15 minutes of the match.
England's goal attack Kadeen Corbin got in to the game as the Roses made the most of their dominance, establishing a 10 point lead at the end of the second quarter.
An injury to Proteas captain Bongi Msomi affected the team, as she had to go off for what looked like a calf problem.
The crowd did not stop cheering for the home side and it seemed to drive the home team's players to perform even better, even without their influential captain on the court.
They closed the gap to four points within five minutes of the third quarter and it was reduced by one more point at the end of the third quarter.
The Proteas dominated the final quarter and actually had a lead for a couple of minutes, but they could not hold onto it and ended up losing in extra time.
In the other match played here today, Australia led from start to finish in their match against New Zealand. The Diamonds beat the Silver Ferns 57-50 in a tightly contested match.
South Africa will play Australia on Tuesday.
- TMG Digital
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