The Roses by any other name would have proven just as thorny for the Proteas yesterday as England downed South Africa 52-47 in the final Quad Series encounter at the Ellis Park indoor arena.
SA ended bottom of the table after a winless campaign‚ although all their games were narrow affairs.
World champions Australia trounced defending champions New Zealand 67-48 to take the Quad Series.
New Zealand ended third and England second.
The South Africans‚ losers by four points against Australia and five against New Zealand‚ trailed England by 10 points at one stage in the third quarter before fighting back to within three a few minutes from time.
South Africa tied the third quarter 13-13 and won the last 12-9‚ which effectively cancelled out England’s 16-13 lead in the opening stanza of the match.
The telling passage of play was the latter half of the second quarter‚ where England‚ 20-18 up‚ widened their advantage to 30-22 by the hooter.
The blitz lasted less than 10 minutes‚ but it won the match; England took the second quarter 14-9 and the Proteas were never able to wipe out that five-point deficit.
Lenize Potgieter was brilliant in front of the net‚ sinking 33 of 35 attempts‚ but on the other side of the court goal attack Helen Housby was also destructive‚ nailing 37 out of 44.
South Africa had 56 goal scoring attempts in all‚ compared to England’s 63 — the result of SA losing‚ or giving away‚ too much possession.
These were the mistakes that cost them a match in which they were otherwise competitive.
On defence Karla Pretorius and Phumza Maweni troubled the English attackers‚ while Erin Burger‚ skipper Bongi Msomi and Shadine van der Merwe produced some magical moments mid-court.
England captain Ama Agbeze admitted she found the match a little too close in the final stages.
“In the fourth quarter I thought ‘what are we doing?’ We’ve controlled the whole game and now we’re making small errors.”
They tidied up to see out the victory.
In the earlier game that decided the title‚ Australia and New Zealand got off to a nervous start.
Both sides wasted scoring opportunities early on‚ but Australia settled down quickly and‚ at 6-6‚ reeled off nine goals in a row without reply in the first quarter.
New Zealand were woeful in front of the basket‚ missing several scoring opportunities.
The Kiwis‚ down 22-35 at halftime‚ failed to win a single quarter‚ their best being the final stanza where they went down 11-13.
“Disappointed‚” coach Janine Southby said afterwards.
“We know we can be a whole lot better than this.”
The Australians‚ however‚ playing in their final international before the Commonwealth Games on home soil in Gold Coast in April‚ wanted a convincing victory.
“We wanted to have a big win‚” said captain Caitlin Bassett.
English Roses down plucky Proteas
Image: Lee Warren/Gallo Image
The Roses by any other name would have proven just as thorny for the Proteas yesterday as England downed South Africa 52-47 in the final Quad Series encounter at the Ellis Park indoor arena.
SA ended bottom of the table after a winless campaign‚ although all their games were narrow affairs.
World champions Australia trounced defending champions New Zealand 67-48 to take the Quad Series.
New Zealand ended third and England second.
The South Africans‚ losers by four points against Australia and five against New Zealand‚ trailed England by 10 points at one stage in the third quarter before fighting back to within three a few minutes from time.
South Africa tied the third quarter 13-13 and won the last 12-9‚ which effectively cancelled out England’s 16-13 lead in the opening stanza of the match.
The telling passage of play was the latter half of the second quarter‚ where England‚ 20-18 up‚ widened their advantage to 30-22 by the hooter.
The blitz lasted less than 10 minutes‚ but it won the match; England took the second quarter 14-9 and the Proteas were never able to wipe out that five-point deficit.
Lenize Potgieter was brilliant in front of the net‚ sinking 33 of 35 attempts‚ but on the other side of the court goal attack Helen Housby was also destructive‚ nailing 37 out of 44.
South Africa had 56 goal scoring attempts in all‚ compared to England’s 63 — the result of SA losing‚ or giving away‚ too much possession.
These were the mistakes that cost them a match in which they were otherwise competitive.
On defence Karla Pretorius and Phumza Maweni troubled the English attackers‚ while Erin Burger‚ skipper Bongi Msomi and Shadine van der Merwe produced some magical moments mid-court.
England captain Ama Agbeze admitted she found the match a little too close in the final stages.
“In the fourth quarter I thought ‘what are we doing?’ We’ve controlled the whole game and now we’re making small errors.”
They tidied up to see out the victory.
In the earlier game that decided the title‚ Australia and New Zealand got off to a nervous start.
Both sides wasted scoring opportunities early on‚ but Australia settled down quickly and‚ at 6-6‚ reeled off nine goals in a row without reply in the first quarter.
New Zealand were woeful in front of the basket‚ missing several scoring opportunities.
The Kiwis‚ down 22-35 at halftime‚ failed to win a single quarter‚ their best being the final stanza where they went down 11-13.
“Disappointed‚” coach Janine Southby said afterwards.
“We know we can be a whole lot better than this.”
The Australians‚ however‚ playing in their final international before the Commonwealth Games on home soil in Gold Coast in April‚ wanted a convincing victory.
“We wanted to have a big win‚” said captain Caitlin Bassett.
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