JOHANNESBURG - The Gauteng Jaguars won both of their matches in the second round of the Brutal Fruit Netball Premier League at the weekend.
The defending champions showed no mercy when they met Limpopo Baobabs at Ellis Park Arena on Friday evening, beating them 70-36.
Jenny van Dyk’s girls continued with their winning streak when they met their provincial rivals, the Gauteng Fireballs on Saturday evening, showing them who’s got the heat and who are the queens of the City of Gold by defeating them 46-36.
Coach Van Dyk said the score was not a true reflection of how “tough the game was”.
Van Dyk applauded some of her girls for coming to the party.
“I thought centre Izette Griesel (pictured) and goalkeeper Jasmine Zeigelmeier were particularly good and our 18-year-old Danielle van Zyl made a huge difference when I brought her as a goal attack,” Van Dyk said.
Fireballs coach Dorette Badenhorst said her players needed to be more confident in their ability.
“We came back well in the second quarter, but we needed to be able to get over umpiring decisions that didn’t go our way and move on.
“I need to motivate my players to show that they can do it,” she said after the Gauteng derby.
Badenhorst’s girls bounced back on Sunday when they beat KwaZulu Natal Kingdom Stars 39-31 with Fireballs wing attack Anè Bester taking the Player of the Match award.
It was Stars’ second defeat of the weekend after they lost 55-35 to three-time champions Free State Crinums.
In Sunday's match, Crinums made their coach Burta de Kock’s birthday a joyous one when they defeated Diamonds 76-23.
Baobabs dusted themselves off after the Jaguars loss by beating Mpumalanga Sunbirds 44-42 in a tight game on Saturday. This was the Sunbirds’ second loss after they were walloped 58-16 by Western Cape Southern Stings.
In other games, Stings also got maximum points against Eastern Cape Aloes in the Cape derby. They beat them 69-24 while Northern Cape Diamonds were burnt by sizzling North West Flames 76-22. In their second game, Flames thumped Aloes 62-23.
The third round of the semi professional league will continue on Friday at the University of Pretoria's Rembrandt Hall.