Local favourites Kingdom Stars blow Tornadoes away in tense TNL Division 2 final

Home team the KZN Kingdom Stars boosted their hopes of a return to the top table when they beat the Western Cape Tornadoes in Saturday evening's Telkom Netball League Division 2 final at the Durban ICC.

They will face the Baobabs, who finished bottom of Division 1, in Sunday's relegation play-off for a place in Division 1 next season. 

There was little to choose from between the rivals in a low-scoring first quarter that ended 8-7 to the Tornadoes. Both teams were guilty of missing easy shooting chances as they matched each other for defensive intensity in the high-stakes clash.

The error count was also high from both sides, and that continued into the second quarter. The match was turning into a battle of attrition, withy neither side able to grab a stranglehold on proceedings. Even the vibrant, chanting home crowd struggled to lift the game from its stupor as it became increasingly physical.

The Tornadoes' 50% shooting percentage was particularly alarming, with goal shooter Rehana Noah and goal attack Kelly Ann Gouws misfiring. The Stars' goal shooter, Aphiwe Thusini started to find her range as they pulled four goals clear (17-13) with more than three minutes to go in the quarter.

Coach Lucy Twani called an early time-out to try settle her team's nerves.The half-time score was 18-15 in favour of the home team. The Stars were still able to keep the Western Cape team at arms length as the time ticked down. 

One standout player for the Tornadoes was goalkeeper Olukami Akuna Agbai, who led the charts with intercepts and displayed quick hands. 

Stars coach Nompumelelo Mthembu brought Sbonga Mdletshe on for the supershot opportunity, in place of Thusini. Yet it was Tshina Mdau who banked the extra point from the special shooting zone, to stretch the lead to 39-23. When Mdletshe sank a second supershot for the Stars, Tornadoes heads dropped.

The Stars enjoyed the cushion of a nine-goal lead with six minutes to go. They led 41-31 with a minute left to play, and the home fans raised their voices in song, dancing in their seats at the famous arena.

Stars goalkeeper Nozipho Ntshangase was named Player of the Match.

Winning coach Mthembu said one of the keys to the victory was the patience the Stars' attackers showed with the final pass to goal shooter Thusini.

 "We told them play it slow as possible, until it gets into Aphiwe's hands, because she's still young and finding her feet on the shooting side," she said in her post-match interview. "But she was brilliant today."

Asked how she planned to approach Sunday's key play-off match against the Baobabs, she said: "Since we started on Monday we had energy that we had to carry for each day up until the end. So even today we used that energy, and we will also use it again tomorrow.The plan is just to beat whoever is coming our way."

Meanwhile, the Gauteng Jaguars secured the bronze medal in Division 1, with an earlier 67-59 win over the  Southern Stings. 

Sunday's Division 1 grand finale (3pm) pits the unbeaten Gauteng Golden Fireballs against defending champions the Free State Crinums.