The Johannesburg derby opened Round Four’s action on Monday when UJ faced city rivals Wits in the first game of the day and it was the Orange Army who walked away with a 59-42 victory at the Madibaz Sports Centre in Gqeberha, the Eastern Cape, on Monday, 9 September 2024.
There was great anticipation that the match would dish up some great performances and it certainly delivered. Only one point separated the two teams at the halftime break, the Orange Army holding a narrow advantage before opening up their lead in the third quarter before ensuring in the final quarter to earn the win.
NWU Netball pulled off a shock result when they beat reigning champions UP-Tuks 62-61 in the day’s second encounter, the Eagles enjoyed a bright start to the match and were able to restrict their usually free-scoring opponents. The score in Q1 was 13-15 with Tuks holding a tiny lead.
Q2 was when NWU turned up the heat and put themselves in the lead, going into halftime with a score of 30-27. However, the team from Pretoria showed their quality to regain the lead in Q3, a short-lived reign as an excellent Power Play saw NWU clinch a famous victory.
In the penultimate game, Kovsies got a well-deserved 56-45 win over Maties. The Free State side were put to the test by their opponents but managed to settle and lead Q1 13-7. Kovsies remained in control of the match and held onto their lead at the halftime break, the score 26-19 in their favour.
The third quarter saw Kovsies capitalise on errors made by Maties and this allowed them to take a firm grip on the match and seal the tie by a 9-goal margin.
The final fixture saw the home side, Madibaz Netball in action and it was clear to see the hosts were buoyed by the home support as they overwhelmed TUT Netball for a 71-25 win. Madibaz set the pace early on and when TUT wasn’t able to match their efforts on attack, the home team raced to a 38-15 lead at halftime.
The Red Army showed a bit more urgency in their third quarter which saw them claw their way back, but the skill of Madibaz shone and saw the team from Gqeberha scored an important win.
Results and Fixtures of the 2024 Varsity Netball Tournament
Sunday, 1 September at the Wits Sports Hall
Wits Netball 33-78 UFS Kovsies NetballUJ Netball 46-38 Maties NetballUP-Tuks Netball 96-9 TUT NetballNWU Netball 85-49 Madibaz Netball
Monday, 2 September at the Wits Sports Hall
UFS Kovsies Netball 62-54 NWU NetballTUT Netball 13-77 Maties NetballUJ Netball 72-35 Madibaz NetballWits Netball 49-64 UP-Tuks Netball
Sunday, 8 September at the Madibaz Sports Centre
Madibaz Netball 47-81 UP-Tuks NetballWits Netball 42-68 Maties NetballUJ Netball 51-46 UFS Kovsies NetballTUT Netball 17-75 NWU Netball
Monday, 9 September at the Madibaz Sports Centre
UJ Netball 59-42 Wits NetballNWU Netball 62-61 UP-Tuks NetballMaties Netball 45-56 UFS Kovsies NetballMadibaz Netball 71-25 TUT Netball
Monday, 16 September
15:00 Madibaz Netball vs UFS Kovsies Netball (Rembrandt Hall)17:00 UP-Tuks Netball vs Maties Netball (Rembrandt Hall)17:00 Wits Netball vs TUT Netball (NWU Mafikeng Great Hall)19:00 NWU Netball vs UJ Netball (NWU Mafikeng Great Hall)
Sunday, 22 September at the Callie Human Hall
13:00 UFS Kovsies Netball vs UP-Tuks Netball15:00 Maties Netball vs Madibaz Netball17:00 TUT Netball vs UJ Netball19:00 Wits Netball vs NWU Netball
Monday, 23 September at the Callie Human Hall
13:00 NWU Netball vs Maties Netball17:00 Madibaz Netball vs Wits Netball19:00 UFS Kovsies Netball vs TUT Netball
Monday, 30 September at Venue TBC
17:00 Semi-Final 1 TBC vs TBC19:00 Semi-Final 2 TBC vs TBC
Monday, 7 October at Venue TBC
19:00 Varsity Netball Final TBC vs TBC
Teams Contesting the 2024 Varsity Netball Tournament
NWU Netball – North West UniversityUP-Tuks Netball – University of PretoriaMaties Netball – University of StellenboschMadibaz Netball – Nelson Mandela UniversityUJ Netball – University of JohannesburgUFS Kovsies Netball – University of the Free StateWits Netball – University of WitwatersrandTUT Netball – Tshwane University of Technology
Main Photo caption: The Johannesburg derby opened Varsity Netball Round Four’s action when UJ faced city rivals Wits and it was the Orange Army who walked away with a 59-42 victory at the Madibaz Sports Centre in Gqeberha on Monday, 9 September, 2024. Photo: Varsity Netball
Photo 2 caption: NWU Netball pulled off a shock result when they beat reigning champions UP-Tuks in Monday’s second encounter in Gqeberha. Photo: Varsity Netball
Photo 3 caption: Kovsies capitalised on Maties errors to force a well-deserved win in the penultimate game at the Madibaz Sports Centre. Photo: Varsity Netball
Photo 4 caption: Home team Madibaz Netball raced to a significant halftime lead before overwhelming TUT Netball for their first win in this year’s tournament. Photo: Varsity Netball
