The Moment That Mattered

The scoreline read 17-18 and with only perhaps two minutes left on the clock, it was Finance who were on the attack after a technical turnover in the Telikom forward pocket.  The green machine quickly turned defence into attack and the crowds attention suddenly shifted to the other end.  You could hear Alice Koava screaming from mid-court for the Telikom defence to retire because now Finance were camped unmarked under the Telikom hoop.

Mabel Pepena, Finance's Wing Attack had silently slipped from her opponents line of sight and positioned herself in the clear at the top of the key to the left of the hoop, raising her hands and signaling for a quick pass from her mid court. Rose Duaba who unfortunately was being shadowed by Telikom's Gewa Raula like a fly caught in honey was trying to shake off the Telikom defender just meters from Mabel but obviously did not see her camped in the clear.

The Moment That Mattered

This is the moment that mattered as Rose Duaba lands after
tiping the ball in flight.  Mabel Pepena's hands are just to the left 
of the picture, free and in position to feed her goal attack. 

It all happened in a flash but the Finance mid-court, having already seen Mabel free at the turnover, sent a deliberate lobbed pass over Rose and Gewa for Mabel.  Unsighted, the Finance Shooter lunged for the ball, unaware that her Wing Attack was in a more suitable position near the hoop and expecting the pass ahead of a desperately retiring Telikom defence.  Rose's reach was enough to tip the ball slightly, changing it's direction and causing it to skew to the right of the key, well away from Mabel's reach.  As the ball veered off toward the side line the gravity of the situation became clear to the Finance attack and the exasperation showed clearly on their faces.  They had just missed the chance to covert and tie the game up 18-18.

With the next centre pass theirs, Finance may even have had the upper hand in extra time.

Chances only flash before us for an instant.  What you do with it is what matters and this was, "a moment that mattered".   As we know, Telikom held on to defend their net and ultimately advance to next week's grand final.

For Finance, its the end of the road, but they've had a great season and their demeanor at the end of the game was what the game of netball is all about and what we should all be promoting, good sportswomen, always gracious in defeat. 

It bodes well for netball as a whole for the PSNA and Near the Hoop will be there to bring it all to you the netball public.


Near the Hoop
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