Mighty Gunners, the defending champions of the MTC Netball Namibia Premier League (NNPL), on Sunday suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of Navy Netball Club.
But despite the narrow 45-47 loss, Gunners’ Kati Nambandi remains optimistic that they will bounce back much stronger and fulfil their league title ambitions.
He admitted that they underestimated their opponents and became too comfortable in their approach, while their opponents approached the game with a different strategy, treating it more like a cup final.
“Navy is our sister team. I believe we underestimated them heading into the match, where we thought we had everything together until we were given a huge lesson,” said Nambandi.
“We are going to pick up from where we left off by re-evaluating ourselves. I still think the team is capable, and we have the quality required to win the league. Therefore, our goal remains to retain the title at the end of the season.”
On Saturday, other NNPL matches included Navy’s victory over Young Stars 53-36, Afrocat Lions defeating Fatou 58-32, Tigers winning against Eleven Arrows 35-33, Wanderers securing a 40-34 victory over Rebels, and Namibia Correctional Service thrashing Northern Fly Ballers 74-19.
Gunners also achieved a dominant win over Young Stars with a score of 66-20, while Navy reigned supreme against Otjozondjupa Nampol with a 48-46 victory.
On Sunday, Afrocat Lions won 48-30 against Northern Fly Ballers, Otjozondjupa Nampol beat Rebels 49-27, Wanderers secured their first back-to-back wins in the premier league, defeating Fatou, and NCS achieved a 51-26 victory over Arrows.
- mkambukwe@nepc.com.na