Story by Chan Hui Mui/Red Sports. Photos by Marvin Lowe and REDintern Low Hui Yu/Red Sports

national b division netball

The RGS GD jumps in on the shot. (Photo 1 © Low Hui Yu/Red Sports)

Kallang Netball Centre, Tuesday, April 12, 2011 — Greenview Secondary beat Nanyang Girls’ High 30-24 to enter the semi-finals of the National B Division Netball Championship.

It was a remarkable turnaround for a team that did not make it past the first round of the East Zone championship last year.

Both Nanyang Girls’ and Greenview had come into this game with identical 1-1 win-loss records and the winner of this match would progress into semi-finals.

For the first 35 minutes of the game, the score margin did not go beyond three points and the lead was exchanged several times.

Greenview players were physically bigger but they could not stop their smaller Nanyang opponents from bringing the ball down the court. However, Nanyang could not clear the final line of defence, with the Greenview Goal Keeper Grace Ang creating precious turnovers for her team. The game was kept this way for most of the time

With a few minutes left, the Nanyang Girls’ Goal Attack had a calf muscle cramp and she could not continue playing. Her team lost their momentum and that allowed Greenview to grab hold of the opportunity to surge ahead and wrap up the game 30-24.

“I am happy with the result. Greenview has never achieved this in our history. I think no one expected us to come so far,” said a happy Greenview captain, Vivian Koe.

In the other Group X match, both Cedar Girls’ Secondary and Singapore Sports School (SSP) faced the same pressure, with the winner of the match progressing to the semi-finals.

SSP had a good start, taking a 12-6 lead at the end of the first half but Cedar narrowed the deficit to just one point in the third quarter. However, Cedar could not sustain the pressure and eventually lost the game 22-17.

“Losing to Nanyang Girls’ in the first match of the second round was a good wake up call for the girls,” said Singapore Sports School’s coach, Robin Manihera. “The loss inspired the girls to work harder as a team. The experience has made them more bonded, the key to win today’s match.”

In Group Y, CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh) beat Raffles Girls’ School 40-31. This was the third meeting between the two teams this year, with their previous two matches coming in the South Zone tournament.

The CHIJ win gave them first spot in Group Y and also meant the end of Dunman Secondary’s campaign. RGS finished second in the group and also qualified for the semi-finals.

CHIJ (TP) had earlier tied with Dunman 29-apiece. Dunman needed to beat Nan Hua High on the last day of the second round and they did so, 39-34. However, Dunman also needed RGS to beat CHIJ (TP) in order to have a chance to qualify for semi-finals.

CHIJ (TP) will meet Greenview in the semi-finals while RGS will be facing Singapore Sports School. CHIJ (TP) had previously encountered Greenview in the first round and the game finished in a tie.

“We need to tidy up our play. We are lucky that we did not meet the other two giants (CHIJ (TP) and Greenview) as they have very tall players whereas our players aren’t as tall,” said Sports School coach, Robin Manihera.

Greenview’s captain Vivian Koe believes her team has a chance.

“During the last encounter, we did not play to our best abilities. If we put in our best, we should be able to beat CHIJ (TP),” said Vivian.

The semi-finals will be played this Friday, 2.45pm onwards, at CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh).

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