Fadhil Yunus
The national netball team fell to a 69-26 defeat at the hands of Fier Orcas in their sixth match of the Deloitte Netball Super League 2023 at the Our Tampines Hub in Singapore yesterday.
The Bruneians enjoyed a bright spell in the opening stages of the game after establishing a 4-2 and 6-4 lead with their goal attacker providing the conversions.
However, Orcas shrugged off their nerves to make it 7-7 and since took control of the game as their lead quickly grew.
The first quarter reads 15-8 in favour of Orcas who were looking to record their fourth win of the campaign.
Head coach Nur Hafizah binti Haji Abdul Sidek’s charges looked to get the early basket in the second half but stoic defence and continued resurgence from Orcas reasserted their dominance in the match.
Brunei showed flashes of good play as a quick exchange from their centre and goal shooter nearly resulted in successive baskets, but they were made to rue with the missed shot as Orcas made their visit in attack count with yet another point.
Orcas repeated their form in the second half and not allowing Brunei a route back into the match as they jumped to an unassailable 32-14 lead.
The Singapore outfit began the third quarter in attacking mood as their centre provided the ammunition to the goal shooter with a decent pass before showing her physical attributes to increase the lead even further to 4-1 in the third quarter.
Brunei tried to get some points on the board at the start of the third quarter, but they were no match for the Orcas whose goal shooter enjoyed an excellent conversionrate.
Orcas seemed to be using the same passing approach that proved effective as their goal shooter contributed to her team gaining a double-digit lead in the third quarter alone.
Brunei rarely found any opportunities in attack in the third quarter with their opponents’ imposing defence keeping Brunei’s reshuffled attack quiet.
The dominant Orcas closed the third quarter with a massive 20-point gap limiting Brunei to just five points and bringing the tie 57-19.
Brunei brought their original attacking personnel back in the line-up and had more attacking presence in the opening minutes of the fourth period.
The Royal Bees will be playing their final group match against Mannas tomorrow before concluding their campaign in the placing playoffs on Saturday.
