National C Division Netball: Cedar surprise Dunman 26-18 to finish third

Story by REDintern Grace Sim. Photos by REDintern Low Hui Yu

Toa Payoh Sports Hall, Tuesday, April 19, 2011 — Cedar Girls’ Secondary avenged themselves against Dunman Secondary when they won 26-18 to claim third place in the National C Division Netball Championship.

The Cedar girls took off right from the first whistle and raced to a 5-1 lead. However, they began to make unforced errors and allowed Dunman to narrow the gap to 7-5 at the end of the quarter.

During the second quarter, both teams had equal opportunities to bring the ball down the court before Dunman started losing focus and became more hesitant in their passes. By half-time, Cedar managed to extend their lead to 14-10.

Cedar captain and Goal Defence Shakila Devi marshalled the team to step up the pressure in the third quarter and forced the Dunman feeders to throw stray passes into the goal circle. Cedar Goal Shooter Debby Muliawan aided her team with four consecutive goals to further boost their morale before Dunman potted their first shot in the quarter.

Going into the last quarter with an eight-goal lead at 20-12, Cedar girls took their foot off the pedal and allowed Dunman to match them goal for goal. Unfortunately, it was too late for Dunman to find their rhythm as time ran out and Cedar girls closed out the match at 26-18.

Having lost 22-32 Dunman in their previous meeting, the maiden trophy was extra special for the Cedar C Division team.

Said Cedar coach Ms Chng Li Li: “In the previous meeting, we made a lot of our own mistakes. This time, our defenders managed to overcome the Dunman team. Our shooting is sharper and the flow is better today.”

Shakila Devi chirped: “The last time we met, we lost to them. But we overcame the Dunman girls this time. It’s the first time that Cedar (C Division) got into the top four and to achieve the third placing makes us really happy.”

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