The Maties Netball team recorded a historic 54-38 victory over Kovsies on Thursday to progress to the Varsity Netball semi-finals.

It was the first time since 2005 that Maties had defeated the Kovsies team and they also knocked the two-time champions out of the competition in the process. Kovsies had all the pressure on them after the Madibaz had surprisingly beaten Pukke in the earlier match at the Coetzenburg Indoor Centre.

That result meant that only a Kovsies victory or two bonus-point loss would see the ladies from Bloemfontein qualify for the knockouts. 

Maties led narrowly after the first quarter and the score remained close with only three goals separating the two teams at the half-time break, Maties still leading 24-21. The defining passage of play took part in the final quarter when Maties, who had led 39-30 at the end of the third quarter, exploded into life and scored 15 goals to the eight of Kovsies. 

Next up for Maties is a rematch against defending champions Pukke, who will be hurting after their 38-34 loss to the Madibaz. Pukke beat Maties 41-32 in the season opener. 

The semi-final has all the ingredients of cracker and fans must make sure they are at Coetzenburg when the whistle goes.

The semi-final will be played on 10 October at 19:00. The other match will be between Tuks and NMMU-Madibaz.