Competition in national indoor hockey league heats up
The seventh round of the Bank Windhoek National Indoor Hockey League was played last weekend in Swakopmund and Windhoek. It was an intriguing round for all premier league teams with some huge upsets.
Competition was tough as the match between Windhoek Old Boys (WOBSC) Mad Maroons (MM) and University of Namibia (UNAM) produced a tight and blistering contest in Swakopmund.
As it stands, Mad Maroons is two points clear of Saints in the Men’s Premier League. In the Women’s League, a single point at the top of the table separates UNAM and Saints.
In the Men’s Premier League, Saints 2 kicked-off the matches as they played Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) whom they defeated 9-0. Saints 1 played BDO Wanderers and was under no illusion of an easy game as BDO Wanderers have shown some real improvement. The final score was 3-1 in favour of Saints 1.
In Swakopmund Mad Maroons and WOBSC’s Burgundy Bullets, UNAM and NUST all faced each other in matches that produced fireworks. First up was Mad Maroons who took on UNAM in what was expected to be a hum dinger between the two competitive clubs. The game was a seesaw affair as the lead switched sides regularly. It was however not until the dying seconds of the game that Mad Maroons buried the ball in the back of the net for the 5-4 bonus point victory.
The two teams showcased a titanic battle on the field but in the end Mad Maroons emerged victorious and walked away with the bragging rights. The win took Mad Maroons back to the summit of the Bank Windhoek Premier League.
Mad Maroons then went on to play NUST. The student side kept the score low until late in the game when the Mad Maroons turned up the heat and left nothing to chance in search of the bonus point victory. The final score was 5-2 in favour of Mad Maroons.
Later NUST took on Burgundy Bullets. NUST gave a good performance and almost salvaged a draw, but it was too little too late for the students as they once again lost 3-2.
The Burgundy Bullets Bullets went on and played another team of students, UNAM. The game was a close one at stages but the power and accuracy of UNAM carried them to a convincing 6-3 score line.
In Windhoek, the league was turned on its head as one upset followed another. DTS took on the talented and fast youngsters from Saints. It was expected to be an evenly contested game. DTS was quietly confident as they have not lost a game yet. They were, however, completely outclassed and outplayed. Saints scored seven goals to one, taking them top of the table for a couple of hours.
DTS then went on to play Saints 2. The young Saints looked like seasoned professionals on the pitch and played an astounding game of hockey. They eventually won the game 2-0.
Saints 2 took on BDO Wanderers, and gave a good account of themselves but could not match their earlier result and lost 3-2 to BDO Wanderers.
In the Women’s Premier League, WOBSC took on NUST in Swakopmund and won 5-1.
UNAM played NUST and as expected, it was the green and gold from UNAM who took the honours 5-1. WOBSC also played UNAM in a one sided affair with the youngsters from WOBSC not up to the challenge of the more experienced UNAM team. Final score 5-0 to UNAM.
In Windhoek, the Angels took on BDO Wanderers and defeated them four goals to nil.
The game between DTS and BDO Wanderers was postponed due to water on the turf. DTS later took on Saints, but the very fit Saints team did not let up and made sure to get the maximum points for the game as they scored five goals.
In the Men’s First League ,the game between WOBSC and Raiders did not take place and points were awarded to Raiders. NUST drew 1-1 with X-Team. UNAM beat X-Team 2-1. UNAM then lost 5-4 to a very talented Raiders side.
X-Team was scheduled to play WOBSC but points were surrendered by WOBSC who did not manage to field a side. Raiders played NUST and completely dominated the game as they won 7-0. DTS played Saints but it would be a reversal from an earlier game with DTS winning 7-0. Saints took on BDO Wanderers and won 2-1.
In the Women’s First League, Raiders defeated UNAM 8-0. Raiders followed that with another win over WOBSC by the same margin, 8-0. Coastals played WOBSC and won 3-2. Coastal then played UNAM and beat them 3-1. Angels played Masters and lost 5-2 with experience coming to the fore. DTS lost 7-0 to Saints.
The next games for the Premier, First and Second Leagues will resume on Friday, 6 April 2018 at Wanderers and the DTS indoor hockey fields in Windhoek.
Caption: Focused: BDO Wanderers goalkeeper Owen Hatton and Isaac Fallis from Saints, compete for the ball.
