It’s all systems go for the eight teams gunning for Varsity Hockey men’s hockey glory at Maties Astro this weekend and the indicators are that the quality is going to be a treat for fans.
That entrance is free on all four days – Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday – is also sure to bring the varsity students in by the dozen. University of Pretoria (Tuks) and defending champs University of Johannesburg (UJ) won all their matches at UJ this past weekend and look to be cruising towards Monday’s late afternoon/early evening semi-finals.
Goalscoring hasn’t been much of a hurdle for the Tuks lads who have potent strikers supplemented by a creative midfield and a solid defence. Their conversion rate in front of goal and miserly defence ensured the Tuks men top spot at the close of the UJ leg of the competition, albeit on goal difference against UJ.
UJ have been involved in some classic Varsity Hockey contests where their fortunes have swayed to and fro, but the calibre of their personnel suggests they have a real chance of retaining the trophy won back in 2014, in what is a biannual men’s event interspersed in the intervening years by the equally popular women’s competition.
Maties, in third place going into Friday’s action, were finalists in 2014, and boast a speedy bunch of front runners, whose tempo has caught a posse of opposition defensive line-ups napping. A generous 18 strikes in four outings attests to this and one fancies that the defenders who come up against this classy combination on the Maties turf are in for a busy time.
The Maties’ blemish was a nail-biter of a defeat at the hands of the hosts on day one at UJ but this is unlikely to worry canny coach Ashlin Freddy – indeed it’s sure to fire up the talented Stellenbosch lads in a manner that is not to be welcomed by their opponents.
Semi-final time on Monday is sure to produce fireworks of the first order and a defeat here or there is not going to make much of a difference either way as the top four teams, post-league phase, will get a slot in the last-four playoffs.
Fourth-placed Wits have been most impressive – particularly so as they haven’t fared particularly well in the annual University Sport South Africa tournament since the rise and rise of UJ hockey from its early days as Rand Afrikaans University.
The heyday of Wits University’s dream teams well stocked with legends like Mandy Yachad were long gone in the drought years but a shrewd employment policy that brought successful sports administrators and coaches of the calibre of Adrian Carter and Ricky West into the mix respectively duly attracted class acts on the pitch and the omens suggest that Wits are heading back to their glory days faster than expected.
It’s well to note that Maties and Wits are level-pegging on nine log points a-piece but the former enjoy a superior goal difference. For fifth-placed University of Cape Town (UCT) and sixth-placed NMMU Madibaz (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University) the hunt for silverware is not over yet and they will be looking to target maximum returns from their bust-ups on days one and two with the seventh and eighth-ranked varsities after the UJ leg, University of the Free State (Kovsies) and the Pukke of North West University in Potchefstroom.
For the proud Pukke and Kovsies combinations this weekend’s fare presents the perfect opportunity to redeem themselves after the disappointments of the past. Now that the cards from the UJ leg have been dealt it is clear that a select number of matches at Maties could have a significant bearing on the jockeying for places in the top four. Just a couple of the match-ups for fans to savour already stand out – and there’s going to be no waiting for them to unfold as first-up Friday in the 1.30pm opening muscle-up, it’s a battle for eGoli bragging rights as Wits seek to upstage their star-studded UJ rivals.
As compelling as the UJ-Wits contest is, the big one that is guaranteed to see the Stellies students descend in their droves on the picturesque Maties hockey centre is the last clash of the day Friday, when the regal institution’s flagship team cross blades with Pretoria’s formidable Tuks come 6.45pm.
The Maties have everything in their favour: the vociferous backing of their campus friends, their innate familiarity with every nook and cranny of their home turf, as well as the scores of local schoolboys and schoolgirls – complemented by equally enthusiastic Moms and Dads – from the likes of the players in the schools’ hockey theatre of dreams, such as Paul Roos Gym and Paarl Girls High.
Indeed for hockey fans from Paul Roos it’s barely a hop, step and jump to the Maties Astro, as are the surrounding Stellenbosch schools while for those a bit further afield, like Paarl Girls High for instance, it’s hardly 30 minutes in the car. There’s no better place to be than Maties Astro over the next four days. See you there.
Fixtures for Friday 13 May:
13:30 UJ vs Wits
15:15 Kovsies vs UCT
17:00 Pukke vs Madibaz
18:45 Maties vs Tuks
By JONATHAN COOK
