Maties will be going ‘all-out’ for the bonus point when they meet Wits in their crucial Varsity Hockey clash in Pretoria on Sunday.
The Stellenbosch side need a resounding victory over Wits, and hope that UJ manage to beat Kovsies in order for them to sneak into the final against NWU-Pukke.
Maties coach Jenny King believes that UJ have what it takes to upset Kovsies, who face a long trip to Pretoria via Potchefstroom.
“We will be relying on UJ to win, but I have seen them improve in every match, they are a team that is good with the ball so I think they can do it,” she said.
King saw her own team concede two late goals against UJ in Johannesburg last week, so she has first-hand experience of just how dangerous they can be.
“We were pushing for the bonus point in that game so I took off a few defenders and replaced them with forwards and it backfired a bit,” she explained.
The Maties coach believes that the travel factor will have a big role to play, and has organised for her team to travel up to Pretoria a day early for just that reason.
“The travel hit us hard on the first weekend in Potchefstroom where we basically arrived and then played straight away so we will be going up on Saturday,” she explained.
Although Maties will be without national goalkeeper Hanli Hattingh who is in China on a Protea training camp, they will still have Ilse Davids and Quanita Bobbs available as they have remained behind to write exams.
Following a morale-boosting midweek win against UCT, who they put away 5-2, King is hoping that her team can finish their Varsity Hockey campaign with a bang.
“I would gladly have swopped the league win over UCT for a Varsity Hockey bonus point,” she quipped.
