A mouthwatering battle looms at the University of the Free State’s astro fields on Sunday, when log leaders NWU-Pukke and Kovsies cross swords.
Pukke is at the top of the standings with 19 log points after victory in all four their group games, while Kovsies are four points adrift, with a single defeat from their four matches.
The Potchefstroom team really laid the marker down on Saturday, when they demolished the University of the Witwatersrand 8-0. They dominated from the word go and had 10 penalty corners in the first 20 minutes alone.
Their big star was goal shooter Sulette Damons, who bothered the scorers twice and gave the Witsies problems everytime she received the ball. Stephanie Baxter also scored a brace and Carli Gericke finished a wonderful performance off in style when she scored her team’s eighth goal of the match.
The Puk-Wits-match started two hours late after the bus from the North arrived late in Bloemfontein, and Wits and Tuks might use that as an excuse. They can however not fully escape the fact that they came up against two well-drilled teams who simply had too much skill for them.
Tuks did well to contain Kovsies in the early stages of their match, with their goal shooter Phuma Mbande a rock in front of goal. The dam wall had to burst eventually, though, and after the national under-21 captain, Izelle Lategan, scored the Bloemfontein’s first goal there was no stopping them.
Lategan also scored Kovsies’ second goal, to take her tally for the series to an impressive six.
The crowd at the University of Johannesburg’s astro fields were also treated to some beautiful hockey. The UJ faithful had plenty to cheer about as their team beat the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) 4-1, while two spectacular goals from former Protea player Farah Fredericks helped Maties to a 3-1 win in their derby against the University of Cape Town.
Maties, UJ and Tuks now share third place on the log, with ten points each.
Saturday’s results:
NWU-Puk 8 (Sulette Damons 2, Carli Gericke, Sinola Jafta, Stephanie Baxter (2), Maartjie
Korten, Michelle Dias), Wits 0.
Kovsies 2 (Izelle Lategan), Tuks 0.
UJ 4 (Louise Coertzen, Casey-Jane Cowell, two own goals), NMMU 1 (Danielle Judge).
Maties 3 (Farah Fredericks 2, Quanita Bobbs), UCT 1 (Jessica Pollock).
The remaining matches:
At the University of the Free State:
Sunday 12 May: 14:30: Wits vs Tuks; 16:00: Pukke vs Kovsies.
Monday 13 May: 18:00: Pukke vs Tuks; 19:30: Kovsies vs Wits.
* Both Monday matches will be televised live on SuperSport 5 (Channel 205).
At the University of Johannesburg:
Sunday 12 May: 14:30: UJ vs UCT; 16:00: NMMU vs Maties.
Monday 13 May: 15:00: UCT vs NMMU; 16:30: Maties vs UJ.
* Both Monday matches will be televised live on SuperSport 5 (Channel 205).
