UJ hockey coach Dylan Coombs is hoping that the home crowd act as a ’12th player’ on the pitch for them when action gets underway this weekend.
The Johannesburg side take on coastal teams NMMU, UCT and Maties on their home turf and Coombs is expecting the crowd to give his side a major boost.
“Hopefully we get some good home support which acts as a 12 player out there for us. It has been nice and vibey around the hockey centre this week with quite a lot of hype so the hockey community is really looking forward to it,” he said.
UJ had a few injury concerns following the Under-21 inter-provincial tournament in which most of their squad was involved, but most of their players have been cleared by the medical staff with only two players missing out.
Coombs explained that with the hectic workload training has been less strenous as he seeks to have his players in top shape this weekend.
“We had a midweek game which was not ideal, but it was good to keep the legs going. We have done quite a lot of recovery with a big focus on technical sessions this week,” he explained.
The UJ coach believes that the competition is wide open after watching some tough battles between the sides in Potchefstroom.
“Anything can happen in these games as the teams are quite evenly matched. Maties should be our toughest game but it looks pretty wide open,” he said.
Another factor this weekend will be the presence of television cameras, with some of the matches set to be broadcast live on Supersport, and Coombs has prepared his side accordingly.
“It is something new and exciting so I have told the players to expect the unexpected. Hopefully the build up is smooth and there are not too many distractions,” he added.
