Great start by Saints 

Saints Hockey Club made a great start to the Indoor Hockey League with an impressive 7-2 victory against School of Excellence (SoE) on Saturday. 

Last year, SoE won the field league for the first time in history, while they also represented Namibia at the Africa Cup of Club Champions tournament in Zimbabwe in January, but on Saturday, they were no match for the Saints. 

Liam Bruys was Saints’ star player scoring five goals, and immediately put them in charge with two goals in the opening two minutes. 

Giovani Handura opened SoE’s account with a field goal, but Bruys completed his hattrick from a short corner, and when Owen Hatton scored from the penalty spot just before halftime they were well in charge, leading 4-1. 

Delron Handura gave SoE hope with a short cortner goal early in the second half, but it was fleeting as Saints completed a resounding victory with two more goals by Bruys and another by Abraham Graham.

Saints’ coach Christo du Raan said it was a good start to the indoor league. 

“For the first game of the season it was a good game. I think the boys are well prepared, coming off the PSI championships in Cape Town, so they have played a lot of indoor hockey and you can see that in their style of play they are still in it, so its a good start for us in the indoor league.”

“It’s nice to get a win against School of Excellence for a change, but all due respect to them, they have come through the ranks and they are now a competitive team, so all the best for them for the rest of the year and I’m sure we will see each other again soon,” he added. 

“A lot of our older payers have now left and gone to varsity, so the younger ones are now starting to come through – guys like Shayan Azadeh, he played in the senior men’s team at the Nkosi Cup so he had a bit of exposure there and then some of the others have been in the All Stars team at the PSI for the past few years, so I think there’s a bright future for our hockey.”

In another men’s premier league match, Windhoek Old Boys Hockey Club thumped Saints II 9-1 after leading 5-0 at halftime. 

Siabonga Martins was the standout player, scoring five goals, while Dian La Cock added a brace, and Brynn Cleak and Matu Kavikairiua one goal each. 

McLaghlan Nel scored Saints’ solitary goal from a short corner. 

In another match DTS and Wanderers drew 4-4 in an exciting encounter. 

DTS took a 3-1 lead at halftime after a hattrick by David Britz, but Wanderers struck back to go 4-3 ahead before Britz struck with a fourth goal to force a draw. 

For Wanderers, Pieter Page and Markus Botes both scored two goals. 

In a women’s Premier League match, Saints beat WOBHC 4-3 in a close encounter. 

The teams were still tied at 3-3 with three minutes to go but a late field goal by Tamara Grogli gave Saints the win.

Saints’ other goals were scored by Oyo Hinda, Azaylee Philander and Abigail Rowles, while Nicola Fourie scored two goals for WOBHC and Jahntwa Kruger one. 

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