SOUTH Africa beat Namibia 3-0 in a women’s hockey test series in Johannesburg over the weekend. Namibia had a great start to the series, narrowly losing the first test 1-0 on Friday night and the second test 2-0 the next morning. Their fatigue, however, showed when they lost the third test 8-0 on Saturday evening.
In the first test, Namibia matched South Africa in most aspects before losing to a solitary goal by Erin Hunter, scored from a short corner after only six minutes.
The second test was another close encounter, with Lillian du Plessis putting South Africa ahead with a field goal in the first chukka, while Tarryn Glasby made it 2-0 in the final chukka.
In the third and final test Namibia’s fatigue started to show, while the South Africans went into overdrive.
Namibia held out till the 14th minute when Kara Lee Botes put South Africa ahead from a short corner, and two further goals in the second chukka by Nomnikelo Veto and Lisa Marie Deetlefs gave SA a 3-0 half time lead.
Any hopes of a comeback were quickly dispelled when South Africa scored three goals in four minutes in the third chukka.
Two field goals by Quanita Bobbs and Izelle Verster, and a short corner goal by Celia Evans suddenly put South Africa 6-0 ahead by the third chukka.
A short corner goal by Dirkie Chamberlain and a second goal for Bobbs in the final quarter completed a comfortable victory for South Africa.
Namibia coach Erwin Handura said their hectic schedule of three matches within 24 hours led to their downfall in the third test.
“We were very competitive in the first two matches, but to play three matches in 24 hours was crazy and we didn’t realise the impact that it would have on the players. We just ran out of legs over the last 30 minutes of the match and our concentration was not as sharp as it was in the first two matches,” he said.
“But the bottom line is that we have closed the gap between us and South Africa and it was a good learning curve because these are the type of matches that we will be playing at the Olympics qualifier in Valencia next month,” he added.
