Two in a row for Old Boys 

Windhoek Old Boys wrapped up the 2023 Indoor Hockey Men’s Premier League title in great style when they thumped their second team 10-1 last Thursday. 

Old Boys I took a while to assert their dominance and WOB II actually took the lead when Tyler Adkins scored a field goal midway through the first quarter.

Jack Fourie equalised for Old Boys I with a field goal, while they took the lead for the first time through a short corner goal by Dylan Finch, but with a narrow 2-1 lead going into the halftime break, the game was still wide open. 

Old Boys I, however, stepped up the tempo in the second half to take control of the match.

Matu Kavikairiua made it 3-1 with a field goal, while three goals in four minutes by Ernest Jacobs, Rudi Prinsloo and Finch put them 6-1 ahead by the third quarter. 

By now they were cruising and further field goals by Kavikairiua, Percy Barthram and Jacobs put them 9-1 ahead, before Finch completed his hattrick with a short corner goal to complete an emphatic victory. 

The win saw them finishing on top of the log on 33 points from 10 matches, and pipping Saints by two points to win the title for the second year in a row. Old Boys remained unbeaten, winning eight matches and drawing two, while they scored 63 goals and conceded 18. 

School of Excellence finished third on 24 points, followed by Old Boys II on 13, and Saints II on 12, while DTS had a disappointing campaign and finished last on zero points.

Old Boys coach Coenie Fourie said their hard work was paying off. 

“I must say I had a bit of mixed feelings there with my one side beating the other side, but I’m very happy for my premier boys. We’ve put in a lot of hard work over the past two to three years and it’s definitely paying off now which is very exciting,” he said. 

“Both teams are looking very good and promising and it’s exciting moving into the Wanderers night league and the field league coming up later. Both sides are playing exceptional hockey at this stage, making us and the fans extremely proud,” he added. 

Fourie however said the competition is getting tougher. 

“It’s two in a row now, but I believe that the other sides will definitely step up their game as well. We are going to try and keep the title for as long as possible, but it’s difficult and especially men’s hockey in Namibia is in a very good place at the moment. The competition has been very tough, we had some close games to get here, I think we are unbeaten for the season, although we had two draws, so it just shows that the hockey is very competitive and it came down to one or two points at the end of the season. Now we are going to work hard because we need to keep it for a third year,” he said. 

DTS, meanwhile, were crowned as the Women’s Premier League indoor champions for the third year in a row after completing their season unbeaten. 

They didn’t even play their final match, having by then already won the league, and finished their campaign on 21 points, with seven wins from seven matches, while they scored 46 goals and conceded only two. 

Saints came second on 23 points from eight matches, with WOB third on 14 points from seven matches. 

They were followed by Wanderers (4 points from 8 matches) and SOE (1 point from 8 matches). 

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