Windhoek Gymnasium and St Paul’s College shared the spoils with one trophy each at the Namibian schools hockey finals on Friday night.
The two schools contested both the u19 boys and girls finals, with St Paul’s comfortably winning the girls final 6-1, while Windhoek Gymnasium produced a stunning comeback to win the boys final 4-2.
In the girls final, St Paul’s were in a league of their own as they gradually took control of the match.
Captain Abigail Rowles opened the scoring when she scrambled in a loose ball in the box after five minutes, while Amaria Hillinger added a second after good work by Leila Grogli down the left wing.
St Paul’s continued to dominate possession in the second quarter, but Gymnasium managed to keep them at bay, until the end of the quarter when two goals in quick succession put St Paul’s well in command.
Tamara Grogli made it 3-0 when she scored from a short corner, while Lindiwe Ekandjo tapped home a cross barely a minute later to put St Paul’s 4-0 ahead at the halftime break.
Rowles made it 5-0 from a short corner in the third quarter, and although Nicola Fourie opened Gymnasium’s account from a short corner, Rowles completed her hat-trick from a short corner with five minutes to go, to give St Paul’s a comprehensive 6-1 victory.
Despite the convincing scoreline Rowles said they took a while to get going.
“Gymnasium definitely didn’t make it easy for us and it was a really hard game. We struggled a bit in the beginning but then we found our connections and got into our game again, and I’m so proud of the girls,” she said.
“We’ve had a really good season – we’ve had two tours to South Africa, making the final in one of them which was really good. We’ve been practising really hard and we were looking forward to this game, so I’m super happy with the win,” she added.
The boys final, meanwhile, was a thriller as Gymnasium came from behind to win the title.
After an evenly matched first half, Tapiwa Kaisi finally broke the deadlock with a field goal to give St Paul’s a 1-0 lead going into half time.
They went 2-0 ahead at the end of the third quarter when they were awarded a penalty and Zach Philander scored from the spot, but Gymnasium turned the match on its head with a stunning comeback in the final quarter.
Captain Enzo Martins opened their account when he smashed the ball into the net from the edge of the box, while Carlo Hechter drew them level when he scrambled in a loose ball.
The momentum was now with Gymnasium and they continued to attack, with Martins putting them ahead for the first time from a short corner, while Hechter added his second from a counterattack to complete a stunning 4-2 victory.
