Africa-Press – Namibia. WINDHOEK Afrikaans Privaat School (WAP) and St Paul’s College took the hockey titles at the Namib Poultry Gravity Cup at Wanderers Sports Club over the weekend.
Schools from all over Namibia competed in the annual inter-schools competition in several sport codes, including hockey, rugby, netball and basketball.
In the men’s hockey final, WAP took gold after a thrilling penalty shoot out victory against Windhoek Gymnasium. Windhoek Gym won an early penalty, but WAP keeper Richter van Rooyen brought off a fine save to deny Owen Hatton
Windhoek Gym, however, soon took the lead when Richie Slamet put a loose ball into the net. WAP immediately struck back and two goals in three minutes by Jandre Smit put them 2-1 ahead by half time.
Windhoek Gym drew level at 2-2 after a great back-stick goal by Hatton early in the second half, and then regained the lead when Aiden Landrey scrambled in a cross by Isaac Fallis.
Windhoek Gymnasium seemed to be heading for victory, but WAP kept on pushing and with a second of normal time remaining, Christian du Raan popped into the box to snatch the equaliser.
The match went into a penalty shoot-out and WAP emerged victorious 2-1 to win the match amidst scenes of unbridled joy and jubilation. WAP coach Cedric Makati said they were well prepared for the final.
“We knew that we would have to push ourselves to the limit in this game and we actually practised one-on-one shootouts, because we knew it would be a close call and I must say, Windhoek Gymnasium are a great team, but my boys worked for it and they wanted it very badly,” he said.
“We lost the first title to WHS, but to get it back here on our home ground is amazing, and this is what we wanted – we wanted to show everybody that we are the fives team that everyone has to fear and we showed it today, that we can come back. This means everything for the boys and for me, this team has got five boys who are in their last year at school so its just brilliant for them as well,” he added.
The women’s final was more one-sided as St Paul’s asserted their dominance from the start. WHS’s defence held out for a while but Azaylee Philander opened St Paul’s’ account with two goals in three minutes, while Jaime Gillies added a third just before half time.
Philander completed her hat trick with a penalty early in the second half, m while Caitlyn Gillies sealed their victory with a fifth goal late in the match. It was their first major title in recent years and St Paul’s coach, Melissa Gillies
“These ladies have been working really hard together for the last couple of years, so this is the culmination of about three or four years of work together and I’m really proud of them – that was a clinical performance.
“This is the moment that we’ve been dreaming about – it’s very sweet and I feel quite emotional about it, because we’ve come close for a really long time and they have played beautiful hockey over the past few years, but now they are just older, stronger and faster,” she added.
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