NWU misses opportunities in first hockey matches of the season

The North-West University (NWU) Women and Men hockey sides lost both their opening matches of the season against the University of the Free State (UFS) this weekend at the NWU Astro.

The first match of the weekend saw the NWU women side lose to a spirited UFS side, 2-0 on Saturday, 7 March.

The first quarter of the match started off slow as UFS did not capitalise on the numerous opportunities they had. The hosts had most of the possession and clear-cut chances in the second quarter, however, a quick counter-attack saw UFS go into half-time 1-0 up.

In the third quarter, the NWU side once again had multiple opportunities to score, the best coming towards the end of the quarter, however, again they did not capitalise.

The last quarter started with the UFS women side with a slender 1-0 lead. UFS attacker Antonet Louw ensured the win for her side as she scored in the dying minutes of the match through a counter-attack.

The second match on Saturday saw the UFS men side easily beating the NWU men side 3-1.

The NWU men side started just like the NWU women, enjoying most of the possession and opportunities, however in the last minutes of the first quarter the UFS men managed to take advantage of the opportunity they had.

The UFS went into the second quarter 1-0 ahead and although both sides had their opportunities, the men from the Free State once again capitalised on an opportunity as they scored from a penalty corner four minutes before half-time, giving them a 2-0 lead at half-time.

In the third quarter, it was a stalemate as both sides were wary of letting their opponent score.

NWU men’s coach, Shaun Hulley’s chargers, however, came out firing in the last quarter creating multiple opportunities, but only managing to score four minutes from full time through Louis Nel.

Still 2-1 behind the home side went in search of an equaliser, but once again UFS countered and was awarded a penalty corner in the last minute from which they scored, sealing their victory.

Mthokozo Mbotho, 21, NWU men goalkeeper and fourth-year BSc Sport Science student, said, “The difference between the sides was the UFS side used their chances and were able to utilise the speed of their players on counter-attacks.”

The NWU women in their second match of the weekend on Sunday, 8 March, lost 3-1 to a confident UFS side.

The UFS women started the match in a more attacking manner and with the continuous pressure, they finally broke the NWU’s defence down to score. The NWU women also had opportunities of their own, however, the first quarter ended with UFS 1-0 in front.

NWU women coach, Nelson Komane’s chargers fought back quickly as they scored early in the second quarter through NWU striker Mialette Kock to level the score. Amazing saves by the NWU goalkeeper Caitlin Grant held the score at 1-1 going into half-time.

Throughout the rest of the match, NWU created opportunities that they did not score from. The UFS side used counter-attacks to score in the third quarter and the game was put out of the NWU’s reach when UFS striker Antonet Louw scored in the fourth quarter.

Christa Ramasimong, 20, NWU women defender and second-year BEd student, said, “We did well in staying in the game and also managed to get under their skin by getting into good positions and putting in the extra effort.”

Ramasimong, added, “We just let ourselves down in both friendlies as we had a lot of opportunities but we just could not convert it into goals. The UFS side was focused more on counter-attacking our mistakes and they scored from the opportunities they created.”

While the women were playing, the NWU men side lost a nail-biting game against UFS 2-0 on the A-field.

The visitors came out guns blazing and scored within the first two minutes of the match. Throughout the other quarters, both sides created opportunities, NWU creating the most, but lacking the finishing touch. Once again on the counter, UFS made the NWU pay for a mistake and scored the winning goal in the fourth quarter.

Mbotho said, “It is not the results we wanted, but the reason we have these friendlies is so that we can identify what to fix and what we can build on.”

Mbotho added, “Overall it was a great intervarsity derby, the rivalry between the teams is quite healthy and it was a weekend of great hockey. As the NWU hockey club, we would like to thank everyone who came through to support us, even though we did not get the results.”