The Bank Windhoek National Outdoor Hockey League Premier League ties, for both men and women, took place last week and over the weekend at the Windhoek High School (WHS) hockey fields in the capital city.As it stands, in the Bank Windhoek Men's Premier League, two teams, namely defending champions Saints and Deutscher Turn und Sportverein (DTS), look likely to emerge as 2019 winners as the league draws closer to its conclusion.
Saints are top of the table with an 18 points lead followed by DTS on 16 points - only two points separate the top two teams on the league table.
Bank Windhoek Men's Premier League
On Wednesday, Windhoek Old Boys Sports Club (WOBSC) and University of Namibia (UNAM) kicked off a thrilling encounter played on a high note until the end. Early in the first quarter, UNAM got a penalty corner and Sachin Jaanda successfully scored and placed his team on a 1:0 lead. However, in the early stages of the second quarter, WOBSC responded by exerting more pressure on UNAM's defence who later struggled to fend off a number of threats from WOBSC. As a result, Dylan Finch slipped past UNAM's defence and scored a well-executed field goal to tie the score at 1-all.
The third quarter saw teams waste chances which kept the score line at 1-all. It was only in the last quarter were both teams played enterprising hockey. WOBSC's Matuu Kapikauiriroa scored in the 48th which brought the match to a 2:1 lead in favour of WOBSC. In response, UNAM changed their tactics and launched a counterattack. This resulted in Kevin Kapuire's equalizer, which brought the encounter to a 2-all draw.
On Friday, Wanderers and defending champions Saints battled it out in a match that started at a high intensity. The first quarter saw both teams squaring each other up without any team beating the defence of either team. It was however Saints who broke the deadlock in the game and went into the lead after Nico Neethling scored from the penalty spot. Saints took gradual control of the match and scored two more goals in succession which saw them cement their lead with a 3-nil score, with Owen Hatton and Micheal Kotze scoring a goal each.
In the final quarter, Saints moved up another gear as Neville Gora and Josh van der Merwe notched a goal each. The match ended in a 5:0 win for Saints, earning them another bonus point by scoring four goals and more during the match.
On Saturday, WOBSC and DTS played each other in a fierce contested encounter. In the first quarter, DTS took the game to WOBSC and managed to score a field goal through JP Britz. WOBSC fought back but were unable to score an equalizer. Later one, DTS' David Britz slashed a converted penalty corner to make it 2:0. Britz scored his second and third goal for DTS in the third quarter.
As the game progressed, WOBSC's Dylan Finch managed to pull a goal back. Shortly afterwards, DTS were awarded a short corner which was successfully converted by JP Britz to give them a 4:1 win on the day.
Bank Windhoek women's Premier League
On Wednesday, Wanderers faced UNAM. Wanderers managed to break through UNAM's defence early in the second quarter, as Bianca Muller slid through and scored a field goal just before half-time. Muller scored another goal in the last minute as a result of a short corner. The match ended in a 2:0 win for Wanderers.
The Bank Windhoek National Outdoor League of the 2019 season will continue this week with Premier League matches scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 16, Friday 18 and Saturday, 19 October 2019 at the Windhoek High School and Wanderers hockey turfs in Windhoek.
