The Bank Windhoek National Outdoor Hockey League concluded this past weekend in Windhoek, as Saints clinched the Men and Women's Premier Leagues and the Women Reserve League titles.In the Men's Premier League, Saints finished top with a total of 32 points followed by Deutscher Turn und Sportverein (DTS) on 27 points. Windhoek Old Boys took up the third spot on 18 points as University of Namibia (UNAM), Wanderers and the X-Team registered 16, 8 and nil points respectively.
In the Women's Premier League, Saints recorded 27 points, while Windhoek Old Boys Sports Club (WOBSC) took up the second spot on 14 points. The third place went to Wanderers who settled with 13 points as UNAM and DTS round of the league table with eight and a single point on the log. Saints also finished top of the log in the Women Reserve League with a total of 29 points.
The final Premier League games were played during the past week on Wednesday and Friday and the league concluded with play-offs in the Reserve Leagues for Men and Women over the weekend at the Windhoek High School (WHS) and the Windhoek Gymnasium turfs.
“Thank you Bank Windhoek for making it possible for us to stage the Outdoor National League for the fifth year in a row. This season, we had six men and five women teams competing in the Premier Leagues, and 11 men and nine women teams in the Reserve Leagues, marking this season the best in terms of club participation," said Namibia Hockey Union's (NHU) President, Marc Nel.
“Our partnership with the NHU is an example of what is possible to achieve when a sport is managed by dedicated volunteers who are passionate about what they do. Bank Windhoek congratulates all the NHU, players and supporters who made this yet another successful year of hockey. We look forward to journeying with the NHU into 2020 and beyond," said Bank Windhoek's Public Relations Manager, André le Roux.
Bank Windhoek Men's Premier League
On Wednesday, DTS and UNAM clashed at the WHS turf. DTS' Jason Bolton put his team in the lead as he scored a penalty in the early minutes. In the second quarter, DTS' JP Britz managed to break through UNAM's defence and scored another goal. Percy Bartham increased the lead to 3:0, he scored another goal thereafter. UNAM's Heinie Swartbooi pulled one back, but it was too late as the match ended in a 4:1 win for DTS.
Saints played Wanderers and in the third minute, Saints' Liam Hermanus broke through Wanderers' defence and scored the opener. Saints' Owen Hatton scored another goal, but Wanderers' Nicol Loftie-Eaton responded with a goal for his team. Saints took charge of the game and scored five more goals: two from Hermanus and one each from Barend Loftie-Eaton, Isacc Fallis and Josh van der Merwe, as Saints won 7:1. On Friday, WOBSC won 3:0 against Wanderers. .
Bank Windhoek Women's Premier League
On Wednesday, Wanderers played WOBSC. Both teams had several chances, but it was WOBSC who took theirs and won 1:0. Saints, who played against WOBSC on Friday, took control of the game and opened the scoring in the seventh minute. Thereafter, Jaime Gillies, Danja Meyer and Gina Olles found the back of the net. The final score was 6:0 in favour of Saints.
Bank Windhoek Women's Reserve League
The two clubs from Walvis Bay, Sparta and X-Team, also qualified for the play-offs. On Saturday, Sparta played against Saints 2 in a 2-all draw. As a result, both teams had to play one-on-ones to decide the winner. Eventually, Saints defeated Sparta 3:2. X-Team played Saints 1 and lost 5:0.
On Sunday, the two coastal teams played for third spot. It was Sparta who won the match 4:0. In the final, Saints 1 and 2 played for the Reserve League title and Saints 1 team won the match 3:0.
Bank Windhoek Men's Reserve League
WOBSC 1 took the field against DTS. The latter won the game 3:2 in a hard-fought match and securing them to play on Sunday in the final. Masters Men team played against Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). The students scored two goals in the second half to win the game 2:1.
On Sunday, Masters played WOBSC for the third spot. WOBSC managed to win the game 5:4 to place them in the third position of the Reserve League.
NUST and DTS faced each other in the final. Within the first four minutes, DTS penetrated NUST's circle and scored a goal. NUST broke through the defence of DTS and a scored a field goal to level the scores. It was only in the second half that DTS managed to break the dead-log and score a constructive short-corner goal to regain the lead. As the game progressed into the last quarter, it was DTS who took control of the game and were awarded with another two goals within the last eight minutes of this final. DTS deservedly won the game 4:1
