Old Boys into final after 13-goal thriller
Windhoek Old Boys booked their place in the final of the Indoor Hockey Men’s Premier League after a thrilling 7-6 victory against School of Excellence (SoE) on Wednesday night. The win put Old Boys just ahead of Saints on goal aggregate at the top of the log to book their place in tomorrow’s final, while […] The post Old Boys into final after 13-goal thriller appeared first on The Namibian.
Black News 
Windhoek Old Boys booked their place in the final of the Indoor Hockey Men’s Premier League after a thrilling 7-6 victory against School of Excellence (SoE) on Wednesday night.
The win put Old Boys just ahead of Saints on goal aggregate at the top of the log to book their place in tomorrow’s final, while Saints and third-placed SOE will now play off tonight for a place in the final.
Going into the match, Saints were leading Old Boys by three points and just needed a draw to finish on top of the log.
Old Boys came out fighting and after a terrific encounter with fortunes swaying to and fro throughout, finally got the winner in the dying seconds to progress to the final.
Ernest Jacobs gave Old Boys the lead from a short corner, but SoE soon equalised through a short-corner goal by Kave Tjikuniva.
The second quarter started in dramatic fashion with Old Boys regaining the lead through a field goal by Matu Kavikairiua, but SoE immediately struck back through a great solo goal by Delron Handura.
Old Boys, however, restored their lead with a short-corner goal by Dian La Cock to go 3-2 ahead at the half-time break.
SoE once again drew level after another Handura short-corner goal to set up an exciting final quarter with the teams tied at 3-3.
In an explosive final quarter, Old Boys regained the lead with a short-corner goal by Kieron Christ, but SoE drew level through Handura, firing in from a short corner.
Old Boys seemed to have taken an insurmountable lead after goals by Jacobs and Brynn Cleak, but SoE mad a great comeback as Handura once again scored from a short corner, and when Tjikuniva deflected a cross into the goal, they were once again level at 6-6.
Old Boys, however, had the final say when they won a short corner in the dying seconds and La Cock put the ball away to seal a stunning win.
Old Boys coach Coenie Fourie says it was a great match.
“It was a fantastic game of hockey, it was very tight till the end, until we got the winning goal with about 20 seconds to go. So that puts us at the top of the log and into the final where we will face Saints or SoE who play off on Friday night,” he says.
“It’s been a long season and we’ve struggled with some injuries, but the boys really dug deep for this one and I’m very happy,” he says.
SoE coach Erwin Handura says they made too many errors in their defence.
“We gave away about four penalty corners that resulted in goals. The umpires also made some bad calls that resulted in two goals, but I’m not worried that we lost because I think we played very well and it was a great game. I mean scoring 13 goals was highly entertaining,” he says.
“We’ve been struggling because we don’t have an indoor facility to train on. We train on a cement netball court, so until such time that we have a decent indoor facility to train at, it will always be difficult to beat teams like Saints and Old Boys.
“But we are working hard around the clock to make sure we have our own facility, and once we have that, we will be a difficult team to beat,” he says.
The post Old Boys into final after 13-goal thriller appeared first on The Namibian.
