Competition tightens as teams fight for top spots

NDN Staffer

WINDHOE, 11 APR. – The eighth round of the Bank Windhoek National Indoor Hockey League took place over the weekend in Windhoek. As expected, competition was stiff as teams fought for top honours with only three weeks remaining until the league ends.

As things stand, Mad Maroons dominate the Men’s Premier League with a ten point difference ahead of Saints who are only two points clear of University of Namibia (UNAM) in third place. In the Women’s League, UNAM have increased their lead with two points at the top of the log with Saints in second place.

Men’s Premier League

Saints 2 took on Deutscher Turn und Sportverein (DTS). After suffering a defeat in the previous round, DTS came out all guns blazing and defeated a shell-shocked Saints. The final score was 9-0 in favour of DTS. Darren Roberts, Percy Barthram and Leonard Fick each scored for DTS.

In a club versus club battle, Windhoek Old Boys’ (WOBSC) Mad Maroons (MM) and Burgundy Bullets (BB), fought for bragging rights within the club. MM had to win with a bonus point to keep up the pressure on Saints 1, who are currently placed second on the log. The day belonged to MM as they won the encounter 5-2. Bucko Bartlett and Siyabonga Martins both scored a couple a piece for Mad Maroons.

Teams returned for epic matches on Saturday evening. The first match was between DTS and MM. The latter needed a good performance against one of its greatest rivals and ended the first half drawn at 3-3. In a tightly contested affair, MM emerged victorious towards the end of the game. The final score was 6-5 to Mad Maroons. Siyabonga Martins was in top form and scored five goals for MM.

BDO Wanderers faced UNAM for a true test of character match as both clubs wanted to show their intent of winning the league. It was a gruelling affair, which UNAM eventually won 4-2. Four different UNAM players registered their names on the scoresheet.

WOBSC Burgundy Bullets faced Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) in what became an interesting battle between the two sides. The game was tough and showed the major improvement of NUST attributed to the NUST Hockey Programme over the last couple of years. It ended in a 2-2 stalemate.

UNAM was the next student team that took on WOBSC BB. UNAM was way too strong for the Bullets and comfortably scored the bonus point victory winning 6-1. UNAM’s Sashin Chioza scored twice.

BDO Wanderers took on NUST in a match that proved to be a one-sided affair. BDO Wanderers completely overran the NUST defence and won the match 13-1. BDO’s Owen Hatten scored five times.

On Sunday morning, the two educational institution rivals, UNAM and NUST battled it out for supremacy. UNAM was expected to easily win the encounter but NUST were stubborn on the day which made UNAM work harder for a bonus point victory. They eventually won 6-2.

Women’s Premiere League

Competition was fierce in the Women’s Premier League as none of the teams wanted to taste defeat. UNAM kept up the pace with Saints as they beat a stubborn NUST side who would not relinquish the bonus point without a fight. UNAM could only manage to score four goals which was a single goal shy to qualify for a bonus point. The final score was 4-0 in favour of UNAM.

The other game saw WOBSC take on DTS. WOBSC had all their world cup players and big guns back for the weekend’s game and the results showed this as they won comfortably with a score of 8-0.

Men’s First League

BDO Wanderers played NUST and won the game 5-0. In the other game, NUST also struggled against DTS and lost 7-0.

Men’s Second League

UNAM proved to be too strong for Gurus whom they defeated 5-0. DTS beat WOBSC Young Guns 4-2. DTS later dropped momentum as they lost 6-3 against new comers 062-Okahandja (OKH).

Women’s First League

UNAM played the Masters but their experience showed as Masters won 3-2. BDO Wanderers faced United and won 2-1. In the Masters league, Saints took on Coastal and claimed a 5-2 victory.

The next games for the Premier, First and Second Leagues will take place this coming weekend at the Wanderers and DTS indoor hockey fields in Windhoek and The Dome in Swakopmund.

Below are the log standings in both the Men and Women’s Premier leagues:

Men’s Premier League

Women’s Premier League