The Wits Men’s A hockey team moved up to third place on the Southern Gauteng Hockey Association winter league log after defeating Jeppe Men in their second last match of the league.
Wits Men’s A Hockey team secured a 4-2 victory against Jeppe Men in their second last match of the Southern Gauteng Hockey Association (SGHA) winter league on Tuesday, September 11 at the Wits Hockey Stadium.
The first half was action-packed as Jeppe began by keeping up a strong defense against the home team’s aggressive play. The two teams enjoyed equal possession of the ball until a short corner was awarded to Wits, resulting in the first goal of the match.
Jeppe beefed up their defense and narrowly blocked the home team’s second attempt at goal. However, they were no match for the home team as they converted another short corner minutes later to double their lead.
The away team attempted to regain lost ground by increasing their possession of the ball and creating a number of chances. A short corner awarded to Jeppe was also unsuccessful as it was blocked by the home team’s defense. After more back and forth between the two teams, Wits regained control of the ball and managed to score their third goal after some intricate play towards the end of the first half, bringing the score to 3-0.
The second half took off at a much slower pace than the first. Jeppe put up a stronger defense and a much more aggressive attack which resulted in two unsuccessful goal attempts. The home team regained ball possession and, after being awarded another short corner, brought the score up to 4-0.
After more back and forth between the two teams, Jeppe managed to take advantage of the home side’s relaxed defense by scoring their first goal of the match in the final ten minutes, making the score 4-1. Within moments, they managed to score what should have been an easy save for the home team, bringing the end result to 4-2.
Men’s hockey coach, Ricky West, told Wits Vuvuzela that the team had played well despite Jeppe’s attempts to slow the game down. “The guys played really well considering the opponents played a negative side. They got lazy at the back and allowed those two goals in but overall they kept control of the ball,” he said.
Duncan Fischer, a player on the team, said that they had played a good first half but had let the game go in the second. “Hopefully going forward we will win the next match and take the league,” he said.
The win resulted in Wits moving up to third on the log with 14 points. They will play their final match in the SGHA winter league against Crusaders on Thursday, September 13 at the Wits hockey field.
FEATURED IMAGE: Wits defeated Jeppe in a tough action-packed match on Tuesday, September 11.
Photo: Naledi Mashishi
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