by Luca Kotton | May 2, 2014 | News
The Wits Hockey Club are looking to do well in this year’s varsity hockey tournament, with the first leg starting on home turf tomorrow.
The tournament sees eight varsity teams competing in three rounds of fixtures in the Wits University set of matches before they move on to the next tournament.
PASSIONATE COACH: Mark Sanders,Wits men’s hockey coach, shows his player, Matthew Povall a trick or two. Photo: Luca Kotton
Wits hockey coach, Marc Sanders, is optimistic of his team’s chances at the tournament. He believes the key to success is a solid start. He hopes Wits will finish in the top four of the competition.
Sanders, speaking to his team in practice, says, “I like my team to train like they’re in second place and play like we are in first place.”
Wits’ first game is against Maties (Stellenbosch University) on Saturday afternoon, a team that Sanders considers Wits’ toughest opponents.
The next two matches will be against Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University on Sunday at 12h45 and the televised game on Monday will be against the University of Cape Town at 18h45.
by Staff Reporter | Mar 4, 2014 | Sport
LINE OUT: Witsies try their best to gain possession of the ball during their match against NMMU on Monday night. Photo: Luke Matthews
by Luke Matthews
The rain and gloom of Johannesburg’s weather matched Wits’ performance in their match against Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU).
The Wits rugby team were defeated 18-12 in a Varsity Cup match on their home turf.
Hopes were high when Wits scored the first try of the game, giving them a 4-0 lead. Although the rain may have steered away some supporters, the stands still roared with excitement.
NMMU hits back
With increased pressure on the visiting side, The Madibaz as the NMMU team is known, quickly recovered when flank Chris Cloete scored a try putting them 5-4 in the lead.
LADIES MEN: Pupils from Parktown Boys dressed in drag as part of their initiation attended the match to show their support for Wits. Photo: Luke Matthews
The rain and wet weather conditions also made for a challenging game as the forwards were constantly put to the test.
The Wits side suffered another setback when lock Rinus Botha was sent to the sin bin for stepping on another player’s head.
In the second half the boys in blue had an abysmal start when the NMMU side extending their lead to 13-8.
But not all faith was lost. During the final ten minutes of the game Wits pushed back with a try from Brent Crossley. This was however, too little too late when the Madibaz scrumhalf, Enrico Acker secured the victory for NMMU with a final try leaving Wits defeated at 18-12.
Varsity Cup festivities heat up the stands
Although Wits has taken a few knocks in this seasons Varsity Cup, the close score against NMMU shows some improvement.
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by Prelene Singh | Sep 17, 2013 | Sport
After 31 matches, 87 goals and 23 wins, Tuks came out on top with a 4-1 win in the final game against the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University last night.
It was an explosive finale to the inaugural Varsity Football challenge. Out of the eight teams who participated in the 2013 Varsity Football challenge the two remaining teams, the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) went head-to-head with Tuks from the University of Pretoria in the final.
NMMU, otherwise known as the Madibaz, had a solid defence in the first half of the game. They put their bodies on the line in an attempt at good defense against the home team.
With an atmospheric kick-off for the home team, Tuks plunged their way into dominating ball possession in the first 20 minutes of the game. The Madibaz probed on the edges, and by the 15 minute of the game all the jittery nerves had become a thing of the past.
Tuks tried hard to turn all their defences into attacks and in the 20th minute, defender Lawrence Ntswane opened up the scoring lines by executing a perfect header straight into the goal post. Madibaz goalie Lyndsay Jennings had no chance at stopping the ball just creeping in.
[pullquote align=”right”]“It’s very pleasing and a wonderful thing that has happened for SA rugby and it’s a nice step from school level to professional level.”[/pullquote]
The Madibaz saw their best moment of attack in the first half when centrefold Lukhanyo Rasmeni from Port Elizabeth chanced a direct shot at goal, however with a disappointing result.
To end the first half off perfectly, 22 year-old defender Claudio Barreiro scored the second goal for Tuks in the 44th minute of the game.
Evangelos Vellios, coach for Tuks said: “It’s very pleasing and a wonderful thing that has happened for SA rugby and it’s a nice step from school level to professional level.”
The second half saw the Madibaz return with fighting spirits with quick and nippy kicks and clear strategy for goal attack.
[pullquote]“ We pulled something out of the hat and we definitely saved the best for last.”[/pullquote]
Although Madibaz came back with fighting spirits they were unable to prevent Tuks from scoring their third goal in the 72nd minute of the game. Mbogeni Masilela pushed Tuks to a well deserved three goals. Masilela has scored a total of three goals himself in this tournament.
NMMU decided to make their first change of the game. Alexander Owusu was sent to the bench with number 25 Bradley Peterson replacing him.
Peterson, watching out for the counter attack along with Leroy van Rensburg, a player who was underestimated, together with a joint effort managed to score the first the goal for NMMU in the 77th minute of the game.
Although the Madibaz came back fighting, Tuks brought the game home on their own turf when Masilela once again performed his magic, and with effortless pace and shot the fourth goal for Tuks perfectly into the post in last minute of the game.
The post-match ceremony saw trophies being handed to the champions by Dennis Mumble, Professor Julian Smith and Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula.
Player of the Tournament was “Scara” Mnyamane from NWU Mafikeng and man of the match was Jarryd van der Berg who said: “ We pulled something out of the hat and we definitely saved the best for last.”
Tristyn Coetsee, goalkeeper for Tuks won the Debonairs Dynamite Goalkeeper prize and the Samsung Super Striker went to Niven Kops from NMMU who said: “We are going back to the drawing boards.”
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