Hockey

DTS went to the top of the Indoor Hockey Men’s Premier League log after an exciting 4-2 victory against the X Team from Swakopmund on Saturday.

Darryn Martin gave DTS an early lead after only three minutes and Andre Stadler added a second to put them 2-0 ahead at halftime.

The X Team staged a great comeback as Liam Prosser scored two minutes after the restart, while Fabio Silheu equalised on 32m.

DTS however stepped up a gear and retained the lead a minute later through a goal by Leonard Fick, who added a second on 36m to complete their victory.

Indoor hockey men’s champions Unam have been dealt a severe blow ahead of the new season which starts on Saturday, with the news that star striker Siabonga Martins will be banned for the whole of the indoor season. The mercurial, but controversial, Martins was banned for 10 matches after assaulting a player at the end of last year’s field league and was slapped with a ten-match ban by the Namibia Hockey Union’s disciplinary committee.

Namibia’s junior hockey players excelled at the annual National Pro Series Indoor Tournament in South Africa in December, winning three medals against South Africa’s top provincial teams. Namibia’s Under 15 girls’ team won a gold medal, Namibia’s Under 13 girls’ team won a silver medal and Namibia’s Under 17 boys’ team won a bronze medal.

The Namibia Hockey Union will stage its annual development tournament in Windhoek on Saturday when about 400 children from six regions throughout the country will be in action. At a press conference in Windhoek on Tuesday, Erwin Handura of the NHU said this was a slight improvement on the turnout at the 2008 tournament.

“Last year we had about 350 children from five regions, while six regions will participate in this year’s tournament,” he said.

A solitary goal by Joseph Kashamako was enough to give Unam a 1-0 victory against DTS on Saturday to win the men’s Premier League field hockey title. Kashamako scored midway through the first half from a short corner to secure Unam’s sixth successive title and ninth title in the past ten years.

Despite still having to play bottom of the log Polytech, the victory put Unam five points clear of second placed Wanderers with the result that they could not be hauled in anymore.

Unam’s men’s team closed in on a fifth consecutive Premier League title after beating Wanderers 4-3 on Sunday, but their victory was spoiled by the dismissal of star striker Siabonga Martins. In an ill tempered match, Martins was sent off early in the second half after retaliating to a foul by Billy Beukes and hitting him with his stick. Martins was sent off which means that he will miss the rest of the season after picking up an automatic three match ban.

Namibia’s junior hockey teams won three gold and three silver medals at the annual Tri-Nations Hockey tournament which recently took place in Harare, Zimbabwe. Namibia’s U16 boys and girls team and their U14 boys’ team won gold medals, while Namibia’s U14 girls’ team narrowly lost out on another gold medal after losing 2-1 to Zimbabwe in the final.

Namibia’s U18 teams however struggled and were soundly beaten by their Zimbabwean counterparts.

Zimbabwe and Namibia were tied with three gold medals each while Botswana returned home empty handed.

By Erwin Handura

Various Namibian Junior Hockey teams left for Harare, Zimbabwe on Wednesday to take part in the SADC Hockey Tournament scheduled for Saturday and Sunday between Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia.

Windhoek Old Boys won the Field Hockey Women’s Premier League for the second year in a row when they beat their closest rivals Wanderers 2-0 on Saturday. The victory maintained WOB’s unbeaten run in the league and although the league is not over yet, they have opened up an eight-point lead at the top of the log and cannot be caught anymore.

Wanderers had to win their match to stand any chance of winning the title, and in the opening exchanges made some good attacks. Juanne Louw had a fine game in midfield, while striker Mandy Lessing was a handful for WOB’s defence.

Windhoek Old Boys thumped Polytechnic 10-0 while Wanderers beat DTS 1-0 in Men’s Premier League hockey matches on Saturday. WOB were far too strong for Polytechnic who are finding the going tough in their first season in the Premier League. Their cause was also not helped by the late arrival of two of their players which saw them having to play most of the first half with two men down.