The Premier League games for both men and women in the Bank Windhoek National Outdoor League of 2019 were played during the past week on Wednesday evening, Friday evening and Saturday afternoon at the WHS and Windhoek Gymnasium turfs.MEN
On Wednesday evening at the Windhoek Afrikaanse Privaatskool (WAP) turf, the Deutscher Turn und Sportverein (DTS) men's team played their Premier League fixture against a very determined University of Namibia (UNAM) men's team. The young UNAM team started the encounter with a fast pace and applied pressure early in the game, but the experienced DTS team got the upper hand in the first half. UNAM, however, could not manage to convert any of their chances in the first half. Things changed in the second half of the game when DTS started to steadily take control of the match. DTS managed to break the deadlock and scored a well-structured field goal by Percy Barthram late in the game. UNAM could not manage to get back into the game after conceding the goal of DTS as their opponents kept attacking the circle of UNAM. No further goals were scored during this encounter and the match ended with DTS winning it with a 1-0 margin.
In another encounter on Wednesday evening the men's teams of Wanderers and Windhoek Old Boys (WOBSC) clashed in a very entertaining league match at the WAP turf. WOBSC took an early lead in the first quarter and managed to score a short corner goal through Mathew Mouton. However, Wanderers came back into the game at the start of the second quarter and were awarded for their efforts with a field goal scored by Herman Kock to level the scores. However, WOBSC took the lead in the game again by a field goal scored by Siyabonga Martins to make the halftime score 2-1 in favour of WOBSC. Four minutes into the second half, another field goal by Siyabonga Martins made the score 3-1. Wanderers managed to pull one goal back in the 44th minute through a field goal scored by Nathan van Niekerk. Near to the end of the match WOBSC managed to score another two goals, one by Dylan Finch and in the last minute of the game Russel Bartlett completed the win with their fifth goal. The match ended with a convincing win of 5-2 for WOBSC, earning them an additional bonus point for this encounter.
Early on Saturday afternoon at the Windhoek Gymnasium turf, the visiting X-Team men's team from Walvis Bay played in their first Premier League fixture of the weekend against UNAM. The young and inexperienced X-Team started the encounter with a fast pace and imposed pressure on the UNAM team early in the game and got an early short corner awarded to them. This resulted in a goal scored in the 5th minute by Jason Bampton. Unfortunately, X-Team could not continue with the pressure and gradually allowed UNAM to take control of the match. UNAM scored early in the second quarter by converting a short corner by Nelson Ekandjo and a further field goal scored by Zinliano Seibeb. The visitors from the coast had no answer to the aggressive UNAM attacking game of during the second half of the match and conceded another three field goals to UNAM, two goals scored by Kaizemi Kandjii and one by Delron Handura. The dominance of UNAM throughout the second half of the game paid off seeing them winning the game 5-1.
In the evening the men's X-Team played their second encounter against the experienced WOBSC. In a scrappy and sometimes physical match, the WOBSC put pressure on the young and inexperienced X-Team team from the start and dominated most of the game from start to the finish. WOBSC scored eight goals; one each by Dylan Finch, Wietz Meyer, Kevin Barnard, Rauiri Hammond, and Matuu Kavikairiua and a hat trick by the seasoned Siyabongo Martins. Once again, the fantastic performance of the goalkeeper of the X-Team, Gerrie le Roux, must be mentioned as he played an unbelievable game. If it was not for his unbelievable saves and defense, then the score would have been in the double-digit figures.
On Sunday morning at the WAP turf, the X-team took to the field against a very sluggish Wanderers team. X-Team managed a quick counterattack which resulted from an error by Wanderers in the half of X-Team which resulted against all odds in a field goal scorer by Jason Bampton, his second goal for the weekend. Wanderers mounted numerous attacks on the goal of X-Team, which paid off when they scored a goal, late in the second quarter, by a short corner converted by Jan-Izak de Villiers. The half-time score was 1-1. The continued pressure from the Wanderers became too much and they managed to score two goals in succession in the last quarter of the match. The scorers being a goal apiece by Nico Kendzia and Stefan du Preez providing Wanderers with a hard laboured 3-1 win at the end. This was the best performance to date by the young X-Team and we can expect much improvement from this club from Walvis Bay in the near future.
WOMEN
The Wanderers women's first team played against their WOBSC counterparts on Thursday evening in a hard-fought game. In an evenly contested game, where neither team could get the upper hand, the match went from one end to the other with both teams not taking advantage of their changes and converting these into goals. WOBSC scored the first goal at the end of the first quarter through a field goal by Wilri van Taak. Poor finishing touches by both teams resulted in no further goals in the first half. In the second half Wanderers managed to break through the WOBSC defense and scored a field goal through Juanne Engelbrecht. However, three minutes thereafter WOBSC went into the lead again by another field goal scored by Wilri van Taak. The last quarter saw both teams playing attack hockey and Wanderers stalwart player Juanne Engelbrecht scored the equaliser in the 50th minute. WOBSC took over the advantage of attack and three minutes from the end of the match scored the winning goal through a converted short corner set-piece; the goal scorer being Jivanka Kruger. The match ended in a 3-2 win for WOBSC, giving them the second place currently in the Women's Premier League.
On Friday evening the UNAM women's team played the DTS women's team in an evenly contested match. It was only in the 17th minute of the game that UNAM took the lead through a converted penalty strike by Lidia Simon. The lead was not held too long when DTS scored a field goal by Marla Vink. In the 55th minute UNAM managed to break through the DTS defense to score a field goal by Madeanda Garoës. The match ended 2-1 in favour of the UNAM Women's team.
The Bank Windhoek National Outdoor League of the 2019 season will continue this week with Premier League matches tonight, Friday and Saturday afternoon in the men and women's divisions at the WHS and WAP turfs.
